A/HRC/RES/28/13
Recognizing the importance of birth registration, including late birth registration and
the provision of documents of proof of birth, as a means of providing an official record of
the existence of a person and the recognition of that individual as a person before the law,
Expressing concern that unregistered individuals may have limited or no access to
services and the enjoyment of all the rights to which they are entitled, and taking into
consideration that registering a person’s birth is a vital step towards the promotion and
protection of all of his or her human rights, and that persons without birth registration are
more vulnerable to marginalization, exclusion, discrimination, violence, statelessness,
exploitation and abuse,
Recognizing that free birth registration and free or low-fee late birth registration are
part of a comprehensive civil registration system that facilitates the development of vital
statistics and the effective planning and implementation of programmes and policies
intended to promote better governance and to achieve internationally agreed development
goals,
Recognizing also the efforts made at the regional level to achieve universal birth
registration, including within the 2015–2024 Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Decade
for Asia and the Pacific, and the Decade on Civil Registration 2015–2024 in Africa,
Recognizing further that non-governmental organizations, professional associations,
media, the private sector and other members of civil society, including those involved in
public-private partnerships, can also contribute to the improvement and promotion of
community awareness of birth registration in a manner that reflects national priorities and
strategies,
1.
Expresses concern at the fact that, despite ongoing efforts to increase the
global rate of birth registration, approximately 230 million children under the age of 5
worldwide are still not registered, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund;
2.
Reminds States of their obligation to register births without discrimination of
any kind and irrespective of the status of the parents of the child, and also reminds States
that birth registration should take place immediately after birth, and that late birth
registration should be limited to those cases that would otherwise result in a lack of
registration;
3.
Welcomes the report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights on birth registration and the right of everyone to recognition everywhere
as a person before the law,1 which documents the wide range of barriers to access to
universal birth registration and the good practices adopted by States in fulfilling their
obligation to ensure birth registration;
4.
Calls upon States to establish or strengthen existing institutions at all levels
responsible for birth registration and the preservation and security of such records, to
ensure adequate training for registration officers, to allocate sufficient and adequate human,
technical and financial resources to fulfil their mandate, and to increase, as needed, the
accessibility of birth registration facilities, either by increasing the number or through other
means, such as mobile birth registration officials in rural areas, paying attention to the local
community level, promoting community awareness and working to address the barriers
faced by vulnerable groups, such as persons with disabilities, in their access to birth
registration;
1
2
A/HRC/27/22.