ISLAMABAD: South Asia has seen the fastest increase in birth registration rates among all regions in the last two decades, soaring from 39 percent in 2008 to 76 percent in 2024, according to a new UNICEF report released this week, which called on Afghanistan and Pakistan to speed up efforts to achieve universal birth registration by 2023. 

India, Nepal, and Bangladesh have made significant strides in securing legal identities for millions of children, as per the report, ‘The Right Start in Life: Global Levels and Trends in Birth Registration, 2024 Update.’ Maldives, Bhutan and Sri Lanka have near 100 percent coverage due to prioritizing timely registration, using health, social protection, and education systems to register babies, expanding services to more locations, digitizing the process and eliminating fees.

Released on UNICEF’s 78th birthday, the report is the latest update on the number of children registered since 2019. Article 7 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child states affirms every child’s right to have their identity established ‘immediately’ after birth through birth registration. 

“To achieve universal birth registration by 2030, Afghanistan and Pakistan, in particular, must accelerate their efforts,” UNICEF said on its website in a statement about the report.

“Bangladesh, which has made significant increases over the past decade, needs to scale up birth registration. India has also made remarkable progress over the last ten years, and a ‘celebrating the last-mile’ strategy would enable the country to reach universal birth registration by 2030.”

Sanjay Wijesekera, UNICEF Regional Director for South Asia, said in a statement a birth certificate was the foundation for legal identity.

“But it’s so much more than a document, it protects children’s rights and enables them to access essential services like health care, education and other social services,” she said. 

“Today, as UNICEF marks 78 years of championing children’s rights, we celebrate the millions of children who now have their right to a legal identity and a lifetime of promise and possibility.” 

Over 42 million children under age five are still not registered and remain ‘invisible’ in South Asia. 

This means they are deprived of their right to legal identity and social services. According to the report, one-fourth of the total number of unregistered children under five globally lives in South Asia.

Countries can recommit to scale up birth registration across South Asia, ahead of the ‘Third Ministerial Conference on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) in Asia and the Pacific’ in June 2025, UNICEF said, calling for every child to be registered at birth, for the registration process to be streamlined and for health, social protection and education programs to be used in scaling up birth registration.

“To uphold our commitment to leave no child behind, we must prioritize birth registration to protect children and give them the best start in life,” said Wijesekera.

“UNICEF calls on leaders across South Asia to accelerate efforts so that every child in the region is registered at birth. It’s the right thing to do.”