Count Every Child
Plan’s campaign for Universal Birth Registration
About Plan
• Founded more than 70 years ago
• Work in 48 developing countries across Africa, Asia and the Americas
• Offices in another 18 developed countries around the world
• Independent, with no religious, political or governmental affiliations.
• Plan is a Child Centred Community Development (CCCD)
organisation working with children, their families, communities,
organisations and governments to promote child rights to end child
poverty. When children and adults work together as part of the change
process, it is more likely that programmes will be successful and
sustainable. Plan’s work is guided by the United Nations Convention
on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
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Why Birth Registration?
• Registration is the first step in ensuring the rights of a child
• Registration means proof of identity and proof of existence
• Registration bestows responsibility on the state
• Registration = Greater accuracy in research and planning
• Birth Certificates are a key identity document and a necessary
precursor to further documentation and services
• Fulfilling the right to protection is often linked to proof of age, as
is the ability to prosecute rights violations
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Human Rights Law and Birth Registration
• Registration acknowledged as human right in UDHR, 1948
• States legally bound through ICCPR in 1966
• Confirmed in UNCRC, 1989, in articles 7 and 8
“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.”
• Registration is further obligated through numerous local and
regional laws and treaties
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Plan’s UBR Campaign
• Beginnings in collaboration with UNICEF in Asia (1998)
• Five Year Campaign, 2005-2009, aiming to:
• Act as a catalyst for UBR and ensure more registrations
occurred
• Promote UBR at community level, increasing awareness &
demand
• Directly support Governments to increase
registrations/certificates
• Create innovative programs to reach even the most remote
• Explain the importance of registration (as a child rights
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issue) to “duty bearers”
Activities 2005-2009
A focus on innovation with communities:
• New technology (Kenya, Ecuador), media messaging (West
Africa), harnessing traditional systems (Tanzania), involving
children (Indonesia), community capacity building (Zambia,
Paraguay), building demand amongst diverse populations
(Cameroon, Bangladesh), challenging outdated systems and
norms (Indonesia, Brazil), mobile registration projects
(Mozambique) and more
And change amongst duty bearers:
• Decentralising registration (Sierra Leone), political lobbying
and legislative change for sustainable progress (Bangladesh)
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Case Study One: Paraguay
In Latin America a number of obstacles have been identified that limit the
adequacy and accessibility of birth registration, including missing or
inconsistent legislation, geographic isolation, prohibitive costs and
inadequate local systems.
Outcomes: Two key local
initiatives included
training of midwives to
register births and
developing a school
based registration system
that brings officials
together and effectively
transfers BR functions to
local officials.
Regionally: A regional commitment by Governments & Partners
(2007) for UBR by 2015 represented an enormous step forward
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this issue.
Content and Photo: Belinda
Portillo, London, November 2009
Case Study Two: Indonesia
Current estimates suggest 6 out of 10 Indonesian children have not
been registered at birth. Plan has been working with national partners
as well as local solutions in different districts to overcome barriers and
improve these figures.
Outcomes: In Sikka district, a local
campaign has targeted awareness and
systems simultaneously, leading to new
roles for leaders, midwives and local
Government and a leap in registration
from 3.3% to 77.5% of children
registered within 60 days.
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At a national level critical legislation
passed in 2006 on population and
citizenship, there is a National Strategy
in place and 281 of 440 local districts
have free BR laws.
Content and Photo: Reny Rebeka
Haning, London, November 2009
Case Study Three: Pakistan
In Pakistan low registration
rates have been linked to
limited awareness of the value
& importance of BR, limited
capacity amongst local
leaders and Government
officials and limited resources
at the local level. Plan has
been working across 30
districts and over 1300 Union
Councils (local Government
bodies) to build up and
sustain registration
Outcomes:
Trainingnumbers.
and sensitisation of District leaders and
some 3500 local officials, along with support (both practical and
capital) for clearing BR backlogs at the UC level, has led to 1.6
million birth registrations.
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Content & Photo: Syed Safdar
Reza, Islamabad, November 2009
Case Study Four: Burkina Faso
Analysis of various forms of population data in 2004 suggested almost
70% of child births were unregistered in Burkina Faso. The Plan response
included community awareness initiatives, advocacy with Government to
make registration compulsory and free, and the equipping of more people
in more places with the skills and tools to register
births. Reduction in
Outcomes:
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costs, increase in mobile
and secondary registration
centres, high level
political/duty bearer
involvement, increase in
percentage of children
registered (33% in 2004,
58% in 2006) and
declaration of 2009 as the
year of free birth
registration.
Reference and Photo: Paul
Doygbe, London, November 2009
Results 2005-2009
• 40 million people (mostly children) in 32 countries registered
through direct efforts of Plan and Partners
• 30% of targeted countries have changed their legal systems as
a result of Plan’s advocacy work (resulting in free registration
and certificates for more than 153 million children born between
2005 and 2009)
• In addition, Plan has improved knowledge and understanding
regarding the importance of birth registration among dozens of
Governments and thousands of children, parents and
communities
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Plan has developed and documented numerous examples of
Challenges and Recommendations
• The campaign is complete, the work is not. A call to action for
Governments, Donors, Multilaterals, NGOs and others.
• New threats & implications constantly emerge, particularly
related to population movement and border security
• No two settings are the same. There are always risks with
assuming homogenous community characteristics.
• Nothing is ever that simple. Whilst the links between human
rights & birth registration are clear, winning the BR battle does
not guarantee the realisation of other rights!
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Thankyou
Glenn Bond: glenn.bond@plan.org.au
Plan Australia Website: www.plan.org.au
Plan International Website: www.plan-international.org