“Around one third of the world’s children under the age of five have not had their births registered and do not officially exist, leaving them vulnerable to abuse and neglect, … UNICEF said on Wednesday,” the Thomson Reuters Foundation reports (Batha, 12/11). “Almost 230 million youngsters under the age of five have no birth certificate, which puts them at a disadvantage for procedural matters and leaves them more vulnerable to abuse,” Agence France-Presse writes (12/11). “The associated paperwork is often necessary to secure health care, education, and other basic rights,” The Atlantic notes (Jacobs, 12/11). “The 10 countries with the lowest birth registration levels are: Somalia (three percent), Liberia (four percent), Ethiopia (seven percent), Zambia (14 percent), Chad (16 percent), United Republic of Tanzania (16 percent), Yemen (17 percent), Guinea-Bissau (24 percent), Pakistan (27 percent) and Democratic Republic of the Congo (28 percent),” according to a UNICEF press release (12/11). In its report (.pdf), “UNICEF said it was using innovative approaches to help governments and communities strengthen their civil and birth registration systems,” BBC News writes (12/11).