Side event on Practical approaches to accelerating birth registration through interoperability with other sectors
The side-event was organised in the margins of the 63rd session of the Human Rights Council bringing together governments, UN actors and practitioners to look at how health, education, social protection, civil registration and identity systems can work together to ensure that every child is registered.
Moderated by Philip D. Jaffé, Vice-Chairperson of the CRC Committee, the discussion explored what this cooperation looks like in practice and how the 2026 Human Rights Council resolution on birth registration can help accelerate implementation.
- Ambassador Francisca E. Méndez Escobar, Permanent Representative of Mexico to the United Nations in Geneva, provided the background to Resolution A/HRC/61/24 on birth registration and the right of everyone to recognition everywhere as a person before the law, led by Mexico and Türkiye.
- Bhaskar Mishra, UNICEF, highlighted the potential of interoperability between civil registration and health, education, social protection, digital identity and national identification systems, while also underscoring the safeguards needed as systems become increasingly digital.
- Marin Roman, Global Alliance to End Statelessness, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, focused on the role of universal birth registration in preventing childhood statelessness and the need for stronger cooperation between civil registration authorities, nationality authorities and frontline services.
- Mia Dambach, Child Identity Protection (CHIP), presented the UNICEF–CHIP Legal Atlas on Birth Registration Laws, showing how comparative legal analysis can help identify barriers in law and policy and support reforms that make birth registration more accessible and non-discriminatory.
Co-sponsors and partners: Child Identity Protection (CHIP), Global Alliance to End Statelessness, International Federation of Social Workers, Permanent Mission of Chile to the UN, Permanent Mission of Mexico, Permanent Mission/Embassy of Iceland, Geneva, Permanent Mission of Uruguay, OHCHR, UNHCR, and UNICEF.
The challenge now is moving from recognition of the importance of universal birth registration to practical, coordinated systems that make registration work for every child.
