Monday, May 5, 2014
Making children count and birth registration matter
When my first child was born four years ago, the hospital staff immediately handed me a form to fill out. It was really an afterthought for me. I was more concerned with spelling my son’s name correctly and how I would change a diaper than what the form actually meant. And yet, about 6 weeks later, a birth certificate arrived in the mail. It wasn’t until that certificate arrived that the government knew my son existed. This is a right I had always taken for granted and yet it is denied to millions of children around the world every year.
