8 October marks International Birth Registration Day every year. For 2024, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, come together to call for increased awareness of the importance of birth registration, as birth registration is the first legal recognition of every person’s legal identity. Without a birth registration, a child may become stateless, leaving them with higher risk of exploitation and abuse.

In Thailand, both UNICEF and UNHCR have worked closely with the Government to raise awareness and facilitate birth registration to accelerate towards ending childhood statelessness. In April, the Royal Thai Government joined the Global Alliance to End Statelessness in order to reaffirm the country's continued commitment to resolving and preventing statelessness. Thailand has also undertaken considerable legal and policy reform to its nationality and civil registration laws since 2008 to improve a legislative framework that offers pathways for access to nationality. 

Throughout October and November, a video series telling stories of children who were born stateless in Thailand will be featured on UNICEF and UNHCR's social media platforms.

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