A/HRC/27/22 other problems that are more immediate and tangible.53 Often parents are unaware of their right to register their child and of its importance until they find themselves in a situation where they need proof of identity, such as when seeking access to schooling or health services.54 55. This is a fundamental problem that many countries are working hard to address. While top-down approaches to mandating birth registration can be useful, it is vital that they are combined with a wider recognition among communities of the importance of this issue; greater demand for such services will put pressure on the Government to improve its systems and to provide universal access. Awareness-raising is an ongoing process, not simply a one-off activity. C. Accessibility 56. Social awareness of the importance of birth registration is of little value without measures to facilitate access to this right. In many countries, geographical obstacles are the most persistent challenges to achieving high levels of birth registration. This is the case in countries where the majority of the population live in rural areas, with the bulk of public services being provided in a few major towns. This is highlighted by the differentials in urban and rural registration rates: globally, children living in urban areas are one and a half times more likely to be registered than children living in rural areas.55 57. Accessibility of registration depends not only on location but also on infrastructure and the availability of public transport.56 The cost of travelling a long distance to register a child may be not only a financial burden but also have opportunity costs, such as the time spent away from work to make the journey. In addition, in many countries, the complex procedure requires multiple visits, creating an additional obstacle to birth registration for populations who are located in remote areas. 58. The proliferation of registration offices is not, however, necessarily advantageous. Proximity of service to the population is important, but it must be balanced against the financial cost of establishing numerous registration offices that are not feasible because of their minimal workload. Other solutions must therefore be sought for service delivery; for example, interoperability with existing services, such as health and education, and the use of new technology for vital event notification.57 59. Registration must not only be physically accessible, but socially accessible too. Materials concerning registration must be provided in local and minority languages. Furthermore, the information must also be presented in a form that is comprehensible, and the forms to be filled in simple enough to ensure that those with low literacy levels can understand them. Information in an easily accessible form is not only important at the time of registration, but also when conducting awareness-raising programmes. 60. Excessive documentation requirements is another obstacle to registration. In many countries, birth registration requires a child’s parents to produce a set of documents, such as their own identity documents, birth registration documents and/or documents issued by 53 54 55 56 57 Ibid., p. 12. See UNICEF, Every Child’s Birth Right: Inequalities and trends in birth registration, 2013 (available at www.unicef.org/media/files/Embargoed_11_Dec_Birth_Registration_report_low_res.pdf), p. 20. Ibid., p. 23. UNICEF, The ‘Rights’ Start to Life: A Statistical Analysis of Birth Registration, 2005 (available from www.unicef.org/publications/files/R55BirthReg10a.pdf), p. 6. UNICEF, A Passport to Protection (see footnote 3), p. 88. 13