Colombia

Impact of the universal birth registration campaign

Before the universal birth registration campaign was launched in 2005

Before the launch of the campaign, 83.5% of under-fives were registered (of which, 87.6% were in urban areas and 74.5% in rural).

Following the campaign 

The proportion of under-fives who are registered has now risen to 90.2% (93.4% in urban areas, 83.4% in rural). 

Government policy and practice on birth registration 

The National Registration Office is committed to achieve universal coverage by 2015. Under the National Plan of Development 2006-10: 

• a project for technological modernisation hopes to reach 200 clinics and hospitals and guarantee registration as soon as a child is born
• mobile registration campaigns will reach the most isolated or displaced populations. 

Universal birth rights campaign strategy

The campaign started in 2006 and is still being implemented 

Aim of campaign 

The campaign aims at ensuring that governments, communities and other local players provide birth registration for children to guarantee their right to an identity, facilitate their access to services, and make them less vulnerable to exploitation. The objectives promoted are to:  

• strengthen the birth registration policy, especially for populations affected by displacement, mainly due to armed conflict
• harmonise birth registration legislation to the local reality
• strengthen the credibility of birth registration and influence it to raise awareness of the importance of birth registration for children.  

Strategy 

• Strengthening the state’s capacity: providing technical assistance to the National Registration Office to improve its response and create public policy coordination spaces.  
• Alliances: bringing together the efforts from the state, United Nations agencies such as UNHCR and UNICEF, OIM among others. 
• Local campaigns: implementing national identification campaigns.  

Outcomes

Policy and legislation changes 

A national forum on civil registration was set up to identify strategic aspects for law reform. Currently, it is drafting a bill on the civil registration law to be submitted to the next congress.  

Government capacity and practice

The national civil registration table was created to advance the development of public policies.  

Waiver/reduction of costs

The mobile units have allowed greater access to the service, reducing the costs of travelling, photos and blood tests.   

Partnerships, coordination, cooperation, alliances and coalitions

There have been joint efforts with UNICEF, the National Registration Office, OIM, UNHCR, and state organisations to implement the mobile registration unit. 

Community awareness

We carried out communication campaigns for the right to an identity.

Ownership and sustainability (Have the duty-bearers, the state, taken responsibility? How have rights-holders, communities, and civil society been involved to ensure sustainability?)

The National Registration Office and the social action programme of the Presidency of the republic have started to lead the registration process, and have allocated significant resources to the operation of the mobile civil registration unit.   

Registering the most marginalised and hard to reach communities  (ethnic minorities, nomadic groups, orphans, street children, migrants and refugees etc)

The mobile registration unit addresses identification problems for the population displaced because of armed conflict. In general, families displaced with their children in the midst of the armed conflict leave behind their identification documents, and some children have been born during this displacement.  

Involving children in the UBR campaign

In 2007, children played a special and active part in the development of a birth registration newspaper.   

Good practice

• Working in alliances has been essential, not only because it is a learning experience, but also because resource management is more effective.  
• The mobile campaigns have reached the most isolated populations, changing the pattern of people going to the institutions.  

Challenges, gaps and barriers

• Children have limited access to services that guarantee education or health, so people do not understand the importance of birth registration, as they cannot access such services in any case.  
• There is little recognition of civil registration as a right by some population groups  

National level recommendations 

• Continue working on the topic as a public policy issue, and finding resources to have registration units in hospitals as well as mobile units. 
• It is important to go forward on the law reform.   

Plan provides technical and financial assistance for the operation of civil registration mobile units and is currently promoting the law reform.   

Future activities 

The National Civil Registration office is leading UBR. The plan for the future is to withdraw financial assistance gradually, but to continue providing technical assistance.   The process started this year with a cut in the resources provided, and will be assessed annually.