Tawi-Tawi birth registration boosted with new vehicles and information materials
Tawi-Tawi birth registration boosted with new vehicles and information materials
With the new resources now in the hands of the provincial government of Tawi-Tawi, the Philippines’ southernmost province, mobile birth registration missions and community outreach are set to expand in the coming months as local leaders, civil registrars, and humanitarian actors work together to make sure no one is left behind.
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, with support from the Government of Japan, has formally handed over on 16 June 2025 one (1) birth registration caravan vehicles which forms part of a total of three (3) vehicles, a motorboat, and community advocacy materials that will be provided to the Province of Tawi-Tawi to support the efforts to reach vulnerable communities with birth registration.
The handover marks a critical step forward in the implementation of the Initiative for Promoting Digital Birth Registration, with the resources expected to enhance the capacity of Tawi-Tawi’s local civil registrar to reach remote Sama Bajau communities and unregistered children who have been forcibly displaced by conflict.
Tawi-Tawi Governor Yshmael Sali receives the symbolic key to one of the mobile birth registration vehicles during the official handover ceremony held in Bongao on 16 June 2025.
Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Endo Kazuya and representatives from UNHCR, UNICEF, Tawi-Tawi government, and civil society partners present the seed grants for youth networks across Tawi-Tawi who will help in raising awareness on the significance of birth registration to address statelessness.
Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Endo Kazuya highlights the importance of identity in empowering communities and reaffirms Japan’s commitment to supporting digital birth registration through sustainable and inclusive solutions.
Governor Yshmael Sali of Tawi-Tawi underscores the importance of reaching vulnerable communities during the handover ceremony.
Minister Raissa Jajurie of the Ministry of Social Services and Development highlights the importance of a rights-based and responsive approach in the implementation of the digital birth registration initiative in the Bangsamoro region.
State Counsel Melvin C. Suarez of the Department of Justice (DoJ)– Refugees and Stateless Persons Protection Unit shares their steadfast commitment to the National Action Plan to End Statelessness and to ensuring every individual is legally recognized.
Lindsey Atienza, Assistant Protection Officer of UNHCR Philippines, underscores the importance of enhancing local capacity through mobile vehicles and advocacy tools to ensure no one is left behind in birth registration efforts across and beyond Tawi-Tawi.
Andreas Wuestenberg, Chief of UNICEF Mindanao Field Office, explains their role in providing community advocacy materials and seed grants to youth networks, as part of a whole-of-society approach to improve birth registration access in the Bangsamoro region and Sulu.
“Combined, these are essential tools that will enable local civil registrars to go further into remote communities to ensure that birth registration is within reach of the most vulnerable in this region,” said Lindsey Atienza, Assistant Protection Officer of UNHCR National Office in the Philippines.
With the continued support from the Government of Japan, the initiative will cover all 11 municipalities of Tawi-Tawi by the end of 2026, ensuring that the province achieves full digitization of its birth registration system.
Birth registration is essential in the efforts to establish legal identity, providing a critical safeguard against the risk of becoming stateless.
Alongside these logistical assets, UNICEF also provided community-centered advocacy materials that aim to raise awareness and encourage target communities to register their children’s births and seed grants to youth networks that will help in awareness raising in the target communities.
“UNICEF is working with the national, the regional BARMM government and local government units to ensure that policy mechanisms are in place to create sustainable solutions that lead to an increased investment for children to improve access to birth registration and other social services” said UNICEF Mindanao Field Office Chief Andreas Wuestenberg.
While the Philippines has achieved a national birth registration rate of 96.6%, in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) and Sulu province, the rate remains at 77%. All provinces here also rank among the 10 lowest in the country in terms of registered births, highlighting a persistent gap in access to civil documentation.
Remote geography, limited access of local civil registrars, low awareness about the benefits if birth registration, procedural difficulties, and data errors have contributed to the slower progress in these areas. To aid in bridging this gap, UNHCR, in collaboration with UNICEF and partners Community and Family Services International (CFSI) and Relief International (RI), are implementing the initiative which aims to reach 50 municipalities across the BARMM and Sulu within 30 months.
Tawi-Tawi is among the areas identified for these efforts, particularly targeting populations at risk of statelessness like the Sama Bajau, whose births have remained largely undocumented due to their itinerant lifestyle among other factors, and unregistered children facing forced displacement due to conflict.
“We take pride in the outcome of this partnership because this initiative for promoting digital birth registration will significantly enhance and strengthen our efforts on birth registration. This addresses the long-standing challenge in birth registration in Tawi-Tawi, particularly among vulnerable groups such as the Sama Bajaus, internally displaced persons, and families affected by armed conflict,” said Tawi-Tawi Governor Yshmael Sali.
In support of the government’s normalization agenda and integration efforts, the initiative has also allowed birth registration to include decommissioned combatants and their families who have faced similar obstacles amidst armed conflict and forced displacement.
“In strengthening their identities, we not only help secure their rights and dignity, but also a pathway for them to contribute to the region’s growth,” said Honorable Endo Kazuya, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to the Republic of the Philippines. “To further safeguard their identities, we aim to reach these marginalized groups through informative means and digitalization. With our valued partners, we will also seek to strengthen their appreciation for identity, allowing for a better sense of belonging, trust, and community to take root.”
Minister Raissa M. Jajurie who leads the Ministry of Social Services and Development (MSSD) said that while she foresees that the upcoming months will “entail a lot of work and dedication” from the teams involved under the initiative, “the MSSD will continue its leadership and commitment through a balanced and responsive approach to the rights, needs, and aspirations of the Bangsamoro.”
Representing the Department of Justice – Refugees and Stateless Persons Protection Unit (DOJ-RSPPU) State Counsel Melvin C. Suarez also conveyed the commitment from the side of the national government, stating that “as the lead government agency in the implementation of the National Action Plan to End Statelessness, the DOJ reaffirms its unwavering commitment to ensuring that every individual is recognized, protected, and given the opportunity to enjoy the full rights.”
Since its launch in 2024, the initiative has already helped local civil registrars register the births of over 3,500 individuals across the BARMM and Sulu, marking progress toward the vision of registering an estimated 30,000 individuals during its implementation period. This initiative aligns with the Philippines' National Action Plan to End Statelessness, the UNHCR-UNICEF Joint Strategy for Addressing Childhood Statelessness, and contributes to Sustainable Development Goal 16.9, which aims to provide legal identity for all by 2030.
ABOUT THE INITIATIVE FOR PROMOTING DIGITAL BIRTH REGISTRATION
The Initiative is being implemented by UNHCR Philippines to improve the birth registration rate in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) and Sulu province. Through funding from the Government of Japan, UNHCR Philippines together with its partners Community and Family Services International (CFSI), Relief International (RI), and UNICEF Philippines, and in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Services and Development (MSSD), Philippine Statistics Authority – Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (PSA-BARMM), and the Office of Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPRU), works on strengthening the protection space for the Sama Bajaus and unregistered children within the context of forced displacement due to armed conflict. The initiative also covers decommissioned combatants and their families as part of the efforts to complement the normalization efforts of the Philippine Government.
The Initiative is seen to benefit some 30,000 individuals during its 30-month implementation period and is expected to further benefit 800,000 individuals or 80,000 families in the next 10 years.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Karen Cepeda | External Relations Associate, UNHCR Philippines | [email protected] |
