UNICEF Welcomes National Strategy on Registration of All Children in Indonesia by 2011
Jakarta, 18 December 2008
UNICEF welcomes the “National Strategy on Birth Registration: All Children are registered by 2011,”
prioritizing children under five years of age, which was launched by the Ministry of Home Affairs on 12
December. This national strategy is an important step to ensure that every child counts. According to the
Inter-Censal Survey 2005, 60% of children under five years of age were not officially registered. Although
born in Indonesia of Indonesian parents, these children have no nationality and no legal identity.
Birth registration laid the fundamental of child rights. It ensures the existence of every child in the
development process and guarantees their social protection. Children who are not registered at birth are
vulnerable to be deprived of their rights and subject to exploitation including trafficking.
Head of the Child Protection Unit in UNICEF Indonesia, Ms. Jasmina Byrne, said “birth registration is a
crucial first step in building a culture of protection. Without birth registration, children’s access to basic social
services such as education and health care may be at risk. Birth registration helps prevent under-age
recruitment and child labour and aids the fight against trafficking and sale of children.”
Indonesia ranks in the bottom 20 countries of the world in its registration of children and the problem is
worse in rural areas. This disparity is among the highest in the world. There are many factors affecting the
low rate of registration, ranging from the lack of community awareness on the importance to registering
birth, the high cost for registration, complex procedure and lack of access to services usually located at
districts.
The launch of the national strategy on birth registration calls to all members of the society on the importance
of registering the birth of their children. The Law 23/2006 on the Population Administration reaffirmed
Indonesia’s commitment for universal birth registration stipulated under the Law 23/2002 on the Child
Protection.
Dr. Rasyid Saleh, Director General on Population Administration, Ministry of Home Affairs, said ”The
national strategy represents the Government of Indonesia’s commitment to children. Through this strategic
plan, we hope that all children are registered, and the quality of our birth registration improves along with
increased community participation.”
Currently, about 65% of all districts and cities in Indonesia have adopted local regulation on “free of charge”
birth registration. However, until now there is no official figure on the annual rate of birth registration making
it difficult to assess the impact of the national law and local regulations.
In collaboration with the ministry of Home Affairs, UNICEF supported the national awareness raising
campaigns through local and national media, capacity building of policy makers from the Ministry of Home
Affairs and the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, academicians, selected district and provincial
registrars, and members of the Consortium on Civil Registrationas well as in strengthening pilot models for
comprehensive birth registration.
For further information, please contact
Joko Moersito, Directorate of Civil Registration, Ministry of Home Affairs at 0816-194-5389 and Astrid Dionisio,
Child Protection – UNICEF at 0812-930-1728
