ARS – Armenia Tackles the Issue of Unregistered Births in the Republic
10 June 2010 | Leave a Comment
As part of its humanitarian mission in the realm of social service, the Armenian Relief Society of Armenia, in close cooperation with UNICEF and UNHCR, conducted a sociological research in September-December, 2009, on the pressing issue of unregistered children in Armenia.
| Clip from Armenian National TV’s First Channel’s Daily News Program (Haylur) |
The research–implemented with the assistance of RA Ministries of Territorial Administration, Labor and Social Issues, Justice, Healthcare, and the Passport and Visa Department of the Police – intended to reveal and provide legal assistance to unregistered children by streamlining the birth registration system throughout the Republic of Armenia. The project intended to pursue its objective by identifying procedural gaps impeding birth registration, to pinpoint the causes and effects of the problem, to create statistical data and develop preventive measures based on the findings. In the process, the project aimed to raise and improve parents’ awareness on the importance of birth registration.
During their research among 1330 households of Yerevan, Gegharkunik and Shirak regions, the ARS interviewers discovered 126 unregistered children of 97 families, and 19 children in childcare institutions. The research targeted, among others, the homeless, the socially disadvantaged, households in border areas, families living in hostels, refugee households, as well as orphanages and special schools.
According to the answers of the interviewees, the absence of a birth registration had caused some serious problems in obtaining child and social benefits, securing essential documents, attending kindergarten and school, receiving treatment at polyclinics, or getting a passport to travel abroad, not to mention the fact, that unregistered children run a higher risk of becoming victims of violence, abuse and trafficking.
Upon realizing the importance and seriousness of this matter, the majority of parents concerned have applied to corresponding offices to register and obtain a birth certificate for their undocumented children.
The importance of this ARS initiative acquires particular significance on the eve of the RA nationwide population census planned for the year 2011.
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