Afghanistan Civil Registration

Online Collections

 * 2001-2012 - U.S. Casualties From Iraq and Afghanistan Conflicts, 2001-2012 - Ancestry ($)
 * 2006-2019 - All Global, Find A Grave Index for Burials at Sea and other Select Burial Locations, 1300s-Current Results - Ancestry ($)

Historical Background
Birth certificates are rare, according to a representative of the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU) (16 Apr. 2006), a donor-funded, Kabul-based research organization that seeks to improve Afghan lives (AREU n.d.). The AREU Representative explained, in correspondence with the Research Directorate, that birth certificates "may in certain very unusual circumstances be obtained from the hospital and approved by the Interior Ministry" (16 Apr. 2006). No information on the exact nature of these "unusual circumstances" could be obtained by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response. An official from the Embassy of the Republic of Afghanistan in Ottawa also stated in a telephone interview with the Research Directorate that birth certificates have historically not been issued in Afghanistan (22 Nov. 2007). However, the Embassy Official stated that if birth certificates are not obtained immediately after a child's birth, they are difficult to acquire later on (Afghanistan 22 Nov. 2007).

According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), provincial-level birth registration has started in Kabul as part of a UNICEF-supported project, although registration is initially limited to a few maternity hospitals (UN 31 Mar. 2007). The Embassy Official commented that the process of birth registration is made more challenging by the high number of home births in Afganistan (Afghanistan 22 Nov. 2007). Births that take place in a hospital are much more likely to be registered (ibid.). The United States (US)-issued Reciprocity Schedule indicates that although the "availability and veracity" of birth certificates varies widely, birth records are provided by some hospitals and local authorities (US n.d.).

With respect to children born in refugee camps, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported in 2004 that the agency is working to ensure birth certificates are issued to newborn children in 15 refugee camps located on the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan (UN 6 Feb. 2004). The birth certificate is described as follows:

The new document records the baby's name and gender, date and place of birth, the father's name and place of origin. It is signed by UNHCR and Project Directorate Health, an organisation linked to Pakistan's Commissionerate of Afghan Refugees that provides medical services under an agreement with UNHCR. (ibid.) refworld, (accessed 23 June 2020).