Today, Helen Jones, Commonwealth Advocacy Adviser, and Elizabeth Speller, Advocacy Director, represented It’s a Penalty at the Pre-World Congress Symposium to call for action on birth registration.
Hosted at the Australian High Commission in London, this invitation-only event convened key stakeholders for in-depth dialogue focused on children’s rights and protection ahead of the World Congress on Family Law and Children’s Rights set to take place from 27th to 30th July at the University of Cambridge.
The symposium highlighted critical areas of family law and child rights closely aligned with CommonProtect, It’s a Penalty’s advocacy programme dedicated to legal reform and systemic change to protect children from violence, sexual exploitation, and abuse (CSEA) throughout the Commonwealth.
A standout session was a workshop co-hosted by the International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL) and CommonProtect partners, the Commonwealth Lawyers Association (CLA), titled “The Role of Lawyers and Judges in Birth Registration.” Helen Jones contributed as a speaker to the workshop, which explored a crucial, and often overlooked, child protection issue: birth registration. As a partner on CommonProtect, It’s a Penalty is supporting the CLA’s initiative on birth registration in the Commonwealth.
Why Birth Registration Matters
The right to birth registration is embedded in The United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child. Beyond being a basic right, birth registration plays a crucial role in enabling access to key services and in protecting children from abuse and exploitation.
Birth registration provides a permanent, official, and legal record of a child’s existence and identity. This information is required for a child to receive a birth certificate — a paper issued by the state to the parent or caregiver, confirming that the registration occurred and serving as legal proof of the child’s identity.
Several obstacles can impede parents’ registration of their child’s birth. This may happen due to weak civil registration systems, a lack of knowledge amongst parents, household poverty and inability to meet the cost of fees and travel associated with registration. Even when a child is registered at birth, in some countries, birth certificates are not automatically issued following registration. Therefore a child might be registered, but never receive a birth certificate. In some cases, children born out of wedlock or to mothers who have experienced rape may face additional challenges in obtaining a birth certificate.
Lack of Birth Documentation: The Risks
The lack of formally recognised and documented identity invariably puts children at risk of multiple human rights violations, including their right to be protected, to education, health care, social services, social security and justice. They are also at greater risk of human trafficking, child marriage, child labour, illegal adoption, underage recruitment into armed forces and being declared ‘stateless’, increasing susceptibility to a myriad of human rights violations.
The lack of proper birth documentation and the denial of the right to nationality and legal identity can result in lifelong consequences.
The Commonwealth Context
While there has been progress over the past 20 years on improving birth registration, UNICEF reports that an estimated 150 million children under the age of 5, equivalent to 1 in 5, are still not registered. These limited registration rates predominantly are seen in the regions of Africa and South Asia[1].
The problem of under-registration of births is of high relevance to the Commonwealth of Nations because over half of the global number of unregistered children live in low- and medium-income Commonwealth countries, including some of its most populous member states. Accelerated action in birth registration is required if the 2030 Sustainable Development Goal 16 is to be met. The target to “provide legal identity for all, including birth registration, by 2030” remains urgent for many Commonwealth countries, particularly in Africa, South Asia and the Pacific.
If the Commonwealth were to prioritise the issue of low birth registration rates and share the implementation of effective strategies to achieve universal birth registration, significant improvements could be made to reaching global targets.
[1] UNICEF data: Monitoring the situation of children and women, December 2024 update, here
From Commitment to Action
The reality of the lives of millions of children in the Commonwealth was recognised in the Kigali Declaration on Child Care and Protection Reform, issued by Heads at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in June 2022. The declaration represented an historic focus on the issues impacting children in the Commonwealth and committed to improved childcare and protection reform.
While the Kigali Declaration marked a historic step forward, real change demands effective implementation. That’s why It’s a Penalty, together with the Commonwealth Lawyers Association and partners in the Commonwealth Children’s Interest Group (ComCIG) are advocating for birth registration as a foundational element for child protection reform in the Commonwealth.
With CHOGM 2024 in Samoa reaffirming leaders’ dedication to the Kigali commitments, the time for coordinated, practical action is now. The immediate priority is ensuring that the identity of every child in the Commonwealth is legally recognised through birth registration.
The necessary action requires states to identify and reform laws and policies to enable immediate birth registration for all and to prevent all forms of discrimination against women and children in access to birth registration.
Ensuring that birth registration procedures are universal also requires the identification and removal of physical, administrative, procedural, financial, practical and any other barriers that discriminate or impede access to birth registration and the issuance of birth certificates. This requires the establishing or strengthening of existing institutions at all levels responsible for birth registration, including through the development of comprehensive civil registration systems.
A Shared Goal
Today at the Pre-World Congress Symposium, there was strong consensus: birth registration is a collective responsibility. Governments, civil society, legal professionals, and Commonwealth institutions must work together to ensure every child is legally recognised.
At CommonProtect, we believe birth registration is a passport to lifelong protection. Ensuring every child’s identity is acknowledged is the first step toward a life free from exploitation, discrimination, and abuse.