The UK is doing its bit in Guatemala by encouraging parents to register their children at birth.

This is a real concern in a country where around 17 per cent of the population have no birth record which can seriously hinder a person's rights and entitlements. No record means not being able to vote, no rights to inherit property, and no access to education and healthcare. There's also more chance of being subjected to human trafficking, especially if you're a child.

Initiatives

The Guatemalan government is tackling the problem with a number of initiatives, including Renap, a civil registration department to be launched this summer.

With Renap's huge targets — registering six million Guatemalans on a national database in two years — the British Embassy in Guatemala is complementing the efforts to spread the message about birth registration.

Taking action

In February, the Embassy set up a child rights network group and held a workshop inviting local NGOs, legal experts and cultural analysts to discuss ways of putting talk into action.

"We mapped out some of the reasons why people do not register their children at birth—suspicion of authority, illiteracy, distance from registration centres, cost of registration etc," explained FCO's Vinay Talwar, the main group coordinator.

"Then we came up with a plan of action — to improve training and awareness, support Guatemala's civic registration programme and lobby to publicise the issue."

Advertisements

The Embassy has already funded and helped create 1,200 advertisements about birth registration for local radio, the main form of communication in Guatemala.

And work has also begun with Plan, an international development agency which focuses on child issues in the developing world. An out reach programme involving the best-qualified staff to go out and spread the word in the provinces is just one of the many activities to kick off this year.

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