One Registry, Endless Potential: How Sri Lanka is Modernizing Civil Registration

For millions in Sri Lanka, accessing basic services—obtaining the passport, enrolling a child in school, receiving social protection—starts with a simple yet essential step: having the right documents. But for too many, the civil registration system, which provides such crucial documents, is slow, outdated, and full of roadblocks.

While Sri Lanka registers most births, the process is paper-based, prone to delays, and leaves vulnerable communities—including rural families, persons with disabilities, and the urban poor—at risk of exclusion. Manual documentation of births and deaths often leads to bottlenecks, leaving many waiting months for critical records. …read more on UNDDG