COUNT ME!
I have the Right to Birth Registration!

20 years United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
20 reasons for Children’s Right to Birth Registration

“Who am I? Where did I come from? What’s my nationality? All I know is that my name is Murni, but I don’t have proof for that! COUNT ME!” Child in Indonesia

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Children have the right to an identity!

Children’s right to an identity is set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Millions of children born every year are not registered at birth. Without proof of citizenship through registration, children struggle to realize other rights under the Convention, for example their parents may not be able to access essential child health services, such as immunization programmes.

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Millions of ‘invisible children’ get access to vital services after Global Campaign

The International child rights organization Plan has facilitated the registration of over 40 million people – mostly children- in 32 countries during the life of the ‘Universal Birth Registration’ (UBR) campaign. This is more than the entire population of Canada. Plan’s five-year global campaign ‘Universal Birth Registration’ had one simple ask – for every child to have a birth certificate (2005-2009). The campaign also helped to improve laws in 10 countries – enabling access to registration for an additional estimated 153 million people and ensuring birth certificates for generations to come.

The report ‘Count Every Child’ documents dramatic change in some countries over short periods of time. For example, in Cambodia around 7 million people (around 56 per cent of the population) picked up their birth certificates in only 10 months. And one area of Indonesia saw registration rates soar from only 3 per cent to 72 per cent in two years.

The Universal Birth Registration (UBR) campaign has given official recognition to many remote and marginalised groups - from 20,000 street children in Dhaka, Bangladesh to the Baka people of Cameroon who had never previously been officially registered. The report also reveals some remarkable stories of determination, including a woman from the Dominican Republic who walked 120km just to register her child.

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Birth registration gives children a voice!

51 million children a year are still not registered at birth. This lack of birth registration is both a symptom and a cause of underdevelopment in the countries where it occurs. Registering a birth is a critical first step in ensuring the rights of a child. Registration means proof – not only of identity, but of existence. A non existent child cannot enjoy the rights of a child outlined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

You can download the report ‘Count Every Child’ in English/French/Spanish here:
http://plan-international.org/about-plan/resources/publications/campaigns/count-every-child
For more information please contact: Sabine Terlecki, Communication and Advocacy Officer