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digital camera that could be used to issue photoID cards on the spot (Paldi 2006). <strong>The</strong> Cambodiangovernment used an even more aggressive approachto ‘mobile registration’: following changes to theCambodian Civil Code that made birth registrationmandatory, mobile registration teams — run bynon-governmental organisations but with the government’sblessing — have been going door-to-doorto deliver free birth registrations to people’s homessince 2004. <strong>The</strong> results have been dramatic: overthe course of only a few years, the number of registeredCambodian citizens increased from 5 percentto 85 percent (Damazo 2006). A UNICEF-backedprogramme in Bangladesh has employed a similarstrategy, sending trained registrars house-to-house,with similar results: in the ten years since this programmebegan, over 12 million births have been<strong>for</strong>mally registered (UNICEF 2006).Another potentially valuable approach to improvingregistration ef<strong>for</strong>ts is to ‘bundle’ registrationwith other service delivery programmes. For example,many countries have, or are considering,extensive vaccination programmes <strong>for</strong> children inpoor communities. It may often be relatively easy<strong>for</strong> the health worker providing the vaccination toregister each child she vaccinates (ADB 2005).This approach, used successfully in Bangladesh,is more cost effective than financing a separateregistration campaign alongside the vaccinationcampaign <strong>for</strong> the same population (UNICEF2006). In addition, it is conceivable that themother, and even the extended family members,can be registered at the same time without muchextra ef<strong>for</strong>t, thus profiting from a fitting chainregistration service. Similarly, some poor women— sadly, not nearly enough — receive some <strong>for</strong>mof prenatal care, and some have the assistanceof a health care professional at delivery. Whilewomen receiving prenatal and delivery care arealready more likely to register their children, empoweringhealth providers to register newbornsmight substantially improve registration ef<strong>for</strong>ts.For example, a pilot programme in large publichospitals in South Africa was successful in registeringlarge numbers of poor children (UNICEF2003). Primary school registration at enrolmenttime is yet another opportunity <strong>for</strong> registeringchildren who might otherwise lack a legal identityif they had not have been registered at birth.An alternative strategy that might be effective,provided that incentives are well targeted, is outsourcingthe partial or entire registration processto local stores, banks, and other places were peopleengage in economic activities. Similarly, somepoor women — though, sadly, not nearly enough— receive some <strong>for</strong>m of prenatal care, and somehave the assistance of a health care professionalat delivery. While women who receive prenataland delivery care are already more likely to registertheir children, empowering these healthproviders to register newborns might substantiallyimprove registration ef<strong>for</strong>ts.Another sort of ‘bundling’ strategy might link<strong>for</strong>mal legal registration with traditional culturalpractices such as naming ceremonies (ADB2005). Just as religious leaders are often empoweredto officiate at weddings and legally validatemarriages, so, too, can religious or communityleaders officiating at childbirth rituals be empoweredby the state to register children. This approachhas the advantage of making registrationseem less like an alien <strong>for</strong>mality imposed by thestate and more like an integral part of familiarcultural traditions. A related observation is thatlocal chiefs or community leaders can often serveas a valuable liaison between registration authoritiesand poor communities. <strong>The</strong> local chief canboth provide in<strong>for</strong>mation to the community anddeal with the state authorities.8