Background information of the High Level Dialogue.
Both Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, calls for legal identity for all, including birth registration. The realization of both Agenda requires that every vital event is registered and information related to the events are collected, compiled, produced and disseminated in a regular and continuous manner to guide policy and planning, to inform decisions, enable all stakeholders to track progress and make the necessary adjustments to ensure transparency and mutual accountability. Several legal instruments and protocols of the AU call for the promotion and strengthening of birth registration, notably the African Charter on Human Rights; the Convention on the Rights of Children and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.
Article 6 of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child contains provisions relating to naming, acquisition of nationality, and birth registration. The African Union Assembly in July 2016 declared 2017-2026 as the decade for repositioning civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) in Africa within continental, regional and national development agendas and urges governments to respond with appropriate action. Ensuring universal birth registration is one of the areas that required focused action during this decade.
Through the Africa Program on Accelerated Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (APAI-CRVS), the AU is also bringing its support to the United Nations Legal Identity Agenda 2020-2030. An initiative backed by the UN Secretary General to support countries building holistic, sustainable, civil registration, vital statistics and identity management systems.
Birth registration in Africa had remained stagnant for a long time, leaving millions of children deprived of their basic right to legal identity. Thanks to commitments taken by Governments at the past five Conference of African Ministers responsible for Civil Registration[1] there have been encouraging signs of progress in birth registration due to the implementation of many innovations and good practices. With only 52 per cent of children under 5 now registered, the continent is not yet on track to meet the SDG goal of every child having a legal identity, including birth registration, by 2030.
In West and Central Africa, over the past three years, the regional average of children under 5 registered at birth increased from 45 per cent to 53 per cent equalling up to 8.6 million more children registered. In Eastern and Southern Africa, the average percentage of under 5 children registered is currently 40 per cent. Some countries on
the continent like Algeria and Tunisia have reached 100 per cent while others like Ethiopia and Somalia are as low as 3 per cent.
The “No Name Campaign
The African Union and UNICEF on 17th of June launched a continental advocacy campaign the “No Name Campaign: For every child legal identity, for every child access to justice”. Acknowledging that lack of legal identity for many Africans is a developmental challenge for Africa’s socio-economic transformation, and that registration of children at birth is one of the key elements to accelerate social justice, the campaign seeks to rally for the speedy implementation of commitments by the African Union Member States, towards universal registration of children at birth.
The launch of the campaign is equally timely as concerns rise on the threat of birth registration rates falling behind amid COVID-19 pandemic. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic could indeed worsen the situation and jeopardize progress made so far. Many countries have introduced lockdowns and restrictions of movements. Birth registration centers and service points are closed in many countries, thereby reducing availability and accessibly of registration services. The Department of Economic Affairs of the AU Commission in collaboration with UNICEF conducted a survey on the impact of COVID-19 on birth registration statistics and services. The survey revealed some good practices and innovations taking place in Countries to advance birth registration despite some challenges like cost of producing birth certificates, timing of birth certificate, and delayed registrations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
On August 11, African Union Senior Officials of the AU Member States responsible for Birth Registration held a virtual meeting organized by the Department of Economic Affairs of the AU Commission and UNICEF gathered virtually to discuss the progress, challenges and opportunities to accelerate birth registration in Africa in this new context of the COVID-19 pandemic in light of the findings of the rapid assessment survey and an overall review of the current status of birth registration on the continent. Besides sharing of experiences, participants agreed on a road map of key events related to the continental No Name Campaign; formulated recommendations to the attention of Ministers and other partners in the field of birth registration.
Objective of the High-Level Dialogue
The High-Level Political Dialogue on Birth Registration in Africa follows the Senior Officials at the technical meeting that was held virtually on August 11 on the same theme: Towards Universal Birth Registration in Africa: challenges and opportunities during COVID-19. The objectives of the HLPD on Birth Registration are:
-
Mobilize political commitment from AU Member States to achieve Universal Birth Registration for Universal Birth Registration in Africa.
-
Positioning Birth Registration as a driver for strengthening national CRVS and enabler for countries’ effective economic development planning;
-
Adopt the road map of the No Name Campaign and the Agenda for Action as well as the proposed list of Countries to champion the Campaign in their sub-regions;
Expected outcomes of the High Level Dialogue
The HLPD meeting is expected to issue the following strategic document to guide the work of the continent in the space of birth registration:
-
A declaration on Universal Birth Registration in Africa by 2030
-
A Road map and Agenda for Action for the AU-UNICEF No Name Campaign over the next 12 months;
-
List of Countries that will Champion the Campaign and will report on progress at the upcoming 6th Conference of Ministers (COM) on Civil and Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) to be held in 2021
Target audience of the High Level Dialogue
The main target audience include AU Member States Ministers or Deputy Ministers responsible for issues of birth registration or their delegated Officials, Registrar Generals, representatives from the Regional Economic Communities, Chairpersons of Specialized AU Institutions, Principals of civil society organizations, UN Agencies and private sector entities working on Birth registration and Identity.
