Although the exact number is unknown, officials estimate that more than 300 thousand people in Argentina are unregistered. These people now lack basic rights simply because their births went unreported.
Since the government does not recognize their existence, Argentina’s unregistered are unable to obtain identification cards. Without IDs, access to health care is severely limited, education is all but unattainable and legal employment is impossible.
Lacking IDs, the unregistered also have no inheritance rights. They are prohibited from voting and claiming retirement or social benefits. Additionally, the unregistered cannot report a crime, even when they are the victim, travel outside the country, or rent housing.
Despite governmental efforts to simplify registration paperwork, many impoverished parents still fail to register their children’s births. Officials believe that lack of awareness is a prevailing problem when it comes to birth registration. Many people do not know that they are allowed to register newborns for free at main hospitals.
Jorge Álvarez, director of The Open Institute for Development and Study of Public Policies, explains that a large number of those who do not register their children do not understand the advantages of access to identification affords.
“This is why we say this is not a red-tape issue,” Álvarez stated, “but one of poverty and entrenched cultural deprivation.”
Even those who overcome a lack of information still face challenges. In order for an unregistered individual’s existence to be recognized by the government after the age of 12, that individual must file a legal petition for late registration. The process, without proper assistance, can stretch over years and require hundreds of dollars in legal fees.
Fortunately, Microjusticia Argentina, an NGO dedicated to providing legal representation and assistance to marginalized people, is working to assist the unregistered and provide impoverished people with access to identity rights.
Although the NGO’s volunteer members provide free legal assistance, the organization strongly emphasizes the importance of endowing clients with the tools to meet registration requirements through their own work.
“We listen first, and then advise. We seek [to support] personal empowerment, so we give them the tools to deal with paperwork by themselves whenever possible,” stated Alejandra Martínez, general coordinator of Microjusticia Argentina.
Microjusticia Argentina serves communities in Buenos Aires, Lanús Oeste, Florencio Varela, Olmos and Ezeiza, Mariló, Manzanares and Lomas Zamora. The Buenos Aires slums, or villas miserias, are a particular focus with 16 mobile Microjusticia Argentina outlets serving the impoverished residents.
The “invisible ones”, as the NGO’s members often refer to slum occupants, face other challenges stemming from their impoverished condition. Along with a lack of information concerning identity rights, Argentina’s poor are also deprived of access to such necessities as proper sanitation services and clean water.
With a legacy of poverty and hardship hanging over their heads, these people desperately need welfare and the means to educate themselves and gain employment, rather than having all their rights lost due to no access to IDs. Unfortunately, there exists rift between marginalized families and the authority figures that dole out the advantages identification affords.
“They [impoverished people] feel they are not entitled to rights and that public services are not meant for them either,” stated Martinez.
Therein lies the vitality of organizations like Microjusticia Argentina that seek not only to alleviate the lack of identity rights facing the impoverished communities they serve, but to incorporate marginalized people into the fight for their own rights and give them a sense of agency in the process.
Since 2010, Microjusticia has resolved 700 legal cases in Argentina. The organization also has sister branches in Bolivia, Peru, Croatia, Serbia, Kenya and Uganda, with Microjustice programs in the United States, the Philippines and Spain in the works.
– Emma-Claire LaSaine
Sources: Microjusticia Argentina, The Guardian
Photo: The Guardian
OUR: Modern “Abolitionists”
Tim Ballard, a former CIA Agent and Homeland Security operant from Utah, spent over a decade working to disrupt child trafficking both domestically and internationally. His passion for this work led him to form a new organization to combat the issue plaguing the world. Ballard formed the nonprofit organization Operation Underground Railroad (OUR).
OUR uses a network of former military officers, medics, nurses, cops and others to directly free children forced into the sex trade. The organization relies heavily on high-level connections for donations and for cooperation with governments and police forces abroad. Though OUR has faced the common criticisms that follow all raid based programs, Ballard and his team defend the mission, emphasizing that these children are in dire, forced circumstances and freeing them is ideal. Also, OUR uses local government and police agencies to make the actual arrests and then sets up the rescued children with some type of assistance, be it financial or through local programs.
The program has played off of the general publicity that comes with raid and rescue type intervention programs and spun it even further. The team itself is something to behold, with physically fit and mentally sharp experts in their field, they are entrancing to watch. Which is why the organization is on the verge of making a deal for a TV show accompaniment. In fact, a large part of donations come from wealthy individuals who in turn for their donations get direct access to view the raids from afar. The entertainment aspect of the program has been substantial for funding, to say the least.
The program has also gained popularity through its marketing as modern “abolitionists” and the website entices potential donors with the tag line “give a Lincoln, save a slave,” which urges donors to give a monthly five dollar membership due. By using terms that play on 1800s slavery emancipation, the organization further highlights the slavery element of the child sex trafficking world, emphasizing that this is a tremendous injustice.
Despite OUR’s success, the organization’s highly Mormon roots, entertainment element and raid styled approach have worried some experts. The strong religious association may cause further cultural resistance in certain areas and in certain groups, which could halt other efforts working to combat sex trafficking. The entertainment element and how the group is giving back to donors in the form of live raid video access brings up ethical questions. While thus far the approach has worked and brought attention to the problem of child sex trafficking, there is the risk of the organization becoming too entertainment-focused and the actual mission being overclouded. With the potential for a television show, the raids become cinematic and less real-life-nitty-gritty, making the very real problem seem far from home and even fictional.
The classic criticisms of raid style intervention programs persist with the OUR abolitionists. Common concerns are that they are doing little to help the child recover and succeed after freedom. Also, the program needs to address the fact that many members of the sex trade are not directly forced into it but arrive there because of a lack of opportunity and desperation. Also of those that are forced, as the program does try to target children, many children develop drug addictions while working that lead them back into the practice.
OUR is new and seems to have a good amount of leverage with high paying donors and political connections that could provide the means to address the problems or concerns now to develop an unstoppable force against sex traffickers. For now, the program is working on developing software that will flag computers containing child pornographic material, particularly belonging to tourists, in areas where the sex trade is prominent, to come at the problem from that angle also. Further strengthening of the current and new programs that help rescued children recover and stay away from the sex trade is essential in for OUR to make a long-term impact. The entertainment aspect of the program is an interesting new approach that seems to have short-term success but does hold some risk down the line. However the program does deserve credit for its efforts and with continued development, could become a major player in foreign assistance. OUR serves as a prime example of how small-scale efforts can transform into larger operations through raising awareness and how non-governmental and non-profit organizations can oftentimes avoid the restrictions that are unavoidable for their counterparts.
– Emma Dowd
Sources: Foreign Policy, Maxim, OUR
Photo: The Florida Villager
Chinese Government Implements HIV/AIDS Prevention Classes
China’s National Health and Family Planning Commission and the Ministry of Education declared last week that teachers must now cover HIV/AIDS prevention in the classroom.
The move was in conjunction with the announcement that some areas of China are seeing higher rates of HIV/AIDS cases among students than other populations.
Overall, there are currently around half a million people with HIV/AIDS in China, with the possibility of hundreds of thousands of undiagnosed cases, according to the World Health Organization.
Under the requirement, middle school students must attend six hours of classes dealing with HIV/AIDS prevention, while high school students are required to attend four hours of classes. The departments also recommended that schools provide students with information regarding counseling and HIV testing sites.
Implementing the requirement is seen as a bold move for the Chinese government, as it is still coming to terms with the idea that the younger generation is more sexually liberated than older generations.
Sex education, in fact, is not currently taught in most schools in China.
However, a study by Durex, a condom maker, revealed that people in China are losing their virginity at a younger age, with the average currently at 21.2 years. The study also showed that 60 percent of those between the ages of 19 and 25 in China have had sex.
– Matt Wotus
Sources: Daily Mail, Wall Street Journal
Photo: Daily Mail
Babajob Connecting Millions to Employers in India
India is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, and with that comes one of the newest and largest middle-class populations. Middle-class families in India have a want for maids, housekeepers, nannies and cooks. Most wealthy families fill these positions through word of mouth or by recommendations from friends. However, a disconnect exists between those seeking workers and those who could take on the job. Babajob is an employment website that connects millions with employers in India.
Steve Blagsvedt, who had previously worked for Microsoft in India, founded the company in 2007. He noticed that many potential employers had no way of connecting with the millions of potential employees available and vice versa. The idea was simple at first: attract employers to create an online profile, have workers do the same and then match them. Blagsvedt quickly realized, however, that while the employers had access to the site, the workers (many of whom came from India’s slums) did not. The company set up an office in Bangalore and invited potential workers. Babajob employees then filled out profiles for them, a service still being offered today. While many who live in poverty in India don’t have Internet access, nowadays, most have mobile phones. Babajob used SMS to notify applicants of interviews or if they were hired.
One issue was fixed and the service began to run smoothly, but Babajob encountered another roadblock. Much of India’s low-income population has low literacy proficiency, thus, SMS messages were ultimately ineffective. It was then that Babajob set up call centers, which are operational to this day. Applicants call in and hang up (to save money) and are then called back by Babajob staff members who provide them all the details associated with their account.
The service is revolutionary because it enables so many people, who would have never had the opportunity for work, to better their own economic situations. “It’s an amazing service for anyone in India using any phone to connect to better jobs for free, and it does so without requiring literacy in any language or an Internet connection,” Blagsvedt said.
The site currently has more than 3.9 million registered job seekers and receives thousands of new applications each month. Babajob has also expanded from solely focusing on the domestic job market to also including jobs in the nursing, banking, data science, education and engineering sectors.
– Joe Kitaj
Sources: Take Part, Babajob, BBC
Photo: The Asian Entrepreneur
Alternatives to Antibiotics for Cholera Treatment
There has been a recent surge in the number and severity of cholera cases in certain parts of the world including Haiti, India and South Sudan. In the face of an epidemic, the World Health Organization and its affiliates have mobilized their efforts to distribute efficient treatment and sanitation services to the populations affected by cholera.
The treatment of cholera, like any other bacterial disease, relies on a standard antibiotic therapy accompanied by a steady oral rehydration course for the patients. Cholera — caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae — causes severe diarrhea and nausea, and could be potentially fatal as the body gets severely dehydrated. In fact, as many as 142,000 deaths are caused annually as a consequence of cholera.
The disease has long been associated with poverty, with the scientific literature to support the correlation as well. The association arises from the causative agent of the disease: the bacteria causing symptoms of cholera thrives in unsanitary water, which is unfortunately widely used as drinking water in impoverished areas. Once they enter the human body, the bacteria have a very short incubation period, causing them to spread quickly and efficiently. The exceptionally virulent bacteria then release toxins, which cause the symptoms of cholera.
To treat these symptoms, antibiotics are typically administered to the patients in tandem with rehydration salts. The antibiotics that function to kill the bacteria are typically of the tetracycline family. The tetracycline-derived antibiotics, however, have become notorious for their rapid decline in clinical efficacy due to antibiotic resistance.
The mode of action of the tetracycline antibiotics is inhibition of protein biosynthesis in the target bacterium. This is accomplished by blocking the bacterial ribosomes, which are the site for protein synthesis. However, many bacteria, including strains of V. cholerae, have developed antibiotic-resistant genes, which efflux the antibiotics from the cell and render them useless.
This resistance to previously one of the most effective, safe and broad-spectrum antibiotics has spurred research into discovering viable alternatives. One of these alternatives is to manufacture a molecule that inhibits toxin production directly. This approach aims to stop the process of bacterial biosynthesis right where it begins: at genetic transcription.
The process of producing cholera toxin also begins with a transcribed gene, which is then translated to a protein toxin. The current objective is to isolate elements within the bacterial DNA that regulate this process, which are called promoters, as well as inhibitors for the promoter. The inhibitory elements can bind to the promoter which, in turn, would stop the transcription process for the specific gene altogether.
For the inhibition of the cholera toxin-producing gene, a class of molecules labeled toxT transcription inhibitors have been identified. These not only inhibit the process of toxin production but also down-regulate the production of colonization factors. The action of toxT, therefore, can stop the production of disease-causing toxins as well as prevent the bacteria from forming large colonies.
These studies depict a different yet successful possibility of approaching the antibiotic resistance issue. The efficient manufacturing and safety of small molecule inhibitors for mainstream pharmaceuticals remains a challenge for the future; however, the current research results are indicative of a positive outcome.
– Atifah Safi
Sources: United Nations, NIH, American Society for Microbiology, WHO
Photo: Mother Earth Living
Warren Buffett: Generosity May Save Generations
According to Forbes Magazine, Warren Buffett is one of the wealthiest men in the world, with a net worth of over $72 billion. Buffett amassed a great portion of his wealth through investment and involvement in his family’s business, Berkshire Hathaway. Since coming into his fortune, Buffett has created a non-profit called The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, which is a large family foundation third only to The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and The Ford Foundation.
After Buffett’s first wife, Susan Thompson, passed away at the age of 72, he decided to focus the foundation’s efforts on charitable causes. One of the most funded causes was creating an IUD, an intrauterine contraceptive device. All of the foundation’s donations to research, funding and supplying were made in confidence, but it is evident that without funding for research the world would be in a much different place.
When IUDs were first created, they had more negative side effects than positive outcomes. Since few women saw their use, research on this form of contraceptive slowed to a halt, but after ten years of minimal research, the Buffett Foundation decided to invest in better contraceptives for women who did not have access to medical facilities. According to Buffett, not allowing women to decide when they want to get pregnant is essentially failing to utilize half of the brainpower in the world, as these people are constantly worried or concerned about pregnancy and their children.
Since Buffett’s investment, three major IUDs have emerged: ParaGard, which is a copper IUD that can last 3 years; Mirena, which is a plastic IUD that secretes hormones and can last up to five years; and most recently, Liletta, which is very similar to Mirena and was developed by a non-profit funded by Buffett in order to offer a cheaper option to women who could not afford a standard IUD.
The longevity of IUDs, some lasting up to 10 years, has made them an ideal form of contraception for busy women who do not have a steady schedule and cannot take pills at the same time every day. IUDs are 99 percent effective and have proven to be safe and beneficial for women in underdeveloped countries. In some developing countries, women are still dying in childbirth due to far too many pregnancies and a lack of control over their fertility. However, as female reproductive rights become a more pressing issue, IUDs and their cheap — or maybe even free — existence could make a huge difference.
Many women who live in poverty feel as though they do not have control over their bodies, an issue that has been brought up with several women’s rights’ activist groups. In order to grant women more control, we must grant them access first to contraceptives and next to education. When women are given the option to decide whether or not to have a child, they are able to make better decisions for their families and for their futures. Childhood mortality rates will decrease, female life expectancy will increase and overall national GDP will also increase. This is one simple change funded by one outstanding man that could provide women in developing nations a chance to take control of their lives and make a difference.
– Sumita Tellakat
Sources: Bloomberg, Forbes
Photo: Forbes
Harper’s Bazaar China Hosts Fashion Charity Event
When you hear about Fashion Magazine, you probably think of gorgeous ladies and gentlemen in luxury attires who have nothing to do with poverty. However, Harper’s Bazaar China has started “BAZAAR Stars’ Charity Night” and has proposed to “let the charity become a kind of fashion.”
Hosted by Harper’s Bazaar China, a famous international fashion magazine, BAZAAR Stars’ Charity Gala is an annual fundraising gala for Chinese celebrities who support charities. It collects money through an auction and the funding is used for charities that support causes for impoverished children, medical aids, disaster recovery and many others.
In 2003, a year when SARS spread in mainland China, BAZAAR Stars’ Charity Night was established due to the social responsibility of journalists in Harper’s Bazaar China. With the whole society threatened by an incurable disease, fashion journalists felt powerless in helping by merely advertising luxurious lifestyles and beautiful attire. Thus, under the suggestion from a famous Chinese singer, Na Ying, the journalists in Harper’s Bazaar China started fundraising through auctioning used items owned by celebrities to financially support people in need.
Through live telecast, the charity event has gained a lot of attention. Singers and dancers voluntarily perform at the event and movie stars dress up in glamorous outfits. The event is a good opportunity to advertise charity.
The first session of the gala collected 168,000 RMB, which made a hit in Chinese society. Thus Harper’s Bazaar China decided to maintain this program and try to develop it into a more influential social and charitable event. In 2004, the team came up with the idea to “let charity become a fashion” and encourage Chinese stars to support charities.
In 2012, the tenth anniversary of the charity night was held in Beijing. More than 600 entrepreneurs and stars such as famous actress Zhang Ziyi, martial arts star Jackie Chan, pianist Lang Lang and popular singer Jay Chou attended the charity event. During the auction, a painting by famous contemporary Chinese artist Zeng Fanzhi was sold for 17 million yuan, the highest price of the night. Participants who didn’t auction any items were also encouraged to donate 100,000 yuan. The event raised a total of $6.3 million.
According to the organizers of this event, all the funding raised in 2012 was donated to several projects for poverty alleviation, medical aid for children and craniofacial cleft lip and palate treatment. In 2013, funds were donated to the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation and the Zhonghua Siyuan project to financially support the economic development of poverty-stricken areas in China.
In an interview, the Editor-in-Chief of Harper’s Bazaar China, Su Mang, said, “People usually think Fashion has nothing to do with charity. Sometimes they regard charity merely as our strategy to gain attention, but I want to say that, if behind the glamorous dresses, there is a true willingness to help others, we should also applaud for them.”
– Shengyu Wang
Sources: Baidu, CNTV, Youtube
Photo: Mod Bad
W.TEC Technology Camp Empowering Nigerian Girls
Nigerian nongovernmental organization Women’s Technology Empowerment Centre (W.TEC) is looking to groom the next generation of “ICTprenures” through their W.TEC Girls Technology Camp.
The W.TEC camp, able to accommodate 30 Nigerian girls ages 13 to 17, is competitive yet inclusive with scholarships available to public school students. Its objective: “helping girls develop an early interest in computers and other information technology,” an interest that W.TC believes will socially and financially empower Nigerian girls.
Over the course of two weeks, participants take technology workshops and engage in leadership activities. These workshops range from Basic Computer Appreciation, which covers Microsoft Office Suite and Internet use, to 3D Designing and Robotics Programming.
Supported by Union Bank of Nigeria, MainOne Cable, General Electric and Laureates College, the camp is designed not only to increase Nigerian girls’ technological capabilities but also to enhance creativity, communication abilities, problem-solving and leadership skills that will serve participants in whatever career field they pursue.
W.TEC Girls Technology Camp also covers career sessions. The 2015 lineup boasts Financial Literature, Youths and Space Technology and Software and Development Life Cycle courses in addition to field trips to innovative technology companies and conversation sessions with women working in ICT fields.
On the importance of their female empowerment focus, W.TEC stated that “statistical evidence has shown that in most African countries, women’s use and knowledge of ICTs (to store, share, organize and process information) is lower than men’s, denying them of income-generating opportunities and the chance to network with others.”
In addition to their W.TEC Girls Technology Camp, the organization conducts a variety of programs focused on technology-based projects, technology literacy training, mentoring and work placement for young Nigerian women and girls. W.TEC also hopes through research and publications to promote a dialogue about the way African women use technology and the hindrances to that use.
W.TEC seeks to empower Nigerian girls through financial independence stemming from ICT training for jobs such as computer engineers, system analysts, programmers, designers and hardware and network specialists. The organization also works to guide women through the development of technology skills that can improve their candidacy for ICT-reliant jobs or self-employment.
Dedicated to these goals, W.TEC pledges to support the use of ICT as a means to uplift women’s rights: “We also want women to develop skills and confidence to use ICTs for activism, learning, awareness-raising and advocacy for a better quality of life.”
– Emma-Claire LaSaine
Sources: W.TEC, Biztech Africa
Photo: Biztech Africa
Why Clean Water Matters
It’s all too easy to take for granted all of the conveniences available to us as citizens of a developed country. Having access to clean water is a privilege that goes far beyond just being able to use it for drinking or cooking. It can significantly improve the lives of people in poverty for a number of reasons.
For example, access to clean water usually means a person is more likely to have food to eat. After all, 70 percent of our global water use is for irrigation and agriculture. Often, a lack of clean water means a corresponding lack of food, because communities are unable to grow their own. About 84 percent of the people who don’t have access to clean water live on subsistence agriculture, which means that they are dependent on the growth of their own food for survival.
If people have access only to dirty, contaminated water, then they are in constant danger of waterborne diseases like diarrhea, cholera, fluorosis, HIV, malaria, typhoid and parasites such as intestinal worms. All of these run rampant through unsafe water supplies.
If people are getting sick, then someone in the family has to take care of them. That leaves two people out of school or work. Two people whose education or livelihood is put on hold because there isn’t an accessible clean water source.
Oftentimes, women undertake the time-consuming act of hauling water from its source to the villages where it is needed. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 40 billion hours a year are spent hauling water. This leads to to a sort of “time poverty,” where there is less time for endeavors like receiving an education or making money.
Without access to proper sanitation, many girls drop out of school when they reach puberty. Unsafe water acts as a barrier to education for young women in particular, perpetuating the global poverty and gender inequality cycle.
When mothers fear their children are going to die of diseases, they have more children in the hopes that some of them will survive, which often leads to poor maternal health and overpopulation problems. Poor maternal health can also lead to orphaned children who are left to fend for themselves and do not have time for education because they are focused on survival.
In fact, access to clean water is something that underlays almost all of the Millennium Development Goals – eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality and empowering women, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, combating disease and ensuring environmental sustainability. In the new set of Sustainable Development Goals, ensuring access to water and sanitation for all is a goal in itself.
Gary Evans of Living Water International put it like this: “We’re in a world where there are 900 million people barely treading water, and the water’s too low for them to reach the ladder. They don’t need a boat. They don’t need a helicopter to rescue them. They just need a little boost so they can reach the ladder. Then they can climb out on their own. Clean water provides that boost.”
So, it’s clear why clean water is important. And the best part? There really is plenty to go around. Groups like The Water Project and Living Water International are working to build sand dams, wells and devices for water collection and sanitation. Every dollar invested in water and sanitation generates about eight dollars worth of health, time and productivity.
Unsafe water and lack of water causes a lot of problems, but what this really means is that there is one simple fix that will address a multitude of global poverty issues. Clean water means a better world in terms of equality, education, health, food security and more.
– Emily Dieckman
Sources: UN 1, UN 2, UN 3, UNICEF, Water, The Water Project
Photo: Easy Drug Card
Chocolate Company Creates Jobs for Women in Ghana
Divine Chocolate is a Fair Trade chocolate company partially owned by Kuapa Kokoo Limited. Kuapa Kokoo is Ghana’s leading farmer’s cooperative for chocolate, dedicated to quality both in their products and in the lives of the members.
The Fair Trade aspect of the company prevents large organizations from taking advantage of the small-farm cocoa farmers. This allows the farmers to receive a fair income and reduces the chances of child labor and forced labor.
One of the more important aspects of Divine Chocolate is the emphasis on the empowerment of women. Approximately 32 percent of the Kuapa Kokoo cooperative is made up of women. Women are given the opportunity to learn business skills, reading and writing skills, and even new trades through the Divine Chocolate’s Women’s Cocoa Farming Training program and the Kuapa Kokoo Women’s Fund.
The lack of education among women farmers in Ghana makes it easy for others to take advantage of them. The additional education helps protect the women from those who may cheat them and also increases their ability to run efficient farms and produce quality cocoa.
Women in the co-op who have higher levels of education are encouraged to become leaders. Those who have learned other skills have the opportunity to take out microloans from the Kuapa Kokoo Credit Union to start their own businesses. This allows them to receive a secondary income, especially when cocoa beans are not in season. Christiana Ohene-Agyare was the first woman to be nominated president of the Kuapa Kokoo cooperative in 2010.
“Being a member of Kuapa Kokoo has taught me that whatever a man can do, a woman can also do and even better,” said Ohene-Agyare to Divine Chocolate.
Kuapa Kokoo and Divine Chocolate are changing the view of women in Ghana through their innovative structure. Women are given the opportunity to learn, lead and make money through the training program and the Kuapa Kokoo Women’s Fund. The extra income earned by the women allows them to send their children to school as well.
Ghana is the second-largest producer of cocoa behind the Ivory Coast.
– Iona Brannon
Sources: Divine Chocolate, Fair Trade USA, Fair Trade, Good News Network
Photo: The News
Rights for the Unregistered in Argentina
Although the exact number is unknown, officials estimate that more than 300 thousand people in Argentina are unregistered. These people now lack basic rights simply because their births went unreported.
Since the government does not recognize their existence, Argentina’s unregistered are unable to obtain identification cards. Without IDs, access to health care is severely limited, education is all but unattainable and legal employment is impossible.
Lacking IDs, the unregistered also have no inheritance rights. They are prohibited from voting and claiming retirement or social benefits. Additionally, the unregistered cannot report a crime, even when they are the victim, travel outside the country, or rent housing.
Despite governmental efforts to simplify registration paperwork, many impoverished parents still fail to register their children’s births. Officials believe that lack of awareness is a prevailing problem when it comes to birth registration. Many people do not know that they are allowed to register newborns for free at main hospitals.
Jorge Álvarez, director of The Open Institute for Development and Study of Public Policies, explains that a large number of those who do not register their children do not understand the advantages of access to identification affords.
“This is why we say this is not a red-tape issue,” Álvarez stated, “but one of poverty and entrenched cultural deprivation.”
Even those who overcome a lack of information still face challenges. In order for an unregistered individual’s existence to be recognized by the government after the age of 12, that individual must file a legal petition for late registration. The process, without proper assistance, can stretch over years and require hundreds of dollars in legal fees.
Fortunately, Microjusticia Argentina, an NGO dedicated to providing legal representation and assistance to marginalized people, is working to assist the unregistered and provide impoverished people with access to identity rights.
Although the NGO’s volunteer members provide free legal assistance, the organization strongly emphasizes the importance of endowing clients with the tools to meet registration requirements through their own work.
“We listen first, and then advise. We seek [to support] personal empowerment, so we give them the tools to deal with paperwork by themselves whenever possible,” stated Alejandra Martínez, general coordinator of Microjusticia Argentina.
Microjusticia Argentina serves communities in Buenos Aires, Lanús Oeste, Florencio Varela, Olmos and Ezeiza, Mariló, Manzanares and Lomas Zamora. The Buenos Aires slums, or villas miserias, are a particular focus with 16 mobile Microjusticia Argentina outlets serving the impoverished residents.
The “invisible ones”, as the NGO’s members often refer to slum occupants, face other challenges stemming from their impoverished condition. Along with a lack of information concerning identity rights, Argentina’s poor are also deprived of access to such necessities as proper sanitation services and clean water.
With a legacy of poverty and hardship hanging over their heads, these people desperately need welfare and the means to educate themselves and gain employment, rather than having all their rights lost due to no access to IDs. Unfortunately, there exists rift between marginalized families and the authority figures that dole out the advantages identification affords.
“They [impoverished people] feel they are not entitled to rights and that public services are not meant for them either,” stated Martinez.
Therein lies the vitality of organizations like Microjusticia Argentina that seek not only to alleviate the lack of identity rights facing the impoverished communities they serve, but to incorporate marginalized people into the fight for their own rights and give them a sense of agency in the process.
Since 2010, Microjusticia has resolved 700 legal cases in Argentina. The organization also has sister branches in Bolivia, Peru, Croatia, Serbia, Kenya and Uganda, with Microjustice programs in the United States, the Philippines and Spain in the works.
– Emma-Claire LaSaine
Sources: Microjusticia Argentina, The Guardian
Photo: The Guardian