Every child has the right to their own identity.
UNICEF/HQ92-2002/Roger Lemoyne
The right to identity:
Under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which has been signed and ratified by every country in the world except Somalia and the USA, every child in the world has the right to an identity: to a name, nationality, and to use the language, customs and traditions of their own countries. You also have the right to privacy, and to legal protection against attacks on your reputation.
What the CRC says:
- You have the right to a legally registered name and nationality.
- Governments should respect children's right to a name, a nationality and family ties.
- Governments should take steps to stop children being taken out of their own country illegally.
- You have the right to privacy. The law should protect you from attacks against your way of life, your good name, your family and your home.
- You have a right to learn and use the language and customs of your family whether or not these are shared by the majority of the people in the country where you live.
Do all children get their right to identity?
Every year, millions of children are excluded and invisible. One of the reasons for this is that their births are not registered - so governments and other agencies don't know that they exist. It's thought that 1.2 million children are trafficked - taken from their countries illegally - every year. In the UK, campaigners argue that Anti-Social Behaviour Orders and the "naming and shaming" of children denies them their right to privacy.