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cases the certificates are only printed on demand. Most countries assess a fee
for birth certificates.
Delayed registration. Many countries have a deadline for reporting births
to the local CR office, often one month from the date of birth. To register a
birth beyond that date, some countries require payment of a small fine, while
in other cases delayed registration requires a judicial hearing. To ensure that
annual birth statistics are as complete as possible, most countries include
births registered during the early part of the following year, often up to the
end of the first quarter of the year. It should be noted however that births
registered outside the allowable period, while still vitally useful to the
individual, will not be included in birth statistics.
There are many variations on the registration steps noted above. Countries
may require health facilities to prepare birth notification forms but give the
form to the family rather than send the form to the CR office. In this case a
family member will be required to visit the CR office with the form to complete
the registration process. Some countries may have very specific requirements
concerning the family member authorized to report a vital event to the CR
office, while other countries may accept any family member as a declarant.
Some countries may not allow the registration of births to unmarried mothers.
Other countries may not allow the registration of births to refugees/displaced
persons.

5. Birth Registration Barriers
Despite the abundance of reasons to register a birth, barriers and other
problems may prevent birth registration. The challenges may be due to the
attitudes, perceptions or resources of the parents, they may be due to aspects
of the registration system itself, or due to a combination of the two. The table
4
below lists a number of common barriers to birth registration. These barriers
are well known in the civil registration field.

Barriers to Birth Registration
Barriers related to parents:
1. Parents may not be aware of the need to register a birth, or feel that a birth certificate may not
be needed under their present circumstances.
2. Parents may not have the means to travel to a distant civil registration office to complete the
registration process.
3. Cultural practices may require time before the first name of the child is selected, meaning that
the birth cannot be registered during the accepted time period after birth.
4. Parents may assume that children that die shortly after birth do not need to be registered, or
do not report the birth and infant death to avoid burial costs.
5. There may be alternative sources of identification for children, such as a health passport, that
suffice for childhood.

4 Pelowski MW, Wamaj RG, Wnagombe J, et al. Why don’t you register your child? A study of
attitudes and factors affecting birth registration in Kenya, and policy suggestions. Journal of
Development Studies, 8:1-24, 2015.
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