A birth registration initiative supported by the Government of Japan, UNHCR and UNICEF is reported to improve access to registration services for around 1.2 million people in Sulu, according to a UNICEF Philippines press release dated 22 September 2026. It said that, in the 2020 Census of Population and Housing, about 20 per cent of Sulu's population remained unregistered, with geographic isolation among the barriers.

The initiative provided a new boat and mobile birth registration vehicles to the Provincial Government of Sulu and seed grants to youth advocates, supporting outreach in remote communities. At a ceremonial handover of assets on 7 September, officials linked the effort to the Philippines' National Action Plan to End Statelessness. The release said more than 5,000 people in the province and more than 26,000 across the Bangsamoro region and Sulu had been registered and issued birth certificates.

According to the release, the initiative is expected to benefit some 30,000 individuals over its 30-month implementation and a further 800,000 people, or 80,000 families, in the next 10 years. These are stated projections, not confirmed outcomes.