What if a single human right could change the world? | Kristen Wenz

So, when I was 14,

Translator: Truda Chen Reviewer: DUYU LUO

我十四歲嗰時，屋企人正喺度辦理 收養來自俄塞俄比亞嘅細佬嘅手續

my family was in the process of adopting my little brothers from Ethiopia.

And one day my mom asked,

有一日，我媽媽問

"What day should we put for their birthday?"

「佢哋嘅生日要填咩日子？」

"Uh, the day they were born, obviously?"

「嗯，不如填佢哋出世嘅嗰日？」

Ridiculous question.

問題好荒謬

And then my mom said,

我媽媽繼續問

"Well, Kristen,

「姬絲汀，

neither of your little brothers have a birth certificate,

你嘅兩個細佬都冇出世紙，

so how do you suggest we find out when that was?"

咁你話我哋點揾到佢哋嘅生日？」

Mind blown.

震驚到我頭都爆埋

Now, 20 years later, I'm still working on it,

直至20年後嘅今日 我仍然解決緊呢個問題

except instead of trying to solve the mystery

不過我唔係喺度

of my brothers' missing birth certificates,

解決我細佬冇出世紙嘅謎團

I try to solve this problem globally.

而係嘗試喺全球嘅層面解決呢個問題

So what do birth certificates have to do with international development?

咁出世紙同國際發展有咩關係？

To answer that, we have to look back at the original development agenda,

要回答呢個問題，我哋要 睇返原先嘅發展議程

the human rights agenda.

人權嘅發展議程

So in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

1948年，《世界人權宣言》

for the first time,

喺史上首次

set a shared vision of basic human rights and dignities

制定咗基本人權同尊嚴嘅共同願景

that apply to all people in all nations:

適用於所有國家嘅民眾

Article 6, the right to be recognized as a person before the law.

第六條，人人有 俾法律承認嘅權利

Or, a legal identity.

或者，擁有合法身份嘅權利

For children, this is a birth certificate.

對於小朋友嚟講，就係出世紙

And despite this being a universal human right,

雖然出世紙已經係普世嘅權益

one billion people today have no record they exist,

現今仍然有十億人冇佢哋存在嘅證明

making it one of the greatest human rights violations of our time,

呢個係世上最違反人權嘅事件之一

yet nobody seems to know about it.

但似乎冇人知道

In the face of world poverty and hunger,

面對世界上嘅貧困同飢餓

making sure everyone in the world has a legal identity

確保每個人都有合法身份

doesn't really seem important,

似乎唔係太緊要

but in reality it is.

但事實上好重要

See, early in my career,

喺我職業生涯嘅早期

I was working with a social worker in a slum community in Mumbai,

我同一位社工喺孟買嘅貧民窟工作

and we were following up on a case with this little girl

我哋當時跟進緊一個小妹妹嘅個案

who had contracted polio as a baby and was paralyzed from the waist down.

佢喺嬰兒時期感染咗小兒麻痹症 導致腰部以下癱瘓。

When we arrived at the home,

我哋去到佢屋企嘅時候

we found her on the floor.

發現佢訓喺地下

Her legs were badly scarred and infected,

佢雙只腳有嚴重嘅傷疤同感染

she was malnourished,

佢營養不良

she had never gone to school

佢從來冇返過學

and she had spent most of her life confined to this small, dark room.

佢人生大部分嘅時間 都困喺又細又暗嘅房間入面

When we left, I asked the social worker what the case plan was,

我哋走嘅時候，我問個社工 下面嘅步驟係咩

and she said, "Well first, we have to get her a birth certificate."

佢話︰「首先，我哋 要幫佢攞到出世紙。」

I was a little taken aback.

我有啲嚇親

I said, "Well, don't you think we need to get her some social assistance

我話︰「吓，你唔覺得我哋應該 幫佢攞到社會援助，

and a safe place to live and into a school?"

幫佢搵安全嘅住處， 同埋搵學校先咩？」

She goes, "Exactly, which is why we need to get her a birth certificate."

佢答︰「係呀，所以我哋咪 要幫佢攞到出世紙張。」

See, without a legal identity,

原來，如果你冇合法身份

you are not recognized as a person by the government.

你係唔會俾政府承認係個人

And a person who doesn't officially exist can't access government services,

一個非正式存在嘅人 無法使用政府服務

and the government can only provide services

政府亦只會提供服務

for the number of people they know about.

俾佢哋承認嘅嗰啲人

Hence, people are overlooked, for example, by routine immunization services.

所以，冇合法身份嘅人就冇辦法 享受常規嘅免疫服務

People without a legal identity are both uncounted and unprotected.

冇合法身份嘅人冇俾統計同保護

They're among the poorest members of society

佢哋來自最邊緣化嘅社區

from the most marginalized communities.

係社會中最貧窮嘅一群

They're victims of trafficking.

佢哋係人口販賣嘅受害者

Human traffickers know that it's nearly impossible to find someone

人販知道如果一個人 本身就冇存在嘅紀錄

if there was never a record they existed in the first place.

咁就幾乎唔會畀人搵到

They're victims of exploitation, such as child marriage and child labor.

佢哋亦更容易受到剝削 例如童婚同做童工

Without a birth certificate, how do you prove a child is still a child?

冇出生證明，你點樣證明 一個小朋友仲係小朋友？

They're among the stateless;

佢哋無國籍

birth certificates provide proof of who your parents are

出世紙可以證明邊個係你嘅父母

and where you were born,

你喺邊度出世

the two main factors for acquiring nationality.

呢兩樣係取得國籍嘅重要因素

Of the one billion people in the world without a legal identity,

全世界十億個冇合法身份嘅人入面

the vast majority are children who were never registered at birth.

絕大部分都係出世時 冇俾登記嘅小朋友

In the least developed nations,

喺落後國家

the births of over 60 percent of children have never been recorded.

超過六成嘅小朋友都冇出生紀錄

A study across 17 countries in sub-Saharan Africa

一項對撒哈拉以南非洲 十七個國家嘅研究指出

found that 80 percent of children did not have a birth certificate.

八成嘅小朋友都冇出世紙

Out of the countries that have not yet achieved

喺仲未全面達成

universal birth registration coverage,

全民出生登記嘅國家裡邊

in 26 countries, a birth certificate is required to access health care,

有 26 個國家，只有出世紙 先可以接受醫療保健服務

including vaccines.

例如注射疫苗

In 37 countries, it's required to access social assistance

有 37 個國家，只要有出世紙 先可以取得社會援助

intended to bring people out of poverty.

從而脫貧

And in 59 countries, a birth certificate is required

有 59 個國家，只要有出世紙

for a child to be enrolled or complete school.

小朋友先可以入學同畢業

A birth certificate is also often required for other forms of legal identity,

其他合法身份 例如國民身份證或護照

like a national ID or a passport.

都需要有出生證明

And some form of legal identity in almost every country is required

而且幾乎每個國家都要求 你有某種形式嘅合法身份

to vote, get a SIM card or open a bank account.

先可以投票、攞到電話卡 或者開銀行戶口

In fact, of the 1.7 billion people in the world who are unbanked,

事實上，全球冇銀行戶口嘅 十七億人裡邊

20 percent is due to not having a legal identity document.

有兩成人係因為冇合法嘅身份證明

Now, you don't have to be an expert to see that this, times a billion,

即使你唔係專家

都會睇得出呢個係一個大問題

is a big problem.

So it's not surprising that evidence shows

有證據指出

that improved birth registration coverage goes hand in hand

改善出生登記嘅普遍性

with improved development outcomes,

同改善發展成果息息相關

from poverty alleviation

從減輕貧困

to better health, nutrition, education,

到改善健康、營養、教育

economic improvement

再到改善經濟

and safe and orderly migration.

同安全有序嘅移民

In 2015, world leaders came together

2015 年，各國領袖共聚一堂

and promised that they would uphold human rights of all people

承諾會維護所有人嘅人權

and leave no one behind

唔會忽視任何一個人

in efforts to end poverty,

努力消除貧困

hunger

飢餓

and reduce inequalities.

同減少不平等

But how are they going to uphold human rights

但佢哋可以點維護人權

and how do they know if anyone is being left behind

如果一開始就有人俾忽略咗？

if they do not know who they are or where they are

無人知道呢班人係邊個，喺邊度

in the first place?

佢哋又點會知道呢啲人 已經俾忽略咗呢？

So what can countries do about this?

各國可以點樣做呢？

Now, there's no one-size-fits-all model,

冇統一做法嘅

because every country context is unique.

因為每個國家嘅情況都獨一無二

There are five proven interventions that can be applied to any system.

但係有五個驗證過嘅通用措施

Number one, reduce the distance.

第一，縮短距離

Two, remove the cost.

第二，去除成本

Three, simplify the process.

第三，簡化程序

Four, remove discrimination.

第四，消除歧視

Five, increase demand.

第五，增加需求

Gender discrimination remains a hidden problem,

性別歧視仍然係一個暗藏嘅問題

because statistically, there's no difference

雖然數據上

between registration rates of boys and girls.

男女嘅出生登記率並冇差別

But the discrimination isn't against the child --

但係歧視並唔係針對小朋友——

it's against the mother.

而係針對媽媽

Angola was one of 35 countries that required a father's name

安哥拉在內嘅35個國家 係需要父親嘅姓名

or to be present in order for the child's birth to be registered.

或者父親在場 先可以幫小朋友做出生登記

So in situations where the father is unknown, unwilling

因此，如果父親不詳、唔願意

or unable to claim paternity,

或者唔肯承認關係

the mothers are legally prevented from registering the births

媽媽就冇辦法喺法律上為小朋友

of their own children.

進行出生登記

So to address this, Angola put a policy in place

為咗解決呢個問題 安哥拉新增咗政策

allowing mothers to register their children as a single parent.

容許母親以單親家人嘅身份 為小朋友做出生登記

In Tanzania, in 2012,

喺坦桑尼亞，2012 年

only 13 percent of children had a birth certificate.

只有一成三嘅小朋友有出世紙

So the government came up with a new system.

所以政府提出咗新嘅體制

They put registration centers in existing infrastructure,

喺現有嘅公共設施

such as community wards

例如社區病房

and in health facilities.

同醫療機構內設置登記中心

So they brought the services closer to the people who needed them.

佢哋將呢項服務 帶到去有需要嘅人嘅面前

They removed the fee.

佢哋仲免去費用

They simplified the process and automated it,

簡化同自動化咗個程序

so the birth certificate could be issued on the spot.

使到出世紙可以馬上發放

To increase demand, they rolled out a public awareness campaign,

為咗增加需求，佢哋開展咗 提高公眾意識嘅運動

letting people know that there's a new process

畀人民知道有新嘅程序

and why it was important to register the births of their children.

同埋幫小朋友做出生登記嘅重要性

In just a few years in the districts where the new system was put in place,

短短幾年間，喺實施新體制嘅地區

83 percent of children now have birth certificates,

而家有八成三嘅小朋友都有出世紙

and they're in the process of rolling this out nationwide.

佢哋正準備向全國推行呢個體制

So what can you do?

咁你可以做啲咩？

See, I believe we are all united by our humanity.

我相信我哋嘅人性使我哋團結一致

We live on the same earth. We breathe the same air.

我哋居住喺同一個地球 我哋呼吸相同嘅空氣

And while none of us chose to be born or the situation we were born into,

雖然我哋無法選擇自己嘅出生

we do get to choose how we live.

但我哋可以選擇如何去生活

Change occurs when a moment of awareness

改變靠意識

or a moment of compassion

或者同情心

inspires a person to act.

來激發一個人去行動

And through our collective action,

通過集體行動

we become the most powerful agents of change.

我哋會成為最強大嘅變革推動者

And when the cost of inaction is innocent children are left unprotected,

不作為嘅代價係

無辜嘅小朋友無法受保護 接種疫苗同返學

unvaccinated, unable to go to school,

growing up to be adults who are unable to find decent work or vote,

長大成人後無法搵到 體面嘅工作或投票

trapped in a cycle of poverty, exclusion and invisibility,

冇法脫離貧困 受排斥同俾無視嘅惡性循環

it comes down to us

我哋需要歸結起嚟

to take this issue out of the darkness

將呢個問題從黑暗

and into the light.

帶到光明

Because it's not every day you get the opportunity to change the world,

因為你唔係每一日都有機會改變世界

but today,

但係今日

you do.

你可以

Thanks.

多謝

(Applause)

(掌聲)