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

So, when I was 14,

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

我十四歲時，

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

我的家人正在跑流程，要將 我的弟弟們從衣索比亞領養回來。

And one day my mom asked,

有一天，我母親問：

"What day should we put for their birthday?"

「寫他們的生日時要寫哪一天？」

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

「呃，不就是他們 出生的那一天嗎？」

Ridiculous question.

可笑的問題。

And then my mom said,

接著，我母親說：

"Well, Kristen,

「克莉絲汀，你的兩個弟弟 都沒有出生證明書，

neither of your little brothers have a birth certificate,

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

你覺得我們要如何 查出他們出生的日子？」

Mind blown.

好震驚。

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

二十年後，我仍然在為此努力，

except instead of trying to solve the mystery

只是，現在不是試著解決 我弟弟沒有出生證明的謎，

of my brothers' missing birth certificates,

而是解決全球的這個問題。

I try to solve this problem globally.

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

所以，出生證明 和國際發展有什麼關係？

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

為了回答這個問題，我們得要 回頭看看原始的開發重點，

the human rights agenda.

人權的重點項目。

So in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

1948 年，世界人權宣言

for the first time,

史上第一次

set a shared vision of basic human rights and dignities

設定了基本人權 和尊嚴的共同遠景，

that apply to all people in all nations:

適用於所有國家的所有人民：

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

第六條：

人人於任何所在有 被承認為法律上主體之權利。

Or, a legal identity.

或者，合法身分。

For children, this is a birth certificate.

對孩子來說，這就是出生證明。

And despite this being a universal human right,

儘管這是一項世界人權，

one billion people today have no record they exist,

現今有十億人沒有 存在於世界上的記錄，

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

這是我們這個時代 最嚴重的人權違反之一，

yet nobody seems to know about it.

似乎卻沒有人知道這件事。

In the face of world poverty and hunger,

面臨世界貧困和饑荒之際，

making sure everyone in the world has a legal identity

確保世界上人人都有合法身分

doesn't really seem important,

似乎不那麼重要，

but in reality it is.

但，其實很重要。

See, early in my career,

在我的職涯初期，

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

我在孟買的貧民窟 和一位社工合作，

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

我們在追蹤一個小女孩的案例，

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

她在嬰兒時期染上小兒麻痺， 腰部以下都癱瘓。

When we arrived at the home,

我們到她家時，

we found her on the floor.

我們發現她在地板上。

Her legs were badly scarred and infected,

她的雙腿有嚴重的傷疤 且受到感染，

she was malnourished,

她營養不良，

she had never gone to school

她從來沒有上過學，

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

她人生中大部分的時間都被 關在這間又小又暗的房間中。

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

我們離開時，我問社工 這個案例的計畫是什麼，

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

她說：「我們先幫她 弄一張出生證明。」

我有點吃驚。

I was a little taken aback.

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

我說：「你不認為我們應該 幫她尋求某種社會協助，

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

找個安全的住處，協助她上學？」

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

她說：「沒錯，這就是為什麼 我們要幫她弄一張出生證明。」

See, without a legal identity,

要知道，沒有合法身分，

you are not recognized as a person by the government.

你不會被政府視為一個人。

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

沒有正式被認可存在的人，

就不能取得政府的服務，

and the government can only provide services

政府只能提供服務

for the number of people they know about.

給他們知道的人。

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

因此，舉例來說，有人就會 被例行的免疫服務給忽略。

People without a legal identity are both uncounted and unprotected.

沒有合法身分的人不但沒有 被算進去，也不會受到保護。

They're among the poorest members of society

他們屬於社會中最貧窮的成員，

from the most marginalized communities.

來自最被邊緣化的社區。

They're victims of trafficking.

他們是人口販運的受害者。

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

人口販子知道，如果一個人 本來就沒有存在的記錄，

要找到這個人就幾乎是不可能的事。

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

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

他們是剝削的受害者， 比如童婚及童工。

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

沒有出生證明，你要如何證明 一個孩子仍然是一個孩子？

They're among the stateless;

他們是無國籍的人；

birth certificates provide proof of who your parents are

出生證明可以證明 你的父母是誰、在哪裡出生，

and where you were born,

這兩項資訊是取得 國籍的主要因子。

the two main factors for acquiring nationality.

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

全世界沒有合法身分的十億人中，

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

絕大部分都是孩童， 他們在出生時就沒有登記。

In the least developed nations,

在開發程度最低的國家中，

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

超過六成的孩童 在出生時都沒有做記錄。

A study across 17 countries in sub-Saharan Africa

一項針對撒哈拉以南非洲 十七個國家所做的研究

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

發現有八成的孩童沒有出生證明。

Out of the countries that have not yet achieved

在還沒有達成全民

universal birth registration coverage,

都有出生登記的國家當中，

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

有二十六個國家要求要有 出生證明才能取得健康照護，

including vaccines.

包括施打疫苗也要。

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

有三十七個國家要求 要有出生證明才能取得

intended to bring people out of poverty.

幫助人民脫離貧困的社會協助。

And in 59 countries, a birth certificate is required

有五十九個國家要求孩子要有

出生證明才能上學或完成學業。

for a child to be enrolled or complete school.

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

通常，辦理其他形式的合法身分 也會需要出生證明，

like a national ID or a passport.

比如國民身分證或護照。

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

幾乎每個國家都要求要有 某種形式的合法身分

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

才能投票、取得 SIM 卡， 或在銀行開戶。

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

事實上，全世界 有十七億人沒有銀行帳戶，

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

其中兩成的原因是因為 沒有合法身分文件。

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

不用是專家也看得出來，

這個問題乘以十億倍有多嚴重。

is a big problem.

So it's not surprising that evidence shows

所以，並不意外，有證據顯示，

that improved birth registration coverage goes hand in hand

改善出生登記的普及率 與改善發展結果是息息相關的，

with improved development outcomes,

from poverty alleviation

從扶貧，

to better health, nutrition, education,

到更佳的健康、營養、教育、

economic improvement

經濟改善，

and safe and orderly migration.

以及安全、有秩序的移民。

In 2015, world leaders came together

2015 年，

世界領袖齊聚一堂，

and promised that they would uphold human rights of all people

保證他們會支持所有人的人權，

and leave no one behind

不拋棄任何人，

in efforts to end poverty,

致力於終結貧困、

hunger

饑荒，

and reduce inequalities.

以及減少不平等。

But how are they going to uphold human rights

但，他們要如何支持人權，

and how do they know if anyone is being left behind

他們要如何知道有誰被拋棄，

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

如果他們打從一開始就根本

不知道這些人是誰、在哪裡？

in the first place?

So what can countries do about this?

因此，國家能怎麼做？

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

沒有一個世界通用的模型，

because every country context is unique.

因為每個國家的情況 都是獨一無二的。

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

有五項已經證明過的干預方式 可以應用在任何制度上。

Number one, reduce the distance.

第一，減少距離。

Two, remove the cost.

第二，移除成本。

Three, simplify the process.

第三，簡化流程。

Four, remove discrimination.

第四，移除歧視。

Five, increase demand.

第五，增加需求。

Gender discrimination remains a hidden problem,

性別歧視仍然是個檯面下的問題，

because statistically, there's no difference

因為，男孩和女孩的登記比率 在統計上並沒有差異。

between registration rates of boys and girls.

但，歧視並不是針對孩童——

But the discrimination isn't against the child --

是針對母親。

it's against the mother.

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

有三十五個國家 在登記孩子出生時會要求

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

要填寫父親的名字或要父親在場， 安哥拉是其中之一。

So in situations where the father is unknown, unwilling

所以，在一些情況下，生父未知，

或是生父不願意 或者不能承認自己是父親，

or unable to claim paternity,

the mothers are legally prevented from registering the births

根據法律，母親就無法

為他們自己的孩子登記出生。

of their own children.

So to address this, Angola put a policy in place

為了處理這個問題， 安哥拉推出一項政策，

allowing mothers to register their children as a single parent.

允許母親以單親家長的 身分為孩子做登記。

In Tanzania, in 2012,

在坦尚尼亞，2012 年

only 13 percent of children had a birth certificate.

只有 13% 的孩童有出生證明。

So the government came up with a new system.

於是政府提出了一種新制度。

They put registration centers in existing infrastructure,

他們把登記中心開設在 既有的基礎機構中，

such as community wards

比如社區病房

and in health facilities.

和健康相關場所。

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

他們把服務帶到距離 有需求的人民更近的地方。

They removed the fee.

他們取消了收費。

They simplified the process and automated it,

他們把流程簡化及自動化，

so the birth certificate could be issued on the spot.

讓人民可以現場領取出生證明。

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

為了增加需求， 他們推出了公眾意識活動，

letting people know that there's a new process

讓人民知道有新的流程

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

以及為什麼為孩子 做出生登記如此重要。

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

短短幾年間，在實施 新制度的地區中，

83 percent of children now have birth certificates,

83% 的孩童都有了出生證明，

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

現在他們正在 把這項制度推向全國。

So what can you do?

所以，各位能做什麼？

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

我相信我們的人性 讓大家團結成為一體。

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

我們都住在地球上。 我們呼吸著相同的空氣。

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

雖然我們都無法選擇自己 生在何處、什麼樣的情況中，

we do get to choose how we live.

但我們能選擇怎樣生活。

Change occurs when a moment of awareness

改變發生在覺醒的時刻

or a moment of compassion

或同情的時刻，

inspires a person to act.

那會鼓舞人採取行動。

And through our collective action,

透過我們集體的行動，

we become the most powerful agents of change.

我們就會變成最強大的改變媒介。

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

如果不採取行動的代價是 無辜兒童被拋棄、不受保護、

unvaccinated, unable to go to school,

無法接種疫苗、無法去上學、

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

長大成人之後無法 找到好的工作或投票、

trapped in a cycle of poverty, exclusion and invisibility,

被困在貧窮的循環當中、

被排除且不被看見，

it comes down to us

那就要靠我們

to take this issue out of the darkness

來把這個議題從黑暗中翻出來，

and into the light.

攤到陽光底下。

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

因為，你並非每天 都有機會改變世界，

but today,

但今天你有機會。

you do.

Thanks.

謝謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）