The child’s right to identity – including birth registration, name, nationality, and family relations under Articles 7-8 CRC – is a stand-alone right. The right to have one’s birth registered and acquire a nationality are also stand-alone rights. The lack of formally recognized and documented identity - a legal identity (SDG 16.9) - prevents children from accessing basic rights such as education, health, development, and social services. Due to the lack of identity, millions of children are excluded from the education system (e.g.: unable to enrol, sit final exams).  This symposium seeks to shed further light on the challenges faced by children who lack an identity in accessing education services, as well as provide promising practices in response. This event will help States and other relevant actors to:

• Raise awareness about the massive and lifelong impact of identity loss and/or deprivation
• Comply with their commitments to the achievement of SDG 4 (universal education) and SDG 16.9 (legal identity for all

·        Implement the 2023 Human Rights Council Resolution on birth registration which specifically recommends to States: (d) To strengthen interoperability and linkages with other sectors, in particular the health, educational and social protection sectors, while respecting the right to privacy, in order to ensure prompt birth registration in health facilities and to facilitate catch-up mechanisms for older children or adults, so that all persons may have access to a legal identity;