Indigenous communities in Latin America want better access to birth registration

September 2010 – Not enough consideration is given to the unique culture and living situations of indigenous people in Latin America when it comes to birth registration, according to a new report by Plan Latin America. Entitled Systematization of experiences on the right to identity and birth registration of indigenous children in Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala and Panama, the report (only available in Spanish) focuses on those four countries because of their large indigenous populations and higher than average levels of unregistered births. Overall in Latin America 11% of children are not registered but there are significant disparities between countries. In Bolivia for instance, the number soars to 26% and even 28% in rural areas. 

Released on 7 September in Quito, (Ecuador) the study looks at the various factors that contribute to lower birth registration rates for indigenous communities in Latin America. Indigenous people often live in poor rural areas, have problems with literacy and have little knowledge of their rights. Language can be a huge barrier to registration as many indigenous peoples speak their own dialect and administrative documents are often only in Spanish. 

Indigenous peoples want more understanding from registrars and local officials. Indigenous names are frequently recorded wrongly, or even given new ones altogether if registrars deem them inappropriate: “[The registrars] did not accept Ruby as a name for my granddaughter because they said it was a thing and not a name. So they put Derubiela. That was imposed”, one woman told Plan. 

Indigenous communities are also asking for services closer to their villages, better training of registration staff and more consideration of their culture and how this affects registration. For example in Bolivia, it is common to leave registration until the baby is two years old, to make sure it has a better chance of survival. In Guatemala, genocide committed against Mayan indigenous groups during the early 1980s has made communities wary of handing over their details to authorities.

With this report, released in the lead-up to 2015 – the year that Latin American governments have committed to achieving free and universal birth registration – Plan in conjunction with other NGOs hope to help strengthen national protection systems for children and teenagers through proper and complete registration.

Read the Executive Summary (in Spanish)