A/HRC/39/30 through which communities were consulted on how birth registration could be further supported.49 E. Preventing and addressing statelessness 67. Possession of a birth certificate is, in some countries, a requirement to establish a child’s nationality or obtain further documentation proving nationality, such as national passports or identity cards. In some countries, a birth certificate on its own is seen as proof of nationality, especially where nationality is acquired automatically on the basis of birth in the country. It is important to clarify, however, that registering a child’s birth usually does not confer nationality, which is acquired through a State’s specific nationality law, implemented through separate processes that are distinct from birth registration. Nonetheless, as birth registration often serves as a crucial document and first step to prove a child’s origins and links with a State, strengthening rates of and access to birth registration is fundamental to preventing and addressing statelessness. 68. Ensuring access to birth registration, including for displaced peoples for whom a birth certificate is an essential means of proving legal identity, is a political and policy priority in Thailand. The country’s reform of the Civil Registration Act in 2008 ensured that birth registration would not be limited to children of Thai nationals, and would be provided as a right to all children regardless of their parents’ nationality and legal status. This enabled members of stateless communities, such as “hill tribe” communities living in remote areas, to register their children’s births. Multiple further measures to ensure birth registration and grant nationality where applicable to prevent statelessness have been implemented, including legal reform and related guidelines, developing an online registration system linking hospitals with registration offices, building the capacity of local registration officials, and awareness-raising through outreach to community networks. In addition, provisions for late birth registration are in progress with the aim of addressing statelessness.50 69. In Turkey, the children of non-nationals are entitled to birth registration and residency rights in accordance with the residency rights of their parents, and by law are provided, after their birth, with a residence permit relevant to their situation. Children who are stateless are entitled to stay in Turkey legally if they are identified as stateless persons, and any child born in Turkey who does not acquire citizenship at birth from his or her parents is entitled to Turkish citizenship from the moment of birth. These legal and policy provisions ensure that children born of parents living in Turkey as stateless persons are registered as Turkish citizens, helping to prevent the transfer of statelessness across generations.51 70. In Kenya, obstacles to birth registration, including high transport costs, poverty and illiteracy, particularly affect communities in rural areas and in areas where stateless people live, particularly in the counties of Kwale and Kilifi. In collaboration with UNHCR and NGOs, the Government has decentralized birth registration through mobile birth registration exercises and integrated implementation with community health services in remote and hard-to-reach areas. These measures have extended birth registration to stateless people living in previously unreached parts of the country. 52 F. Ensuring continuity in conflict and humanitarian situations 71. Conflict and humanitarian situations are increasing globally, and a preventive approach in which birth registration data is permanently and securely stored is essential. Birth registration data or documentation often serves as a crucial form of proof of identity 49 50 51 52 14 Submission from Serbia; and UNHCR, “Ensuring birth registration for the prevention of statelessness”. Submission from Thailand. Submission from Turkey. UNHCR, “Ensuring birth registration for the prevention of statelessness”.