CHILD PROTECTION: Everyday around the world, millions of children are abused and exploited. Plan works with children and their communities to address the underlying causes of abuse and lessen its devastating affects.

Here is an example of a Plan-funded child protection project in Cameroon, Africa.

"None amongst my seven brothers and sisters have a birth certificate. Our parents decided not to register our births until we are about ten years old because they did not want to waste time registering births of babies who might die at any moment."

These are the words of a Baka pygmy child from eastern Cameroon. The Baka pygmies are a nomadic people who are not legally recognised. In 2004, an estimated 98 per cent of Baka pygmy children did not have a birth certificate, which means they have no rights to healthcare, education and other government services.

There are many reasons why parents don't register their children at birth. Mostly it is because the parents do not know where or how to register their child. Or they are unaware of why a birth certificate is so important.

The following are comments from children who previously did not have a birth certificate. But thanks to Plan's Birth Registration projects, they now have an official identity.

"I didn't have a birth certificate because my father used it, like any piece of paper, to roll a cigarette."

"I didn't have a birth certificate because my parents could not afford to pay for one."

"I didn't have a birth certificate because my father believed that a piece of paper did not feed a child and that farming activities are more useful for children."

Without a birth certificate, children are also open to exploitation by child traffickers who force them into child labour and child prostitution or they are forced to become child soldiers. Birth registration is also vital for government planning for the provision of healthcare and education.

Having an official identity is also a fundamental right of every child under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. In 2000, UNICEF estimated that 50 million births out of 130 million children globally were not registered. In Africa, more than 17 million children have no birth certificate.

Plan.s birth registration projects such as those described above are funded by donations and child sponsorships.

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