A/HRC/27/22 communities is common, and non-registration can be a significant barrier to family tracing and reunification. Reuniting children with family members in emergency situations is the best way to provide children with safety, security and care; without a birth certificate or other form of identification, however, this process can be exceedingly difficult, especially for young children.38 V. Good governance 36. To protect the rights of all individuals, birth registration must be part of a comprehensive civil registration system that is continuous, permanent, compulsory and universal.39 Civil records must be kept in a form that cannot easily be destroyed. Furthermore, retrieval of records should be possible for persons at any stage of their life. 37. The security of the civil registration and vital statistics system, and of the birth certificate that is issued as proof of registration, is also vital. The birth certificate is often a “breeder” document for other forms of identification, including identity papers, passports, driver’s licences and voter registration cards.Unlike these documents, however, it is not tied to the individual by a photograph or biometric data. The use of fraudulent birth certificates to obtain genuine identification documents under a false name or age is increasing, and poses a threat to national and international security.40 38. While birth registration within such a system is a fundamental human right, its impact goes beyond the individual to have vital importance for the State, and a profound effect on governance at the national and international levels in improving services and ensuring accountability. 39. The demographic information provided by a comprehensive civil registration system, including birth registration, is crucial for government planning and decisionmaking, as well as for the monitoring of programmes for children, families and the broader community. Accurate information gives the State the ability to not only track, counter and prevent abuse against individuals but also to plan service provision for children and their caregivers and to evaluate the impact of policies; for example, it can permit the Government to plan the construction of adequate numbers of schools and to train a sufficient number of nurses and doctors in specialist areas to treat the needs of the population. 40. This aspect is particularly important for minority groups, as birth registration provides a more accurate measurement of child health and more accurate health statistics in high-risk populations.41 In fact, UNICEF found that, when lack of birth and death registration is concentrated among population groups at high risk (such as minority groups, indigenous populations, and families living in slums), child mortality may be systematically underestimated.42 In this respect, birth registration must be universal. Where coverage is not complete, data from registration are skewed towards those with a higher income and with 38 39 40 41 42 10 Innocenti Insight, Birth Registration and Armed Conflict, UNICEF, 2007, p. vii. See also A/HRC/19/63. UNICEF, A Passport to Protection (see footnote 3), p. 22. Ibid., p. 48. Mariana Muzzi, “UNICEF good practices in integrating birth registration into health systems (20002009)”, January 2010 (available from: www.unicef.org/protection/Birth_Registration_Working_Paper(2).pdf), p. iv. Ibid., p. 11.