Timeline
A concise history of research on statelessness and birth registration as bordering practice can be found below:
2001-01-01
World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (WCAR)
United Nations
The conference declaration recognizes the issues of population under-registration and invisibility in national statistics as an international concern for marginalized groups. It urged States to take all possible measures to register and document racialized persons.
2007-01-01
First Regional Latin American Conference on the Right to Identity and Universal Birth Registration
UNICEF and Plan International
Participants from 18 Latin American governments, Indigenous and Afro-descendant leaders, NGOs, and IOs recommended eliminating under-registration to improve public policies and guaranteeing the right to an identity for people in border regions and for migrant populations, among others.
2009-06-01
Africa Programme on Accelerated Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (APAI-CRVS)
African Centre for Statistics at the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in partnership with African Union Commission (AUC), African Development Bank (AfDB), Secretariat of African Symposium on Statistical UNICEF, World Health Organization (WHO), UNHCR, UNFPA, INDEPTH Network, Plan International and PARIS21
This continent-wide initiative developed following the political commitment and policy directives of the ministers in charge of civil registration to reform and improve CRVS systems. Milestones include:
June 2009: Expert Meeting in Dar-es-Salam, Tanzania highlighted the need to seek political commitment August 2010 : First Conference of Ministers in Addis Ababa, where ministers committed to improve CRVS in countries and support regional effort
January 2011: Expert Meeting in Addis Ababa. Ministers declaration was converted into an action plan marking the inception of the regional CRVS program.
September 2012 : Second Conference of Ministers in Durban, launched process of countries undertaking comprehensive assessment of the CRVS
February 2015: Third Conference of Ministers in Yamoussoukro, Cote d’Ivoire produced the Yamoussoukro on “Promoting the use of CRVS in support of Good Governance in Africa”.
June 2016: Heads of States and Government decided to declare 2017–2026 as the “Decade for repositioning of CRVS [civil registration and vital statistics] in Africa’s continental, regional and national development agenda.”
December 2017 : Fourth Conference of African Ministers Responsible for Civil Registration in Nouakchott. Second phase of APAI-CRVS (2017-2021) is launched, with focus on capacity building. The strategic vision is “Everyone visible in Africa.”
October 2019: Fifth Conference of Ministers and Expert Meeting in Lusaka, Zambia, focused on “Innovative CRVS System: Foundation for Legal Identity Management.” 2022-2030:
As of April 2022 UN ECA was drawing up a new strategic and action plan.
2011-01-01
Second Latin American Regional Conference on the Right to Identity and Universal Birth Registration
UNICEF, IDB, Plan International, OAS, with the Electoral Tribunal of Panama and government of Korea
The goal of the conference was to make progress on the elimination of under-registration in the region by 2015.
2012-12-01
High-level Meeting on the Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in Asia and the Pacific
UNESCAP and WHO
As requested by the Commission in its resolution 67/12, the secretariat convened the High-level Meeting on the Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok on 10 and 11 December 2012. The High-level Meeting was co-hosted with the World Health Organization (WHO) in collaboration with an organizing committee comprising 18 other development partners and was attended by over 230 senior officials representing the health, civil registration and statistics sectors from 43 ESCAP member States, 3 non-ESCAP Member States and 22 development partners.
2014-09-01
International Identity Management Conference
Government of Korea (Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs), the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the Inter-American Development Bank
The main objective of the first International Identity Management (Id-M) Conference was to create synergies and disseminate specialized knowledge regarding the conceptual and practical complexities involved in modernizing civil identity and identification systems. The focus of the three-day event was on the role of identity management as a contributing factor to strengthen governability and improve public policies and services across the globe. These proceedings are meant to provide a condensed account of the presentations and discussions that took place at the conference.
2014-11-01
First Ministerial Conference on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in Asia and the Pacific
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP)
In 2014, governments and development partners around Asia and the Pacific recognized that many countries did not have universal and responsive civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems. This lack of well-functioning systems hampered inclusive and sustainable development, as well as progress towards achieving development goals, such as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDGs). In response, from 24 - 28 November 2014, in Bangkok, Thailand governments and development partners convened for the First Ministerial Conference on CRVS in Asia and the Pacific.
Attendees issued the Ministerial Declaration to "Get Every One in the Picture" in Asia and the Pacific, support the Regional Action Framework for CRVS and declare the CRVS Decade (2015-2024) as the time frame for which countries should achieve their shared vision that, "by 2024, all people in Asia and the Pacific will benefit from universal and responsive CRVS systems that facilitate the realization of their rights and support good governance, health and development".
2015-04-01
The Hague Colloquium on the Future of Legal Identity
Civil Registration Centre for Development, The Hague and the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research
At this colloquium social scientists and policy researchers examined the various forms of civil registration and identification currently used and introduced around the world. The conference aimed to map out a set of comparative questions that will frame research and support policy makers in designing the best possible recommendations for the states that must still confront the intractable difficulties of mass identity registration.
2015-11-01
National Identification Conference
Jacqueline Bhabha, Harvard FXB School for Health and Human Rights
Launched in September 2013, the National ID Number (NIN) Project works to examine the scientific, technical, social and political aspects of national ID numbers. Under the leadership of Jacqueline Bhabha, Director of Research at the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, along with Conference Co-Chair and Visiting Scholar Deborah Rose, the program aims to build an interdisciplinary body of knowledge on national identification numbers, examining the necessity, benefits, challenges, feasibility and implications of the growing adoption of such as system by countries worldwide.
2016-01-01
Identification for Development: Harnessing the Power of Digital Solutions
World Bank ID4D Initiative
One-and-a-half billion people around the world can’t prove who they are. Without an ID, they face barriers doing everyday tasks such as opening a bank account, accessing social benefits, and getting health insurance. New technologies can help countries build robust and inclusive identification systems. The World Bank’s Chief Economist and panelists from governments and the private sector discuss how countries have developed identification systems to enable a range of key development outcomes.