CHANDIGARH, July 17: One-third of the children born each year in the world are at risk because they are not registered at birth, says UNICEF's 1998 report -- the progress of nations -- which was released here today by Dr Subhash Chander, state representative of UNICEF in India.Published annually by UNICEF to rank countries by well-being of their children, this year's report says that birth registration is the first civil right of every child.
The report revealed that every year's unregistered births leave an estimated 40 million new-born babies without an official name or nationality. The report highlights successes and challenges remaining in international efforts to register every child at birth, to immunise every girl and boy on earth and to help adolescents -- particularly girls -- as they make the difficult journey from childhood to adulthood.
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan has hailed the report as a clarion call for children that "reminds us annually that rhetoric about children must be backed up by action".
The right to name and nationality is guaranteed as a `birthright' by article seen of the UN convention on the rights of the child. All but two of the world's countries have ratified the convention, accepting obligations of providing the guaranteed rights. However, even today, 22 countries have no data available on birth registration.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
