[child-rights] Millions of babies go unregistered at birth, denied their identity, a recognized name and a nationality

Press release

GENEVA/NEW YORK, 4 June 2002 - A United Nations Children's Fund
(UNICEF) study has revealed that millions of babies go unregistered
at birth, denying them an official identity, a recognized name and a
nationality.

Using the most recent data available, the UNICEF report, entitled
Birth Registration - Right from the Start, estimates that 50 million
babies were not registered in the year 2000 - 41 per cent of births
world-wide. In 19 countries, at least 60 per cent of all children
under the age of five were not registered at birth. The report calls
for free birth registration for all children.

"These children have no birth certificate, the 'membership card' for
society that should open the door to a whole range of other rights
including education and health care, participation and protection",
says the report.

In later life, the unregistered child may be unable to apply for a
passport or formal job, open a bank account, get a marriage licence,
stand for elective office or vote.

"A birth certificate is one of the most important pieces of paper a
person will ever own," said Carol Bellamy, UNICEF Executive Director.
"If we do not get it right from the start and register babies, it is
an up-hill battle from there on. Unregistered children lack the most
basic protection against abuse and exploitation and become a more
attractive commodity to a child trafficker, illegal adoption rings,
and others who seek to take advantage of their non-status," she said.

The right to be registered immediately after birth and to acquire a
name and a nationality is recognized under article 7 of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child. This was reinforced by the
recent UN General Assembly Special Session on Children which called
on all Member States to develop systems to ensure that all children
in the world enjoy
such rights.


The UNICEF report notes that unregistered children are, almost
inevitably, the children of the poor and excluded and that, in
today's world, with massive population movements, organised child
trafficking and the growing impact of armed conflicts upon children,
birth registration is more essential than ever.

The value of birth registration continues to be overlooked, according
to the report. It says that registration is a critical measure to
secure the recognition of every person before the law, to safeguard
the protection of his or her individual rights, and to ensure that
any violation of these rights does not go unnoticed. Proof of age is
an important first step in protecting children from age-related abuse
and exploitation, including military recruitment and involvement in
armed conflict, child labour and early marriage, says the report.

"Birth registration is a fundamental step towards good governance and
a vital element in securing democratic systems," said Bellamy. "The
root causes of non-registration are often economic and political, and
as such it is a core development issue that must be addressed
alongside poverty reduction and universal access to basic services."

The UNICEF report shows the percentage of annual births not
registered by region in 2000. In sub-Saharan Africa, over 70 per cent
of births went unregistered, as were 63 per cent in South Asia. South
Asia tops the league in terms of sheer numbers of unregistered
children, with approximately 22.5million, or over 40 per cent of the
world's unregistered births in 2000, compared to a total of around 17
million in sub-Saharan Africa. In the Middle East and North Africa,
nearly one-third of the children born in 2000 (or some 3 million)
lacked legal recognition of their identity, while in the East Asia
and Pacific region 22 per cent of births in 2000 - some seven million
children - were unregistered.

The UNICEF report says universal registration is a goal within the
reach of all states. It calls for measures to reach that goal, in
particular:

- providing sufficient resources so that birth registration is free
of charge in every country.
- passing new legislation or updating and harmonizing old laws to
facilitate registration rather than penalize non-registration.
- ensuring adequate registration offices and trained personnel to
guarantee that no child is left behind.
- mainstreaming birth registration with other governmental activities
and 'piggy - backing' on other service delivery programmes, including
immunization and school enrolment.
- encouraging demand by raising awareness of the importance of birth
registration and involving all levels of society, including local
communities.

Countries waging successful campaigns to raise their birth
registration levels:

Uganda once had a thriving registration system. Created in 1904, the
system covered the entire country by 1930 but was completely
unravelled as a result of bloodshed under General Idi Amin and the
years of turmoil that followed. Uganda is now making great efforts to
revitalise its registration system, with encouraging results. In its
first year of implementation, one million children were registered.

The Philippines conducts a mass campaign every February - designated
'civil registration month'. Awards for the best performing registrars
complement nation-wide publicity about the importance of
registration.

In Bangladesh, while overall levels of birth registration are still
low, recent campaigns have resulted in the registration of over four
million children.

India has established national registration campaigns operating in 15
different languages. It includes television and radio spots, posters,
stickers, billboards, and publicity and documentary films shown in
cinemas.

In Thailand, the Child Friendly Schools Programme is helping children
to learn about their rights, including birth registration.

The birth registration campaigns in recent years in Angola have
demonstrated that, despite the devastation of war, popular demand for
birth registration can be extremely high. The first four months of a
campaign begun last year saw the registration of more than 230,000
children.

Countries where significant numbers of children are unregistered:

In Rwanda, birth registration stood at over 80 per cent in 1973, but
birth certificates with information on the holder's ethnic origins
were used to deadly effect by genocide killers in 1994. By 1998
Rwanda was among the countries with the lowest levels of birth
registration, although the most recent figures give some grounds for
optimism.

Cambodia's registration records were destroyed under the Pol Pot
regime and the Government is still rebuilding its civil registry.

In Niger, only an estimated 45 per cent of births are registered
(fewer among the nomadic population).

In China, it is estimated that the number of unregistered children
may be as high as six million.


In Indonesia, the fourth most populous nation in the world, 37 per
cent of children under five had not been registered in 2000.

In Turkey, some 26 per cent of children under five years of age go
unregistered.

In Nicaragua, a combination of fragmented, outdated legislation and
budgetary restraints has contributed to a registration rate of less
than 40 per cent. A new comprehensive law for civil registration has
now been drafted.


*****

"Birth Registration - Right from the Start" is produced by the UNICEF
Innocenti Research Centre (IRC) as part of its Innocenti Digest
series. Media representatives may log onto the IRC web-site newsroom
for embargoed press materials, including a press release and the full
text of the report.

The URL is: http://www.unicef-icdc.org/publications/

For more information, please contact:

Patrick McCormick, UNICEF Florence, 39 055 203 3354,
pmccormick@unicef.org
Wivina Belmonte, UNICEF Geneva, 41 22 909 5509,
wbelmonte@unicef.org
Jehane Sedky-Lavandero, UNICEF New York, (212) 326 7269,
jsedky@unicef.org