Nearly 80 per cent of the people in the world profess a religious belief and the vast majority of these faithful belong to an organized religion. Most major religions have a long tradition of celebrating the life cycle, particularly the birth of a child. This means that religious leaders are uniquely positioned as moral voices to lead a call to extend birth registration to all children. Religious communities5 can help raise awareness about the importance of birth registration, which is a first step in providing new-borns with a safe and healthy future.