Raising awareness about child’s right to identity with the International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL)

The education day hosted by the IAFL, East Africa Law Society and the Commonwealth Lawyers Association on 2 September had over 100 participants from across Africa eager to learn about latest trends. Nankali Maksud, Child Protection Regional Advisor, UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa Office provided an overview of child protection issues and birth registration in the region. With this background in place, Mia Dambach, Executive Director, Child Identity Protection was able to discuss the importance of having a legal identity to establish family relations. On the 6 September, during the session on Novel and Hot Topics in Child Law she was able to present on the importance of birth registration for age verification in preventing under-age informal unions. She then explained how a birth certificate can be used to prevent the celebration of formal marriages through marriage registration processes based on the 11 country comparative study undertaken with UNICEF WCARO.

Further information : https://www.iafl.com/media/5tgocb5n/20250901-symposium-programme-1-september-20252.pdf