Child Birth Registration
"It is the girl child who suffers the most. If she is not registered, and cannot prove that she is a child, she can be married off or be forced into child labour, or even forced into prostitution. As such their education and health depends on birth registration."
- Mr Jacob, People’s Rural Education Movement (Prem), India
1.)What is Birth Registration?
Birth registration is the process by which a child's birth is recorded in the civil register by the applicable government authority.It provides the first legal recognition of the child and is generally required for the child to obtain a birth certificate and consequently any other legal documents and rights. Whilst, in some cases, this is issued to the child at the same time as registration, in others, a separate application must be made. It is important that the registered child receive a birth certificate, since it is this that provides permanent, official and visible evidence of a state's legal recognition of his or her existence as a member of society
2.)Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Article 7
1. The child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right from birth to a name, the right to acquire a nationality and. as far as possible, the right to know and be cared for by his or her parents.
2. States Parties shall ensure the implementation of these rights in accordance with their national law and their obligations under the relevant international instruments in this field, in particular where the child would otherwise be stateless.
3.)Why is it necessary ?
1.It is difficult for unregistered children to prove their legal identity.
2.Unknown numbers of children orphaned by AIDS are being denied their right to inherit parental property because they do not have a birth certificate providing legal proof of their identity and family ties.
3.In some countries around the world, a child without proof of citizenship will be denied access to vaccination programmes.
4.In Bangladesh, marriage of a child under 18 is prohibited by law. However, a mere declaration regarding the age of the bride is enough for marriage
registration. The incidence of early marriage could be reduced if all marriage registrars asked for birth certificates and proof of age.
5.The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that around 246 million children are currently involved in child labour worldwide. Of these, 179
million – or one in every eight children worldwide - are exposed to the worst forms of child labour, which endanger their physical, mental or moralwell-being. Birth registration can play an important role in combating child labour. Establishing a legal minimum age for work is clearly an important first
step but, without an effective birth registration system to back it up, it is difficult for government agencies acting to eliminate such practices by confirming the age of the children concerned.
6.In many countries, sexual relations with a girl under 16, with or without her consent, are regarded as rape. Yet, without a birth certificate to confirm a
girl's age and to prove she is underage, it is hard to obtain a conviction.
7.Research carried out for Plan Nepal uncovered a situation where police were unwilling to trace a girl known to have been trafficked across the border to a brothel in India because she had no birth certificate or means of identification. This meant that there was no proof of her age, nationality or even her existence. This is great cause for concern given that there are currently an estimated 200,000 women and girls missing from Nepal, believed to
have been trafficked to India.
8.A Plan commissioned survey of children in rural schools in Ghana found that many children – even literate ones – freely admitted that they did not know
their age. 80 per cent of those who did give their age were found to be incorrect when their answer was compared to the date of birth given in the school register (which also tended to be hugely incomplete). In the case of one boy who gave his age as 10 years old it emerged, after lengthy investigation, that he was actually 17 years old.
9.In some parts of Burkina Faso there exists the belief that registering a child can be a bad omen and among other consequences, spell death for the child. Clearly such beliefs are incompatible with the concept of registering births and cause birth registration systems to fail.
10.In Cameroon, the Baka Pygmies are significantly under-represented in the 80 per cent national birth registration rate, with a recent census showing that up to 98 percent of children in Baka communities do not have a birth certificate. Plan Cameroon has been working with indigenous populations for over six years, helping them gain official recognition from the government. The local authorities have now officially accepted four Baka communities as recognised villages. Plan has also helped more than 200 Baka adults to get an identity card which, in turn, means that they can now get a birth certificate for their unregistered children.
11.At the Third Asia Regional Conference on Birth Registration, an example was given of a child of nearly 18 years of age sentenced to the death penalty.
His lawyers were attempting to get relief for him under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. However, he faced difficulty in getting true justice because he could not prove his exact date of birth due to the absence of a birth certificate.
CITED FROM:"WWW.CHILD BIRTH REGISTRATION.COM", "www.listingsillinois.com"
- Mr Jacob, People’s Rural Education Movement (Prem), India
1.)What is Birth Registration?
Birth registration is the process by which a child's birth is recorded in the civil register by the applicable government authority.It provides the first legal recognition of the child and is generally required for the child to obtain a birth certificate and consequently any other legal documents and rights. Whilst, in some cases, this is issued to the child at the same time as registration, in others, a separate application must be made. It is important that the registered child receive a birth certificate, since it is this that provides permanent, official and visible evidence of a state's legal recognition of his or her existence as a member of society
2.)Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Article 7
1. The child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right from birth to a name, the right to acquire a nationality and. as far as possible, the right to know and be cared for by his or her parents.
2. States Parties shall ensure the implementation of these rights in accordance with their national law and their obligations under the relevant international instruments in this field, in particular where the child would otherwise be stateless.
3.)Why is it necessary ?
1.It is difficult for unregistered children to prove their legal identity.
2.Unknown numbers of children orphaned by AIDS are being denied their right to inherit parental property because they do not have a birth certificate providing legal proof of their identity and family ties.
3.In some countries around the world, a child without proof of citizenship will be denied access to vaccination programmes.
4.In Bangladesh, marriage of a child under 18 is prohibited by law. However, a mere declaration regarding the age of the bride is enough for marriage
registration. The incidence of early marriage could be reduced if all marriage registrars asked for birth certificates and proof of age.
5.The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that around 246 million children are currently involved in child labour worldwide. Of these, 179
million – or one in every eight children worldwide - are exposed to the worst forms of child labour, which endanger their physical, mental or moralwell-being. Birth registration can play an important role in combating child labour. Establishing a legal minimum age for work is clearly an important first
step but, without an effective birth registration system to back it up, it is difficult for government agencies acting to eliminate such practices by confirming the age of the children concerned.
6.In many countries, sexual relations with a girl under 16, with or without her consent, are regarded as rape. Yet, without a birth certificate to confirm a
girl's age and to prove she is underage, it is hard to obtain a conviction.
7.Research carried out for Plan Nepal uncovered a situation where police were unwilling to trace a girl known to have been trafficked across the border to a brothel in India because she had no birth certificate or means of identification. This meant that there was no proof of her age, nationality or even her existence. This is great cause for concern given that there are currently an estimated 200,000 women and girls missing from Nepal, believed to
have been trafficked to India.
8.A Plan commissioned survey of children in rural schools in Ghana found that many children – even literate ones – freely admitted that they did not know
their age. 80 per cent of those who did give their age were found to be incorrect when their answer was compared to the date of birth given in the school register (which also tended to be hugely incomplete). In the case of one boy who gave his age as 10 years old it emerged, after lengthy investigation, that he was actually 17 years old.
9.In some parts of Burkina Faso there exists the belief that registering a child can be a bad omen and among other consequences, spell death for the child. Clearly such beliefs are incompatible with the concept of registering births and cause birth registration systems to fail.
10.In Cameroon, the Baka Pygmies are significantly under-represented in the 80 per cent national birth registration rate, with a recent census showing that up to 98 percent of children in Baka communities do not have a birth certificate. Plan Cameroon has been working with indigenous populations for over six years, helping them gain official recognition from the government. The local authorities have now officially accepted four Baka communities as recognised villages. Plan has also helped more than 200 Baka adults to get an identity card which, in turn, means that they can now get a birth certificate for their unregistered children.
11.At the Third Asia Regional Conference on Birth Registration, an example was given of a child of nearly 18 years of age sentenced to the death penalty.
His lawyers were attempting to get relief for him under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. However, he faced difficulty in getting true justice because he could not prove his exact date of birth due to the absence of a birth certificate.
CITED FROM:"WWW.CHILD BIRTH REGISTRATION.COM", "www.listingsillinois.com"