Latin America: giant step in registration battle
Taking place in the Paraguayan capital, Asuncion, the conference brought together leading experts on birth registration from 18 countries, who sought to find common ways of dealing with the rapidly growing issue. The event was designed to achieve consensus and form the basis of regional and national plans that guaranteed free, universal and timely birth registration for all children by 2015.
Throughout Latin America one in six children born did not legally exist because they were not registered at birth and had no formal or official identity. Without a birth certificate millions of children are excluded from basic services and daily face exploitation and risk.
While the numbers of unregistered varied from between 12-35 per cent throughout the region, closer inspection revealed that entire communities or ethnic groups simply did not exist on paper: they had no official contact with the state, received nothing from the state, and gave nothing to the state.
Plan chief executive officer Tom Miller said: “These numbers are staggering and increasing dramatically. Each year 2,000,000 children are born with no legal identity. Every day and everywhere people without any legal form of identity fight a constant uphill struggle for active involvement in society and access to their basic rights and social services.
”In an increasingly complex world, birth registration and identity will become increasingly vital for the governments of the region. As urban migration and limited resources increase, the need for clear and precise population information will become even more valuable. That is why we need sustainable solutions now.”in America: giant step in registration battle
