Article 7: Children must be registered when they areborn and given a name which is officiallyrecognized by thegovernment. Children musthave a nationality.

Article 8: Children have the right to their own identity – anofficial record of who they are, which includes theirname, nationality and family relations. No oneshould take this away from them, but if this happens,governments must help children to quickly get theiridentity back.

Without having identity documents, children basically do not exist for the government. This often means that the children cannot go to school, they cannot receive any state aid or any form of protection, and they are more likely to become victims of slavery and exploitation. 

Most children do not have birth certificates because the registration centres are too far away, the fees are unaffordable or because the parents lack information on the importance of identity papers. IFM-SEI members support children in the process of obtaining their documents and hence, claiming their right to an official identity.

The children's rights to an identity and nationality are violated in all parts of the world. In Europe, for example, an estimated half a million people are 'stateless', many of them children. 

There are three groups of children without birth registration or nationality:

1. 1. Children who cannot inherit their parents' nationality due to gender discrimination and gaps in nationality laws, and those who are stateless because their parents are.
2. 2. Children whose births are not registered. These include children in vulnerable minority populations like the Roma.
3. 3. Children from countries with known stateless populations.

Find out more about why many Roma children are left stateless here.