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A recently released report by UNICEF has revealed that births of only 39 per cent children under age of five in South Asia have been registered. The report, titled Every child’s birth right: inequities and trends in birth registration, has also brought to light the fact that among the 10 countries with the largest numbers of unregistered children, India has the most, by a wide margin.
The graph below shows the number of children below five whose births are not registered in the 10 countries with highest numbers of unregistered children.
According to the report, which collected statistical analysis from 161 countries and presented the latest available data with estimates on birth registration, the births of nearly 230 million children under-five have never been registered—approximately one in three of all children under five around the world.
The rates vary significantly across regions, with the lowest levels of birth registration found in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Asia is home to more than half of these children (59 per cent); another 37 per cent live in sub-Saharan Africa; the remaining 4 per cent are from other regions.
What makes registration difficult?
In the report, UNICEF has described birth certificate as a “vital record that documents the birth of a child. In some cases, the issuance of a birth certificate automatically follows birth registration, although in others a separate application must be made”. The report has pointed out that globally, 1 in 7 registered children does not possess a birth certificate. In some countries, this is due to prohibitive fees. In other countries, birth certificates are not issued and no proof of registration is available to families.
According to the international agency, unregistered births are a symptom of the inequities and disparities in a society. The children most affected by these inequities include children from certain ethnic or religious groups, children living in rural or remote areas, children from poor households or children of uneducated mothers.