This year, General Electric Company (GE) – a Corporate Pro Bono Challenge℠ Signatory, Mexico Appleseed, part of a network of public interest law centers, and UNICEF will collaborate to research and advocate for the right of all children to identity – the right to civil registration of their name and nationality.

In the coming months, a team of 50 pro bono attorneys from GE will be working with Mexico Appleseed using the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child as a basis to advocate for policy changes that will provide a universally accessible process of civil registration, including clauses on affordability and non-discriminatory practices.

Under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, every child in the world has the right to an identity. However, an estimated one in six children in Mexico and throughout Latin America is never registered with the civil registry, and therefore cannot access public benefits such as health care, education, and targeted welfare programs. Additionally, these individuals are at a higher risk to fall victim to illegal adoption and human trafficking.

According to UNICEF, there are political, economic, social, and cultural barriers to making the right of registration universal, and the most important barrier will be addressed by administrative and legislative reform – Appleseed’s niche.

“Often the laws governing the right to identity and the civil registry do not provide free birth registration, but set fees for registration and ‘extra-official’ fees, as well as fines for late registration,” said Maru Cortazar, executive director of Mexico Appleseed. “This discourages families from registering their children, particularly the most marginalized populations in Mexico, leaving unregistered children even more vulnerable.”

Fee scales could be adjusted to the economic status of families, eliminating fees for the poorest sectors and maintaining current fees for families who can afford them and for whom payment of registration fees is not a barrier.

Mexico, like many countries, does not yet have specific laws governing the civil registry and issues related to registration that are generally included in the civil code or other laws related to the family, personal identification, and the national statistical system. By correcting the barriers to registration, GE and Appleseed’s work will benefit marginalized populations by ensuring the opportunity to have an identity of public record from the time of birth, and in turn facilitate their inclusion in public benefit programs, job security, personal safety, and education.

Developed by Corporate Pro Bono
A global partnership project of the Pro Bono Institute and the Association of Corporate Counsel
www.cpbo.org