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Lottery of birth
Lottery of birth

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1.2 A ‘passport to protection’

In many parts of the world a system to formally recognise that a woman has given birth is not yet in place.

UNICEF promotes registration for every child as it establishes the existence of the child under law and provides the foundation for safeguarding many of the child’s civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.

The collection of accurate data and the presentation of reliable statistics are also vital for the development of services (such as health and education) and for the monitoring of inequalities, such as gender inequality. The following video explains the importance of a birth certificate in more detail.

Download this video clip.Video player: ou_futurelearn_birth_vid_1025.mp4
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In the next section you’ll consider in more detail the importance of birth registration when seeking to address the lottery of birth.