Submission for 2025 OHCHR report on the rights of the child and violations of the human rights of children in armed conflicts

Child Identity Protection (CHIP) welcomes the opportunity to provide input for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights’ (OHCHR) report on the rights of the child and violations of the human rights of children in armed conflicts (HRC res. 55/29), which is being coordinated by the Child and Youth Rights section within the OHCHR. This submission is based on CHIP’s work including the Legal Atlas on birth registration currently being developed in collaboration with UNICEF (UNICEF/CHIP Legal Atlas), work with UNICEF WCARO and Cameroon as well as public sources. Despite the importance of birth registration, UNICEF notes that “emergencies infringe on many individual basic rights, including access to a name and a nationality. In almost all emergencies, including armed conflicts, natural disasters and humanmade hazards, vital event registration systems become dysfunctional and, in extreme cases, they collapse entirely, archives may be destroyed, and documents are lost.” CHIP recommends that States should ensure that CRVS systems are shock and disaster resistant, adapted to the specific needs of all children and their families. Cooperation including between international, regional and national stakeholders should be encouraged through memorandum of understandings, as well as ratification of relevant international standards such 1996 Hague Convention and ICCS Convention No.34. Family reunification should be prioritised where children are separated from their families, preserving the child’s right to family identity.