- The child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right from birth to a name, the right to acquire a nationality and. as far as possible, the right to know and be cared for by his or her parents.
- States Parties shall ensure the implementation of these rights in accordance with their national law and their obligations under the relevant international instruments in this field, in particular where the child would otherwise be stateless.
– UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
Overview of Article 7
The rights to a name, a birth registration and to a nationality are well established rights in international and national laws. All non-discrimination clauses of all international and regional human rights treaties include birth as a prohibited ground for discrimination.
The Article 7 aims to facilitate recognition of the legal personality of the child as an independent human being having agency to exercise their rights everywhere from birth through right to a name, through provision of full citizenship rights, through nationality and preventing their statelessness [1]. Due to their dependence to adults at birth, the article introduces an additional element as a measure for the best interest of the child: the right of the child to know their parents and to be cared for by their parents.
Children of unmarried couples, children who were born after their parents divorced, children born out of surrogacy agreements, adopted children, children born during flight from a conflict, refugee children, children of migrant parents, children of nomadic tribes, children of indigenous groups, children of ethnic minorities may experience rights violations in exercising their right to birth registration [2].
Many services imperative for a child’s development as well as lifesaving services provided by public administration require birth registration of the child.
Core attributes of Article 7
The core attributes of Article 7 are:
- Free, compulsory and accessible birth registration immediately after birth of all children
- Acquiring nationality and prevention of statelessness of a child
- Knowing and being cared for by their parents
Each of these attributes can be measured in terms of structural or process implementation or in terms of outcomes achieved through implementation as outlined in the table below. Some indicators, for instance the structural ones, may be common to all attributes. Others are common to two or more attributes, while some indicators may be relevant to one attribute only. An attempt has been made to balance the use of objective and subjective data indicators as well as qualitative and quantitative ones.
What did children say?
These are some ideas that children from around the world shared with us during the Global Child Rights Dialogue (GCRD) project:
Relevant provisions within the SDGs
- Goal 16 Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.
- Target 16.9 By 2030, provide legal identity for all, including birth registration.
- SDG indicator 16.9.1 Proportion of children under 5 years of age whose births have been registered with a civil authority, by age.
- Target 16.9 By 2030, provide legal identity for all, including birth registration.
Potential sources of data for users of the indicators sets
- Demographic Health Surveys (DHS)
- Household surveys
- National vital registration systems
- Primary research by National Human Rights Institutions for Children
- UNICEF MICS
- WHO
References used for the overview
- United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). (2007). Implementation handbook for the Convention on the Rights of the Child (Fully rev. 3rd ed., pp. 97-109). Geneva, Switzerland: UNICEF.
- United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR). (2010). Study of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on challenges and best practices in the implementation of the international framework for the protection of the rights of the child in the context of migration, (para. 57-61). Retrieved from https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Migration/Pages/Consultationbestpracticeschildmigration.aspx
References used to create indicators
- Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. (2014). Birth registration and the right of everyone to recognition everywhere as a person before the law (Human Rights Council Session 27 No. A/HRC/27/22). Retrieved from https://www.refworld.org/docid/53ff324e4.html
- United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). (2007). Implementation Handbook for the Convention on the Rights of the Child (Fully Revised 3rd Ed.). Geneva, Switzerland: UNICEF.
- United Nations General Assembly. (2015). Sustainable Development Goals. Retrieved from https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300
- Vaghri, Z., Arkadas-Thibert, A. et al. (2010). Manual for Early Childhood Rights Indicators: A Guide for State Parties’ Reporting to the Committee on the Rights of the Child. UNICEF. Retrieved from the Save the Children website: https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/library/manual-early-childhood-rights-indicators-manual-indicators-general-comment-7
- World Vision International. (2014). Compendium of Indicators for Measuring Child Well-being Outcomes. Retrieved from https://www.wvi.org/sites/default/files/Compendium%20of%20Indicators-English.pdf
- Ziemele, I. (2007). Article 7: The right to birth registration, name and nationality, and the right to know and be cared for by parents. In A. Alen, J. Vande Lanotte, E. Verhellen, F. Ang, E. Berghmans, & M. Verheyde (Eds.), A Commentary on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Leiden Netherlands: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.
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