Delivered at the General Debate on Item 3: Promotion and Protection of All Human Rights, Civil, Political, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Including the Right to Development.
On 17 March, on behalf of DCI-Lebanon, Defence for Children International delivered a statement during the 58th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland. The statement asserted that birth registration is a fundamental human right and called attention to the hundreds of thousands of unregistered children at risk of statelessness in Lebanon.
There are between 50,000 and 60,000 stateless people in Lebanon, excluding Palestinian refugees born in Lebanon. Additionally, 100,000 children born to Syrian refugees in Lebanon remain unregistered.
Lebanon unfortunately lacks a systematic mechanism to ensure all births are registered. Furthermore, the lack of birth registration is also affected by:
- Legal barriers that are complex and consist of strict deadlines, making registration difficult; missing the one-year deadline leads to costly legal procedures.
- High costs and fees that make registration unaffordable for low-income families.
- Displacement challenges that affect families and prevent them from accessing civil registry offices.
- Many parents are unaware of the importance of timely registration or its serious consequences
Unregistered children are deprived of their right to a name, nationality, education, healthcare, and legal protection. They are more vulnerable to exploitation, trafficking, recruitment into armed groups, and lifelong statelessness.
DCI urges the Lebanese government and international partners to take the following steps:
- Implement a computerised system for birth notifications and streamline the process
- Extend administrative registration and deadlines and simplify procedures for late registrations.
- Reduce penalties and offer financial assistance for legal fees to ease the burdens on families.
- Deploy certified midwives in refugee settlements to ensure proper birth documentation.
- Educate families about their right to register births and the importance of doing so.
- Provide free legal assistance to Lebanese and refugee families facing registration challenges.
We urge Member States, UN agencies, and humanitarian organisations to prioritize birth registration in their funding, programming, and advocacy efforts. Together, we can prevent an entire generation from being left stateless and vulnerable.
24 March 2025
Source: defenceforchildren.org