76^th MEETING OF THE DIRECTING COUNCIL OF THE
INTER-AMERICAN CHILDREN'S INSTITUTE

May 9-11, 2001
Montevideo, Uruguay

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THE DIRECTING COUNCIL,

WHEREAS:

Civil Registration is an essential element for protecting children's rights to a name and an identity, and for protecting the full exercise of the civil, economic and social rights enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child;

In particular, there is no possibility for building citizenship and defense of democracy if children are excluded because they have not been registered at birth;

Given the increasing tendencies toward the breakdown of the family in our countries, and its adverse consequences for the protection and socialization of children, it becomes essential to guarantee, by all means possible, the rights to a name and an identity, and have available all possible resources to avoid putting children in high-risk situations, such as the sale and trafficking of children, the sale and trafficking of organs, labor exploitation, or child prostitution;

There is evidence of political will, at the highest level in the countries of the Americas, to take immediate actions to effectively guarantee children's rights to a name and an identity, specifically expressed in the Plan of Action of the Third Summit of the Americas (Quebec City, Canada, 2001), the Declaration of Panama (10^th Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government, Panama City, Panama, 2000) and the Kingston Consensus (5^th Ministerial Meeting on Children and Social Policy in the Americas, Kingston, Jamaica, 2000);

The rights to a name and an identity are essential and cut across all of the actions included in the IACI Strategic Plan 2000-2004, adopted at the 75^th Meeting of the Directing Council (Ottawa, Canada, 2000);

The IACI has carefully analyzed the issue of civil registration in the region and is promoting actions to improve Civil Registration systems, based on a strategy that involves parents, the community, and registrars in safeguarding the rights to a name and an identity;

RESOLVES:

1. To recommend that the Member States promote concrete actions to improve the Registration of children, sensitizing and involving governmental and civil society organizations on this problem.
   
2. To recommend that the Member States support and encourage the work of the Inter-American Children's Institute in this field, to promote cultural, legal and administrative changes that will lead to the full effectiveness of the rights to a name and an identity.