Stateless children deprived of their basic rights

Governments across the globe must register all children at birth to effectively address the issue of stateless people.

Marking the 50th anniversary of the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, Plan has emphasised that stateless children are among the most excluded and vulnerable to abuse, exploitation and violation of their basic rights.

“Birth registration is the first step in ensuring all children have legal existence and they can enjoy their basic rights such as education and health care. Identity and nationality are a birth right of every child,” said Nadya Kassam, Plan’s Head of Global Advocacy.

Joe with his ID card, in Thailand

According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) there are about 12 million stateless people globally, of which about 6 million are believed to be children.

Millions of children are still not registered

Children who are not registered at birth are more likely to be rendered stateless as they are unable to prove their parentage or place of birth. The situation is worse for children who are born to stateless parents.

Each year around 50 million of the world’s newborn remain unregistered, primarily in developing countries. The reasons include lack of political will, inadequate infrastructure, low awareness among parents and high costs of obtaining a birth certificate. Discrimination based on gender and ethnicity is also one of the factors.

Plan in action

Plan has been working with governments to address the barriers to birth registration since 1998 and has facilitated the registration of over 40 million people in 32 countries. Despite these efforts, the number of unregistered children remains high, especially among marginalised and excluded communities.

In South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa only a third of all children under the age of five are registered at birth. In some countries like Bangladesh, Liberia and Ethiopia the birth registration figure for under-fives stands at ten per cent or less.

“Governments must make registration available without any discrimination. It need not be expensive, it prevents statelessness and it is every child’s right,” said Kassam.

In Thailand, Plan is helping families and children to participate in a DNA-testing project which aims to prove genetic ties between parents and their unregistered children. Read the full story