11. Recalling its general comment No. 19 (2016) on public budgeting for the realization of children’s rights, the Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Conduct a comprehensive assessment of the budget needs of children and allocate adequate budgetary resources, in accordance with article 4 of the Convention, for the implementation of children’s rights and, in particular, increase the budget allocated to social protection systems, education, health, access to birth registration and other required documentation, and to address vulnerabilities exacerbated by conflict and economic crisis, natural disasters, or other emergencies;
24. Taking note of target 16.9 of the Sustainable Development Goals, the Committee strongly urges the State party to:
(a) Amend the Iraqi Nationality Act No. 26 of 2006 to ensure that children born to unmarried parents receive a birth certificate and other identity documents;
(b) Develop protocols and guidelines for birth registration of children who are internally displaced, who were born in the context of armed conflict and humanitarian emergencies, who return from the Syrian Arab Republic, who have parents affiliated with Da’esh, whose documentation was issued by Da’esh or was lost, orphaned children found in areas previously controlled by Da’esh, and children who belong to ethnic and religious minorities;
(c) Streamline and simplify birth registration procedures, increase human capacity and resources for case management and remove bureaucratic obstacles that delay birth registration;
(d) Cease the practice of mentioning the religion on the birth certificate;
(e) Ensure that the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs continues to lead the high-level child coordination mechanism, involving representatives from various ministries, UN agencies, local and international NGOs with a focus on prevention, access to all services including birth registration as well as community-based reintegration for all conflict-affected children in Iraq;
(f) Seek technical assistance from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) among others, for the implementation of these recommendations.
45. Recalling the joint general comments No. 3 and No. 4 of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families/No. 22 and No. 23 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (2017) on the human rights of children in the context of international migration, the Committee recommends that the State party:
(c) Consider ratifying the 1951 Convention relating to the Statues of Refugees, the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.