UNICEF’s Convention on the Rights of the Child states that every child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right to a name and a nationality.
No Birth Certificate, No Rights
The births of some 48 million children, most of them poor, go unrecorded each year. Children without birth certificates can be denied health care, education, citizenship, and special protection under the law as minors. As adults they can be denied passports, a marriage or driver’s license, and their right to vote or own property.
Barriers to Registration
Some parents are too poor to pay the registration fee. Others don’t understand the need or procedure to obtain birth certificates. For families living in rural areas, travel to the nearest registry office may be too far or unsafe. World Vision’s Response
Since February 2004, World Vision has been working with the Canadian International Development Agency to register more than 15,000 children and youth in Bolivia, El Salvador, and the Dominican Republic. Birth Certificates in Bolivia
World Vision estimates that 300,000 Bolivian children do not have identity papers, including Anahi Martinez, a sponsored girl. Through World Vision’s program, Anahi recently received her documents. “The birth certificate allows you to know when you were born, how old you are, who your parents are,” the nine-year-old says. “It’s important to have an identity.”
Birth Certificates in Indonesia
World Vision recently helped 1,500 tsunami-affected children in Banda Aceh and Aceh Besar obtain birth certificates from the Indonesian government. The children had lost their documents in the disaster.
