By Majeda Fyith
A serious crime is being committed around the world; children are being stripped of their most basic human right—an identity. Children are being born without a record, without a trace.
About 50 million children go unregistered at birth, according to UNICEF’s 2006 State of the World’s Children report entitled Excluded and Invisible, essentially displaying a disregard for the existence of a person as a member of society. Not only does the child become unacknowledged before the law, their family ties, nationality and records of major events such as marriage are in jeopardy and the chance of displacement is heightened.
The main problem is the lack of action taken by governments and communities to ensure the registration of all children at birth. Such action would guarantee unregistered children their right to a family environment, education, health, juvenile justice, state benefits, protection against abuse and participation in society.
“I see the missing link between being an observer and taking action is the lack of follow up by media institutions” says Karla Whittaker, teacher at J.A. Williams High School. “With so much happening in our community, province, nation and world, issues such as the displaced peoples and their plights are too quickly forgotten.”
“The main barrier to birth registration is that it is not universally perceived as a fundamental right, and, as a result, it is given low priority at every level,” explains UNICEF’s 2002 Birth Registration Right From the Start report. In countries such as Bangladesh, where only seven per cent of all children are registered, the issue has come to the forefront due to increased child exploitation by child traffickers, extreme poverty and slave labourers.
“I feel that governments not complying with these universal guidelines require help. Many lack the social structure we take for granted here. They need assistance in facilitating organization of what we consider basic services such as government regulations,” says Whittaker.
By introducing the necessary infrastructure, through campaigning and coordination, more of the population is now being reached. However, many of these children are still unable to establish their rights, simply because they were unprotected by their surroundings, government and society in the past.
Majeda Fyith is a first year arts student at the University of Alberta. She hopes to pursue a career in international relations and law, working with a non profit organization in developing countries. This article was published on thestar.com on February 22, 2007.
Read Marc and Craig’s Global Voices article
Check out more articles by Junior Journalists
Become a Junior Journalist
