Time to break intergenerational disadvantage in birth registrations
Making it easier to obtain a birth certificate is a key driver of AIPJ’s Realising Rights strategy. Birth registration protects the fundamental rights of children to have their identity recognised, however there are many obstacles to making birth certificates affordable and accessible for all.
On 11-12 December 2012, AIPJ together with PEKKA hosted a conference to examine the implementation of the recently issued Supreme Court Circular letter on collective processing of birth certificate cases - SEMA 6/2012 (for more details go to “success stories” in this website).
Conference highlights included a short film produced by PEKKA that illustrated some of the difficulties faced by families, especially in remote areas. Even a 60,000 IDR fee is prohibitive for many Indonesians, especially those with several children, especiallyconsidering the cost of travel to court locations.
A discussion panel with senior members from the General Courts, Religious Courts, Ministry of Home Affairs, and civil society organisations fielded comments and questions about the demand for marriage and birth certificates and how the courts and administrations could make them easier to obtain.
One of the obstacles mentioned was the need for parents to have a marriage certificate before they can register their children. This is an impediment since many people marrywith a religious ceremony but do not formally register their marriage. Ibu Shanti, panellist from the Ministry of Home Affairs, said that data was needed to determine which areas were most affected, as this would help allocate resources. “Should we prioritise the cases where the parents already have marriage certificates?” she asked the audience. “Many families have been uncertified for generations, and we need to understand the factors behind this omission,” she added.
Participants agreed that better coordination and sharing of information between institutions would help ease the burden on families, especially when their children were born in other locations. Currently parents are obliged to register children where they were born, which may be several provinces away from where they currently reside. Some participants felt the legal system could be more flexible to accommodate the needs of citizens, and the new one stop service was a step in the right direction.
AIPJ is currently designing a comprehensive, long-term program to assist vulnerable women and children to obtain legal identity documents such as birth, marriage, or divorce certificates. These legal identity documents will assist their access to a range of public services, including social assistance programs.
