0:00:00.718,0:00:03.474
So, when I was 14,

0:00:03.474,0:00:07.484
my family was in the process of adopting[br]my little brothers from Ethiopia,

0:00:07.716,0:00:10.316
and one day my mom asked,

0:00:10.316,0:00:13.377
"What day should we put[br]for their birthday?"

0:00:13.582,0:00:16.433
Uh, the day they were born, obviously?

0:00:16.644,0:00:18.629
Ridiculous question.

0:00:18.629,0:00:20.046
And then my mom said,

0:00:20.046,0:00:21.142
"Well, Kristen,

0:00:21.142,0:00:23.315
neither of your little brothers[br]have a birth certificate,

0:00:23.315,0:00:26.796
so how do you suggest[br]we find out when that was?"

0:00:27.178,0:00:28.380
Mind blown.

0:00:28.380,0:00:30.872
Now, 20 years later,[br]I'm still working on it,

0:00:30.872,0:00:33.907
except instead of trying[br]to solve the mystery

0:00:33.907,0:00:36.412
of my brothers' missing[br]birth certificates,

0:00:36.412,0:00:37.845
I try to solve this problem globally.

0:00:37.845,0:00:41.406
So what do birth certificates have to do[br]with international development?

0:00:41.406,0:00:45.154
To answer that, we have to look back[br]at the original development agenda,

0:00:45.154,0:00:46.757
the human rights agenda.

0:00:46.757,0:00:50.619
So in 1948, the Universal[br]Declaration of Human Rights,

0:00:50.619,0:00:52.266
for the first time,

0:00:52.266,0:00:57.084
set a shared vision of basic human rights[br]and dignities that apply to all people

0:00:57.084,0:00:58.891
and all nations:

0:00:58.891,0:01:03.626
Article 6: The right to be recognized[br]as a person before the law,

0:01:03.626,0:01:05.211
or, a legal identity.

0:01:05.435,0:01:07.651
For children, this is a birth certificate,

0:01:07.651,0:01:10.259
and despite this being[br]a universal human right,

0:01:10.259,0:01:12.566
one billion people today

0:01:12.566,0:01:14.979
have no record they exist,

0:01:14.979,0:01:18.743
making it one of the greatest[br]human rights violations of our time,

0:01:18.743,0:01:21.711
yet nobody seems to know about it.

0:01:22.111,0:01:25.128
In the face of world poverty and hunger,

0:01:25.128,0:01:27.747
making sure everyone in the world[br]as a legal identity

0:01:27.747,0:01:29.493
doesn't really seem important,

0:01:29.493,0:01:31.600
but in reality it is.

0:01:31.600,0:01:33.506
See, early in my career,

0:01:33.506,0:01:36.811
I was working with a social worker[br]in a slum community in Mumbai,

0:01:36.811,0:01:40.939
and we were following up[br]on a case with this little girl

0:01:40.939,0:01:44.778
who had contracted polio as a baby[br]and was paralyzed from the waist down.

0:01:44.778,0:01:47.055
When we arrived at the home,

0:01:47.055,0:01:48.678
we found her on the floor.

0:01:48.678,0:01:51.606
Her legs were badly scarred and infected,

0:01:51.606,0:01:53.263
she was malnourished,

0:01:53.263,0:01:55.255
she had never gone to school,

0:01:55.255,0:02:01.373
and she had spent most of her life[br]confined to this small, dark room.

0:02:01.373,0:02:05.255
When we left, I asked the social worker[br]what the case plan was,

0:02:05.255,0:02:08.111
and she said, "Well first, we have[br]to get her a birth certificate."

0:02:08.111,0:02:09.963
I was a little taken aback.

0:02:09.963,0:02:12.403
I said, "Well, don't you think we need[br]to get her some social assistance

0:02:12.403,0:02:14.852
and a safe place to live[br]and into a school?"

0:02:14.852,0:02:18.643
She goes, "Exactly, which is why[br]we need to get her a birth certificate."

0:02:18.643,0:02:20.745
See, without a legal identity,

0:02:20.745,0:02:23.684
you are not recognized[br]as a person by the government,

0:02:23.684,0:02:26.212
and a person who doesn't officially exist

0:02:26.212,0:02:28.029
can't access government services,

0:02:28.029,0:02:30.573
and the government[br]can only provide services

0:02:30.573,0:02:32.542
for the number of people they know about.

0:02:32.542,0:02:36.708
Hence, people are overlooked, for example,[br]by routine immunization services.

0:02:37.764,0:02:42.981
People without a legal identity[br]are both uncounted and unprotected.

0:02:42.981,0:02:45.295
They are among the poorest[br]members of society

0:02:45.295,0:02:47.859
from the most marginalized communities.

0:02:47.859,0:02:49.652
They're victims of trafficking.

0:02:49.652,0:02:54.753
Human traffickers know that[br]it's nearly impossible to find someone

0:02:54.753,0:02:57.796
if there was never a record[br]they existed in the first place.

0:02:57.796,0:03:01.509
They are victims of exploitation,[br]such as child marriage and child labor.

0:03:01.509,0:03:05.524
Without a birth certificate,[br]how do you prove a child is still a child?

0:03:05.772,0:03:07.624
They are among the stateless.

0:03:07.624,0:03:10.273
Birth certificates provide proof[br]of who your parents are

0:03:10.273,0:03:11.475
and where you were born,

0:03:11.475,0:03:14.681
the two main factors[br]for acquiring nationality.

0:03:14.681,0:03:18.771
Of the one billion people in the world[br]without a legal identity,

0:03:18.771,0:03:21.172
the vast majority are children[br]who are never registered at birth.

0:03:21.172,0:03:24.700
In the least developed nations,

0:03:24.700,0:03:28.411
the births of over 60 percent of children[br]have never been recorded.

0:03:28.411,0:03:31.740
A study across 17 countries[br]in sub-Saharan Africa

0:03:31.740,0:03:36.610
found that 80 percent of children[br]did not have a birth certificate.

0:03:36.610,0:03:40.282
Out of the countries[br]that have not yet achieved

0:03:40.282,0:03:42.200
universal birth registration coverage,

0:03:42.200,0:03:45.523
in 26 countries a birth certificate[br]is required to access health care,

0:03:45.523,0:03:47.303
including vaccines.

0:03:47.303,0:03:51.702
In 37 countries, it's required[br]to access social assistance

0:03:51.702,0:03:55.449
intended to bring people out of poverty.

0:03:55.449,0:03:59.349
And in 59 countries,[br]a birth certificate is required

0:03:59.349,0:04:03.320
for a child to be enrolled[br]or complete school.

0:04:03.320,0:04:06.960
A birth certificate is also often required[br]for other forms of legal identity,

0:04:06.960,0:04:09.227
like a national ID or a passport,

0:04:09.227,0:04:12.610
and some form of legal identity[br]in almost every country is required

0:04:12.610,0:04:16.050
to vote, get a SIM card,[br]or open a bank account.

0:04:16.050,0:04:19.880
In fact, of the 1.7 billion people[br]in the world who are unbanked,

0:04:19.880,0:04:24.010
20 percent is due to not having[br]a legal identity document.

0:04:24.010,0:04:27.580
Now, you don't have to be an expert[br]to see that this, times a billion,

0:04:27.580,0:04:29.830
is a big problem.

0:04:29.830,0:04:33.855
So it's not surprising that evidence shows[br]that improved birth registration coverage

0:04:33.855,0:04:36.734
goes hand in hand with improved[br]development outcomes,

0:04:36.734,0:04:40.971
from poverty alleviation[br]to better health, nutrition, education,

0:04:40.971,0:04:46.730
economic improvement,[br]and safe and orderly migration.

0:04:46.730,0:04:51.754
In 2015, world leaders came together

0:04:51.754,0:04:55.376
and promised that they would[br]uphold human rights of all people

0:04:55.376,0:04:57.210
and leave no one behind

0:04:57.210,0:04:59.517
in efforts to end poverty,

0:04:59.517,0:05:00.585
hunger,

0:05:00.585,0:05:01.850
and reduce inequalities.

0:05:01.850,0:05:04.014
But how are they going[br]to uphold human rights

0:05:04.014,0:05:06.486
and how do they know[br]if anyone is being left behind

0:05:06.486,0:05:08.866
if they do not know who they are

0:05:08.866,0:05:10.087
or where they are

0:05:10.087,0:05:13.381
in the first place?

0:05:13.381,0:05:16.363
So what can countries do about this?

0:05:16.363,0:05:18.215
Now, there's no one-size-fits-all model

0:05:18.215,0:05:20.511
because every country context is unique.

0:05:20.511,0:05:24.571
There are five proven interventions[br]that can be applied to any system.

0:05:25.106,0:05:27.054
Number one, reduce the distance.

0:05:27.054,0:05:28.942
Two, remove the cost.

0:05:28.942,0:05:30.760
Three, simply the process.

0:05:30.760,0:05:32.897
Four, remove discrimination.

0:05:32.897,0:05:35.834
Five, increase demand.

0:05:35.834,0:05:39.092
Gender discrimination[br]remains a hidden problem,

0:05:39.092,0:05:41.621
because statistically,[br]there's no difference

0:05:41.621,0:05:43.531
between registration rates[br]of boys and girls,

0:05:43.531,0:05:45.564
but the discrimination[br]isn't against the child,

0:05:45.564,0:05:46.838
it's against the mother.

0:05:46.838,0:05:50.416
Angola was one of 35 countries[br]that require a father's name

0:05:50.416,0:05:54.931
or to be present in order[br]for the child's birth to be registered.

0:05:54.931,0:05:58.412
So in situations where the father[br]is unknown, unwilling,

0:05:58.412,0:06:00.257
or unable to claim paternity,

0:06:00.257,0:06:03.917
the mothers are legally prevented[br]from registering the births

0:06:03.917,0:06:05.428
of their own children.

0:06:05.428,0:06:08.391
So to address this,[br]Angola put a policy in place

0:06:08.391,0:06:12.648
allowing mothers to register[br]their children as a single parent.

0:06:12.648,0:06:14.704
In Tanzania, in 2012,

0:06:14.704,0:06:17.296
only 13 percent of children[br]had a birth certificate.

0:06:17.778,0:06:21.013
So the government[br]came up with a new system.

0:06:21.013,0:06:26.403
They put registration centers[br]in existing infrastructure

0:06:26.403,0:06:30.222
such as community wards

0:06:30.222,0:06:31.807
and in health facilities.

0:06:31.807,0:06:33.570
So they brought the services[br]closer to the people who needed them.

0:06:33.570,0:06:35.689
They removed the fee.

0:06:35.689,0:06:38.824
They simplified the process[br]and automated it

0:06:38.824,0:06:41.060
so the birth certificate[br]could be issued on the spot.

0:06:41.060,0:06:43.818
To increase demand, they rolled out[br]a public awareness campaign

0:06:43.818,0:06:48.252
letting people know[br]that there's a new process

0:06:48.252,0:06:50.790
and why it was important to register[br]the births of their children.

0:06:50.790,0:06:52.685
In just a few years

0:06:52.685,0:06:55.158
in the districts where[br]the new system was put in place,

0:06:55.158,0:06:58.024
83 percent of children[br]now have birth certificates,

0:06:58.024,0:07:00.698
and they're in the process[br]of rolling this out nationwide.

0:07:01.080,0:07:03.217
So what can you do?

0:07:03.217,0:07:06.948
See, I believe we are all united[br]by our humanity.

0:07:06.948,0:07:10.498
We live on the same earth.[br]We breathe the same air.

0:07:10.498,0:07:14.355
And while none of us chose to be born[br]or the situation we were born into,

0:07:14.355,0:07:16.918
we do get to choose how we live.

0:07:16.918,0:07:19.547
Change occurs when a moment of awareness

0:07:19.547,0:07:21.959
or a moment of compassion

0:07:21.959,0:07:23.874
inspires a person to act,

0:07:23.874,0:07:25.768
and through our collective action

0:07:25.768,0:07:29.037
we become the most powerful[br]agents of change.

0:07:29.037,0:07:33.597
And when the cost of inaction[br]is innocent children are left unprotected,

0:07:33.597,0:07:36.096
unvaccinated, unable to go to school,

0:07:36.096,0:07:39.855
growing up to be adults who are unable[br]to find decent work or vote,

0:07:39.855,0:07:44.296
trapped in a cycle of poverty,[br]exclusion, and invisibility,

0:07:44.758,0:07:48.518
it comes down to us

0:07:48.518,0:07:50.234
to take this issue out of the darkness

0:07:50.234,0:07:50.964
and into the light.

0:07:50.964,0:07:54.543
Because, it's not every day you get[br]the opportunity to change the world,

0:07:54.543,0:07:57.161
but today you do.

0:07:57.161,0:07:59.583
Thanks.

0:07:59.583,0:08:01.560
(Applause)