0:00:00.718,0:00:03.222
So, when I was 14,

0:00:03.246,0:00:07.640
my family was in the process of adopting[br]my little brothers from Ethiopia.

0:00:07.664,0:00:09.956
And one day my mom asked,

0:00:09.980,0:00:12.483
"What day should we put[br]for their birthday?"

0:00:13.216,0:00:16.152
"Uh, the day they were born, obviously?"

0:00:16.176,0:00:17.891
Ridiculous question.

0:00:17.915,0:00:19.553
And then my mom said,

0:00:19.577,0:00:20.825
"Well, Kristen,

0:00:20.849,0:00:23.573
neither of your little brothers[br]have a birth certificate,

0:00:23.597,0:00:26.027
so how do you suggest[br]we find out when that was?"

0:00:26.804,0:00:28.093
Mind blown.

0:00:28.117,0:00:31.282
Now, 20 years later,[br]I'm still working on it,

0:00:31.306,0:00:33.409
except instead of trying[br]to solve the mystery

0:00:33.433,0:00:35.449
of my brothers' missing[br]birth certificates,

0:00:35.473,0:00:37.284
I try to solve this problem globally.

0:00:37.308,0:00:41.099
So what do birth certificates have to do[br]with international development?

0:00:41.123,0:00:44.733
To answer that, we have to look back[br]at the original development agenda,

0:00:44.757,0:00:46.447
the human rights agenda.

0:00:46.471,0:00:50.306
So in 1948, the Universal[br]Declaration of Human Rights,

0:00:50.330,0:00:51.783
for the first time,

0:00:51.807,0:00:55.528
set a shared vision of basic[br]human rights and dignities

0:00:55.552,0:00:58.633
that apply to all people in all nations:

0:00:58.657,0:01:03.372
Article 6, the right to be recognized[br]as a person before the law.

0:01:03.396,0:01:05.202
Or, a legal identity.

0:01:05.226,0:01:07.386
For children, this is a birth certificate.

0:01:07.410,0:01:10.235
And despite this being[br]a universal human right,

0:01:10.259,0:01:14.732
one billion people today[br]have no record they exist,

0:01:14.756,0:01:18.496
making it one of the greatest[br]human rights violations of our time,

0:01:18.520,0:01:20.959
yet nobody seems to know about it.

0:01:22.475,0:01:24.872
In the face of world poverty and hunger,

0:01:24.896,0:01:27.436
making sure everyone in the world[br]has a legal identity

0:01:27.460,0:01:28.926
doesn't really seem important,

0:01:28.950,0:01:30.608
but in reality it is.

0:01:31.401,0:01:32.775
See, early in my career,

0:01:32.799,0:01:36.787
I was working with a social worker[br]in a slum community in Mumbai,

0:01:36.811,0:01:39.485
and we were following up[br]on a case with this little girl

0:01:39.509,0:01:43.680
who had contracted polio as a baby[br]and was paralyzed from the waist down.

0:01:44.476,0:01:46.447
When we arrived at the home,

0:01:46.471,0:01:48.248
we found her on the floor.

0:01:48.272,0:01:51.265
Her legs were badly scarred and infected,

0:01:51.289,0:01:52.878
she was malnourished,

0:01:52.902,0:01:55.278
she had never gone to school,

0:01:55.302,0:01:59.569
and she had spent most of her life[br]confined to this small, dark room.

0:02:00.912,0:02:04.771
When we left, I asked the social worker[br]what the case plan was,

0:02:04.795,0:02:07.983
and she said, "Well first, we have[br]to get her a birth certificate."

0:02:08.007,0:02:09.374
I was a little taken aback.

0:02:09.398,0:02:12.834
I said, "Well, don't you think we need[br]to get her some social assistance

0:02:12.858,0:02:14.922
and a safe place to live[br]and into a school?"

0:02:14.946,0:02:18.570
She goes, "Exactly, which is why[br]we need to get her a birth certificate."

0:02:18.594,0:02:20.721
See, without a legal identity,

0:02:20.745,0:02:23.278
you are not recognized[br]as a person by the government.

0:02:23.302,0:02:27.936
And a person who doesn't officially exist[br]can't access government services,

0:02:27.960,0:02:30.255
and the government[br]can only provide services

0:02:30.279,0:02:32.269
for the number of people they know about.

0:02:32.293,0:02:36.902
Hence, people are overlooked, for example,[br]by routine immunization services.

0:02:37.902,0:02:42.676
People without a legal identity[br]are both uncounted and unprotected.

0:02:42.700,0:02:45.045
They're among the poorest[br]members of society

0:02:45.069,0:02:47.585
from the most marginalized communities.

0:02:47.609,0:02:49.628
They're victims of trafficking.

0:02:49.652,0:02:53.705
Human traffickers know that[br]it's nearly impossible to find someone

0:02:53.729,0:02:56.866
if there was never a record[br]they existed in the first place.

0:02:57.438,0:03:01.223
They're victims of exploitation,[br]such as child marriage and child labor.

0:03:01.247,0:03:04.902
Without a birth certificate,[br]how do you prove a child is still a child?

0:03:05.636,0:03:07.182
They're among the stateless;

0:03:07.206,0:03:09.854
birth certificates provide proof[br]of who your parents are

0:03:09.878,0:03:11.057
and where you were born,

0:03:11.081,0:03:13.953
the two main factors[br]for acquiring nationality.

0:03:15.382,0:03:18.454
Of the one billion people in the world[br]without a legal identity,

0:03:18.478,0:03:21.993
the vast majority are children[br]who were never registered at birth.

0:03:22.380,0:03:24.034
In the least developed nations,

0:03:24.058,0:03:28.335
the births of over 60 percent of children[br]have never been recorded.

0:03:28.359,0:03:31.562
A study across 17 countries[br]in sub-Saharan Africa

0:03:31.586,0:03:35.115
found that 80 percent of children[br]did not have a birth certificate.

0:03:35.846,0:03:38.321
Out of the countries[br]that have not yet achieved

0:03:38.345,0:03:41.120
universal birth registration coverage,

0:03:41.144,0:03:45.251
in 26 countries, a birth certificate[br]is required to access health care,

0:03:45.275,0:03:46.654
including vaccines.

0:03:47.589,0:03:50.951
In 37 countries, it's required[br]to access social assistance

0:03:50.975,0:03:53.298
intended to bring people out of poverty.

0:03:55.226,0:03:59.135
And in 59 countries,[br]a birth certificate is required

0:03:59.159,0:04:01.951
for a child to be enrolled[br]or complete school.

0:04:02.883,0:04:06.765
A birth certificate is also often required[br]for other forms of legal identity,

0:04:06.789,0:04:09.029
like a national ID or a passport.

0:04:09.053,0:04:12.586
And some form of legal identity[br]in almost every country is required

0:04:12.610,0:04:15.960
to vote, get a SIM card,[br]or open a bank account.

0:04:15.984,0:04:19.741
In fact, of the 1.7 billion people[br]in the world who are unbanked,

0:04:19.765,0:04:23.195
20 percent is due to not having[br]a legal identity document.

0:04:23.969,0:04:27.797
Now, you don't have to be an expert[br]to see that this, times a billion,

0:04:27.821,0:04:29.327
is a big problem.

0:04:29.946,0:04:31.950
So it's not surprising[br]that evidence shows

0:04:31.974,0:04:34.775
that improved birth registration[br]coverage goes hand in hand

0:04:34.799,0:04:36.521
with improved development outcomes,

0:04:36.545,0:04:37.951
from poverty alleviation

0:04:37.975,0:04:40.947
to better health, nutrition, education,

0:04:40.971,0:04:42.483
economic improvement

0:04:42.507,0:04:44.777
and safe and orderly migration.

0:04:46.714,0:04:51.375
In 2015, world leaders came together

0:04:51.399,0:04:55.081
and promised that they would[br]uphold human rights of all people

0:04:55.105,0:04:56.676
and leave no one behind

0:04:56.700,0:04:58.723
in efforts to end poverty,

0:04:58.747,0:04:59.913
hunger,

0:04:59.937,0:05:01.389
and reduce inequalities.

0:05:01.413,0:05:03.554
But how are they going[br]to uphold human rights

0:05:03.578,0:05:06.027
and how do they know[br]if anyone is being left behind

0:05:06.051,0:05:09.331
if they do not know who they are[br]or where they are

0:05:09.355,0:05:10.726
in the first place?

0:05:13.639,0:05:16.102
So what can countries do about this?

0:05:16.126,0:05:18.040
Now, there's no one-size-fits-all model,

0:05:18.064,0:05:20.307
because every country context is unique.

0:05:20.331,0:05:24.391
There are five proven interventions[br]that can be applied to any system.

0:05:24.851,0:05:26.776
Number one, reduce the distance.

0:05:26.800,0:05:28.665
Two, remove the cost.

0:05:28.689,0:05:30.561
Three, simplify the process.

0:05:30.585,0:05:32.699
Four, remove discrimination.

0:05:32.723,0:05:34.749
Five, increase demand.

0:05:35.429,0:05:38.010
Gender discrimination[br]remains a hidden problem,

0:05:39.092,0:05:41.162
because statistically,[br]there's no difference

0:05:41.186,0:05:43.326
between registration rates[br]of boys and girls.

0:05:43.350,0:05:45.681
But the discrimination[br]isn't against the child --

0:05:45.705,0:05:47.155
it's against the mother.

0:05:47.179,0:05:50.923
Angola was one of 35 countries[br]that required a father's name

0:05:50.947,0:05:54.374
or to be present in order[br]for the child's birth to be registered.

0:05:54.398,0:05:58.076
So in situations where the father[br]is unknown, unwilling,

0:05:58.100,0:05:59.995
or unable to claim paternity,

0:06:00.019,0:06:03.276
the mothers are legally prevented[br]from registering the births

0:06:03.300,0:06:04.506
of their own children.

0:06:05.079,0:06:07.869
So to address this,[br]Angola put a policy in place

0:06:07.893,0:06:10.988
allowing mothers to register[br]their children as a single parent.

0:06:12.346,0:06:14.379
In Tanzania, in 2012,

0:06:14.403,0:06:17.189
only 13 percent of children[br]had a birth certificate.

0:06:17.523,0:06:20.006
So the government[br]came up with a new system.

0:06:20.782,0:06:26.109
They put registration centers[br]in existing infrastructure

0:06:26.133,0:06:28.019
such as community wards

0:06:28.043,0:06:29.945
and in health facilities.

0:06:29.969,0:06:33.138
So they brought the services closer[br]to the people who needed them.

0:06:33.162,0:06:34.496
They removed the fee.

0:06:35.141,0:06:37.559
They simplified the process[br]and automated it

0:06:37.583,0:06:40.144
so the birth certificate[br]could be issued on the spot.

0:06:40.753,0:06:43.825
To increase demand, they rolled out[br]a public awareness campaign,

0:06:43.849,0:06:46.199
letting people know[br]that there's a new process

0:06:46.223,0:06:49.319
and why it was important to register[br]the births of their children.

0:06:50.562,0:06:54.450
In just a few years in the districts[br]where the new system was put in place,

0:06:54.474,0:06:57.472
83 percent of children[br]now have birth certificates,

0:06:57.496,0:07:00.382
and they're in the process[br]of rolling this out nationwide.

0:07:01.334,0:07:02.632
So what can you do?

0:07:03.632,0:07:06.720
See, I believe we are all united[br]by our humanity.

0:07:06.744,0:07:10.170
We live on the same earth.[br]We breathe the same air.

0:07:10.194,0:07:13.774
And while none of us chose to be born[br]or the situation we were born into,

0:07:13.798,0:07:15.770
we do get to choose how we live.

0:07:16.592,0:07:19.891
Change occurs when a moment of awareness

0:07:19.915,0:07:21.624
or a moment of compassion

0:07:21.648,0:07:23.563
inspires a person to act.

0:07:23.587,0:07:25.440
And through our collective action,

0:07:25.464,0:07:28.901
we become the most powerful[br]agents of change.

0:07:28.925,0:07:33.097
And when the cost of inaction is[br]innocent children are left unprotected,

0:07:33.121,0:07:35.803
unvaccinated, unable to go to school,

0:07:35.827,0:07:39.672
growing up to be adults who are unable[br]to find decent work or vote,

0:07:39.696,0:07:44.567
trapped in a cycle of poverty,[br]exclusion and invisibility,

0:07:44.591,0:07:46.313
it comes down to us

0:07:46.337,0:07:48.766
to take this issue out of the darkness

0:07:48.790,0:07:49.942
and into the light.

0:07:50.535,0:07:54.359
Because it's not every day you get[br]the opportunity to change the world,

0:07:54.383,0:07:55.713
but today

0:07:55.737,0:07:56.888
you do.

0:07:57.944,0:07:59.104
Thanks.

0:07:59.128,0:08:01.105
(Applause)