RI among the worst for birth record

RI among the worst for birth record

BANDUNG: The United Nations has rated Indonesia among the worst countries in the world for keeping birth records, which has contributed to massive child exploitation in the country.

"Indonesian birth records is also among the worst in ASEAN," head of the Banten and West Java chapter of the United Nations Childrens Fund (Unicef) Hilda Winarta said on Thursday.

The national census in 2001 revealed that 11 million children were born without birth records, or only four out of 10 children in the country had birth certificates.

Hilda said the low rate of birth certificate possession stemmed from people's inability to pay fees to obtain such documents, lack of awareness and complicated procedures.

"Without birth certificates, children have no citizenship. Therefore they will get no protection from the state," Hilda said. --Antara.