KOTA KINABALU — Children in Sabah without citizenship documents or recognised nationality are falling behind across every major area of wellbeing, according to a new comprehensive study on child living conditions in the state.

The Sabah Child Wellbeing Index (SCWI) 2026 — a large-scale survey of 4,441 children across the state — found that stateless and undocumented children recorded the lowest outcomes in health, education, nutrition, and development.

The two-phase study which purposefully included 591 children identified as stateless or undocumented (stateless), while a smaller number of 59 children were identified as undocumented without being classified as stateless.

The study notes that these classifications often intersect due to administrative barriers, lack of birth registration, and inherited documentation gaps across generations.

These children consistently recorded the lowest outcomes across nearly all wellbeing domains, including health, education, safety, nutrition and participation. This pattern places them at the extreme end of deprivation within the state’s child population.

In terms of health, while 92.3 per cent of all children in Sabah reported access to healthcare, only 0.6 per cent of undocumented or stateless children met the overall health wellbeing threshold.

The health domain includes indicators such as vaccination completion, mental health, and access to healthcare services.

“Only two per cent have access to needed care, while just 9.4 per cent are up to date on vaccinations,” said the report.

Education outcomes show a similar gap. Across all children surveyed, only 27.2 per cent met the learning wellbeing threshold, but for undocumented or stateless children, the figure dropped sharply to just 2.7 per cent.

Some 35.6 per cent had access to education, 21.7 per cent had access to information, and school education completion was just 8.4 per cent — indicating severe exclusion from meaningful educational attainment despite broader system access.

In the growth and development domain, out of all the children, 30.6 per cent met the recommended standards for nutrition and development checks while just 19.1 per cent of stateless and undocumented children met the standard.

“Interestingly, 78.6 per cent of undocumented or stateless children and 100 per cent of children with disabilities met the threshold for nutritious food consumption, a surprising finding given the documented vulnerabilities of these groups. Social desirability bias, where caregivers report what they believe is the ‘right’ answer, may partially explain this result,” the report said.

When it comes to the safety of children, which uses indicators like adequate housing, food security, water and sanitation, safe commutes, social environment and protection from violence and crime, 6.6 per cent of stateless and undocumented children met the threshold, the only domain where they scored higher that total number of children where only 6.1 per cent met the threshold.

They also scored moderately when it comes to the domain in “Am I connected and do I have a voice?”, where 56.2 per cent met the threshold, compared to 61.6 per cent overall who met the threshold.

This domain explores their sense of belonging in school, religious and other communities and sense of support and hopefulness for the future.

Researchers attributed this moderate proportion to community belonging in alternative learning centres or local community networks.

However, outcomes were extremely poor in core domains such as health, learning, and safety, underscoring the exclusion these children face from basic services, legal protections, and essential infrastructure.

On a more positive note, 87.6 per cent received early stimulation and responsive care, indicating strong caregiving support within households despite systemic exclusion.

The report said the results were due to broader systemic constraints, noting that undocumented and stateless children are often excluded due to lack of legal identity and civil registration systems, which affect their ability to formally register for school, healthcare entitlements, and social protection systems.

“The findings reinforce that while Sabah shows relatively high service access overall, children without legal documentation remain largely outside the effective reach of these systems.”