Becoming ‘visible’
How EU and UNICEF are helping children in Tajikistan to access basic services
Unable to go to school, excluded from basic services, and denied the most fundamental human rights: children without birth certificates may as well be ‘invisible’. Although difficult to imagine, this is reality for thousands of children living in Tajikistan, even today, in March 2021.
Last week, 300 vulnerable children’s lives underwent a transformation. At an event in Kulob made possible by UNICEF, EU, the Ministry of Justice, PO ‘Chashma’, civil registry office, these children were issued birth certificates, making them formal citizens of the Republic of Tajikistan and giving them access to national education, health, protection, and other services for the first time in their lives.
These children are part of a larger group of 1000 children due to receive their birth certificates this month through the EU-UNICEF co-funded project ‘Protecting Children Affected by Migration in Southeast, South, and Central Asia’, due to come to an end in June of this year.
Since its initiation, the project has made great strides in improving the lives of Tajikistan’s most vulnerable. So far, through the project, 9,500 children affected by migration have received birth certificates, 231 have received passports, and 5,147 have received financial aid to pay for fees associated with obtaining documents.
“The right to a birth certificate is very important, not only because it gives you the right to your identity and certification of who you are and when you were born, but also because it gives you full rights to participate in education, and all other rights of a citizen of Tajikistan.”
As part of the project, NGO “Terre des Hommes” has supported 620 vulnerable children (291 girls) affected by migration by providing services ensuring their access to medical and social care services; enrolling them into sports workshops, lobbying for their admission into preschool and school facilities, and preventing their placement into institutionalised care.
At the core of the project is a focus on longevity and sustainability of interventions. To this end, 778 government employees and service providers have been trained on case management; 224 parents (196 female) have been referred for vocational training and 424 primary caregivers received psycho-social support.
Government service providers have found inspiration in the training, with many now taking initiative in their own districts. Workers in the civil registry office of Devastich have identified 70 children between 3 months and 18 years of age without birth certificates (42 girls), while Rosrovut jamoat secretary has identified approximately 200 unregistered children who she says will be given assistance in obtaining birth certificates in the near future.
"There has never been a more critical time to act to protect the rights of children affected by migration. Tajikistan is a signatory to the Convention of the Rights of the Child, yet many issues remain. Stateless children are being pushed into a lifetime of marginalization and vulnerability, with this inequity perpetrated across generations. Children left behind and affected by migration face many challenges in accessing basic health, social security, and education services.” said UNICEF Representative in the Republic of Tajikistan, Mr. Osama Makkawi Khogali.
"Stateless children are being pushed into a lifetime of marginalization and vulnerability, with this inequity perpetrated across generations. Children left behind and affected by migration face many challenges in accessing basic health, social security, and education services.”
The project ‘Protecting Children Affected by Migration in South-East, South and Central Asia’ was launched in Tajikistan in 2017 with the aim to protect children and their families affected by migration through close partnership with local NGOs and the Ministry of Labour, Migration and Employment, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Health and Social Protection of Population of Tajikistan.
Protecting children affected by migration has never been so important in this region as it is now, in 2021. By strengthening the capacity of actors, the project has helped to ensure that the rights of children affected by migration are fulfilled; that children have their birth registered, regardless of their migration status, and that all children affected by migration have access to the healthcare, education, and other social and protection services to meet their basic needs and expand their opportunities to survive, thrive, and reach their full potential.
