Birth registration is a key way to prevent statelessness and ensure every child can acquire a nationality. Yet, some children in Europe still face the risk of statelessness due to persisting barriers to birth registration.
This briefing is part of a series of thematic briefings and summarises how the 32 countries featured in the Statelessness Index perform against international norms and good practice in their birth registration law, policy, and practice.
It introduces the relationship between birth registration and the prevention of statelessness, provides an overview of norms and good practices on birth registration, and presents a state of play analysis on birth registration law, policy, and practice in Europe using the data from the Statelessness Index.
This briefing highlights groups who are disproportionately affected by discriminatory barriers to birth registration and suggests key action areas for ensuring universal access to immediate, free birth registration as a way of safeguarding every child’s right to a nationality and preventing childhood statelessness in Europe.
