ISI Database on Statelessness and
Human Rights

33. The Committee welcomes the various measures taken to ensure birth registration and recommends that the State party continue and strengthen its efforts to register all children, with a special focus on children in the remote areas of the interior, including the opportunity for late registration free of charge

35. The Committee recommends that each child born in Egypt of a migrant worker be ensured the right to a name, to registration at birth and to a nationality in accordance with article 29 of the Convention and to the delivery of a birth certificate by the Egyptian civil registry.

35. The Committee is concerned that current provisions prevent children from deriving nationality from their mothers.

36. As a matter of non-discrimination and in the best interests of the child, the Committee recommends that the State party undertake the necessary legislative measures to ensure that the child can derive nationality not only from the father but also from the mother.

37. The Committee welcomes the State party’s initiatives to promote birth registration, such as the campaigns undertaken on the Day of the African Child in 2003; the 2004-2008 action plan to improve registration of civil status (“Plan de la Mission d’Appui à la Consolidation de l’Etat Civil”) and in 2006 the adoption of Law No. 06-024, which governs civil status and ensures free birth registration. However, the Committee is concerned that birth registration is a complicated process, that a large number of children are neither registered at birth nor at a later stage, and that major disparities exist between the birth registration of children in urban and rural and remote areas.

38. The Committee recommends that the State party continue its efforts of systematic birth registration for all children born within the national territory, inter alia by ensuring a simplified and cost-free birth registration process, and by increasing the coverage of the mobile units, especially in rural and remote areas, in order to reach the most disadvantaged populations. The Committee also urges the State party to proceed with the registration of those children who have not yet been registered and to enable them to access, in particular, education and health care.

39. The Committee appreciates the considerable efforts of the State party to establish a birth registration system that covers all children throughout the country effectively, including awareness-raising campaigns, the adoption of Decree No. 62 of 2004 establishing the national registry system and the setting up of mobile registries in rural or remote areas. However, it is concerned at the significant discrepancies in birth registration rates between urban and rural areas, which are partly due to the low level of awareness thereof and lack of adequate resources and qualified staff in the registration system.

40. The Committee reiterates its previous recommendation urging that the State party make a priority of the immediate registration of the births of all children, and promote and facilitate the registration of those children who were not registered at birth, in the light of article 7 of the Convention. The State party should also continue to carry out awareness campaigns, such as “All Honduran children have a right to a name and a nationality”,
targeted to the rural and most remote areas and intensify its efforts to provide adequate human and financial resources to improve the effective functioning of the national registration system, with special attention to civil registries located in rural and indigenous areas. Measures should be also taken to ensure that the data provided to the offices of the civil registry are accurate.

63. The Committee welcomes the amendments to the Constitution which seek to eliminate statelessness for children born to Chileans abroad, however remains concerned that children of foreigners without legal residence in Chile may remain exposed to statelessness. Furthermore, the Committee regrets that the State party has still not adopted adequate legislation in accordance with international obligations for refugee protection. The Committee is also concerned that refugee, asylum-seeking and migrant children lack adequate access to health services while their applications to the national registry system are being processed, and that they face de facto discrimination in exercising their right to education. Furthermore, the Committee regrets the paucity of information on the situation of refugee, asylum-seeking and migrant children in the State party report and the State party reply to the list of issues.

64. The Committee recommends that the State party: 

(a) Ratify the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness; 

(b) Ensure prompt adoption and implementation of adequate legislation in accordance with international obligations for refugee protection; 

(c) Ensure that refugee, asylum-seeking and migrant children are guaranteed speedy processing of their registration and identity documents and that they not be denied access to health services and education during this period; 

(d) Take all measures to guarantee protection of refugee children in line with international human rights and refugee law, while taking into account the Committee’s general comment No. 6 (2005) on the treatment of unaccompanied and separated children outside their country of origin; 

(e) Provide adequate information on the situation of refugee, asylum-seeking and migrant children in its next periodic report under the Convention; 

(f) Seek the advisory services of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

18. The Committee notes with concern the lack of data on areas including domestic adoption, street children, children involved in armed conflicts, children without parental care, children involved in the justice system, and sexually abused and trafficked children.

19. The Committee encourages the State party, with reference to the need to significantly improve birth registration, to strengthen its system of collecting disaggregated data, especially in relation to the areas indicated in the preceding paragraph, as a basis for assessing progress achieved in the realization of children’s rights and to help design policies to implement the Convention. The Committee also recommends that the State party seek technical assistance from UNICEF in this regard.

[...]

31. The Committee regrets the absence of institutional structures and adequate legal framework to ensure birth registration. The Committee is deeply concerned that a very large number of children are neither registered at birth nor at a later stage.

32. The Committee reiterates its concern from the previous periodic review and urges the State party to strengthen and further develop measures to ensure that all children born within the national territory are registered by adopting an adequate legal framework. Furthermore, the Committee urges the State party to create institutional structures that are accessible and free in order to implement effective birth registration, e.g. by introducing mobile units, especially in rural and remote areas and internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugee camps. The Committee recommends the State party to seek technical assistance from UNICEF for the implementation of these recommendations.

35. While noting the measures undertaken to implement the Committee’s previous recommendation, including the establishment of Registry Offices at District (arrondissement) level and the conduct of awareness raising campaigns, the Committee is concerned that many children are still not registered at birth, in particular children living in remote rural communities and children from disadvantaged families.

36. The Committee recommends that the State party take all necessary measures to ensure that birth registration is made accessible to all parents within the State party. The Committee also recommends that the State party provide support to the local authorities to promote a higher level of birth registration, eventually with auxiliary registry officers at village level, and launch a national campaign of mobile court hearings making complementary decisions on late birth declarations, which should be free of charge.

30. The Committee welcomes the efforts made to promote birth registration, such as the Birth registration campaign and the involvement of municipal authorities, religious and community leaders in the birth registration process. However, the Committee is concerned at the persistent disparities between urban and rural areas in this respect.

31. The Committee recommends that the State party continues its efforts of systematic birth registration for all children born within the national territory, especially in rural and remote areas. The Committee further urges the State party to proceed with the registration of those children who have not thus far been registered.

33. While welcoming the law in which birth registration has become compulsory, the Committee expresses concern at the fact that a large number of children have still not been registered. The Committee is also concerned at registration fees and penalties attached to late birth registration, which may hinder the process. The Committee is also concerned at the lack of civil registry offices in remote areas and the insufficient awareness of the importance of registration.

34. In the light of article 7 of the Convention, the Committee recommends that the State party establish an efficient and accessible birth registration system, including for noncitizens, which covers its entire territory, including through inter alia:

(a) Promoting awareness and appreciation of the importance of birth registration through mass campaigns by providing information on the procedure of birth registration, including the rights and entitlements derived from the registration, through television, radio and printed materials or other means;

(b) Ensuring that birth registration is free of charge; 

(c) Introducing mobile birth registration units in order to reach remote areas;

(d) Taking appropriate measures to register those who have not been registered at birth, including indigenous children and refugee children; and

(e) Enhancing its cooperation with relevant United Nations programmes, funds and specialized agencies such as UNICEF and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

32. While noting that the Constitution addresses the right to identity, the Committee is nevertheless concerned that the child does not derive his or her citizenship through the mother unless the child is born outside of marriage and is not adopted or claimed by the father. 

33. As a matter of non-discrimination and in the best interests of the child, the Committee recommends that the State party take the necessary legislative measures to ensure that a child can derive nationality not only from the father, but also from the mother.

34. The Committee notes with appreciation the various efforts undertaken by the State party to improve birth registration but remains concerned at the considerable number of children not registered at birth (or later).

35. In the light of article 7 of the Convention, the Committee recommends that the State party strengthen and further develop measures to ensure that all children born within the national territory are registered by, inter alia, making birth registration easy and free of charge and introducing mobile units, especially in rural areas. The Committee further urges the State party to proceed with the registration of those children who have thus far not been registered.