IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno, Ann Veneman, UNICEF Executive Director and José Miguel Insulza, Secretary General of the OAS,  will hold an event to announce the new alliance at 8:30 am next Tuesday, August 8, in Bogotá. The event will take place at the Gobelinos Room of Casa de Nariño and will also include the participation of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Vélez.

The alliance seeks to promote the registration of birth certificates as a vehicle to combat the economic, political and social exclusion of undocumented citizens, and fully aligned with the IDB’s Building Opportunity for the Majority initiative.

The IDB launched its Building Opportunity for the Majority initiative in early June to create economic opportunities for the majority of the population in the region and accelerate their access to goods and services.  Identifying the Majority is one of six focus areas within this initiative.

“The lack of birth certificates typically leads to a lifetime of invisibility and exclusion for those working and living at the base of the pyramid,” said IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno. “Basic identity documents such as birth certificates and national ID cards are critical for engaging in economic and productive activities and exercising citizenship rights.”

Citizens who lack identity documents are excluded from holding formal sector jobs, accessing credit, opening a savings account and inheriting property. Voting and being elected to office may also be restricted.

UNICEF Executive Director Ann. M. Veneman said that “UNICEF, as the world’s leader for children, keenly understands the importance of children having an identity … a name and a nationality.”

Latin America and the Caribbean, at 82%, have the highest rates of registration among developing regions.  However, this figure hides considerable disparities both between and within countries.  While Cuba and Chile, for example, have close to universal registration, countries like Haiti (70%) are still a long way from achieving that goal, according to UNICEF.

“Although the Latin America and Caribbean region exceeds world averages in birth registration, those averages conceal disparities. Rural and indigenous children are the most likely to be unregistered,” said Veneman. “In the region, it is estimated that more than one in six children - or about 2 million children who are born every year - go unregistered.”

The Secretary General of the OAS, José Miguel Insulza, said this coalition will make it easier for citizens of Latin America and the Caribbean to participate in educational, political, social and economic activities that constitute the basis for development and growth in the region.

Insulza referred to his experience in Haiti, where the OAS carried out significant efforts to increase the number of registered citizens to ensure their participation in the presidential elections last February 7^th. With the support of OAS and the United Nations national authorities in Haiti were able to register more than 3.5 million people who until then had no official form of identification.

He said this new alliance between the IDB, UNICEF and OAS will greatly contribute to the transparency and institutional consolidation of Latin American and Caribbean societies.