The first point of call between individuals and their states is being registered and counted as part of the state, bestowing on them all rights and privileges that the state provides. Dow described birth registration as the first ticket to citizenship without which an individual does not exist legally and could be denied privileges and rights a nation allows. The Plan International elaborated the rights perspective position in the following:<\/p>\n
A birth certificate is the first official acknowledgement of a child\u2019s existence by the State and is essential if they are to access other rights. Where births remain unregistered, there is an implication that children are not recognised as persons before the law \u2026 access to fundamental rights and freedoms may be compromised \u2026 existence has never been recorded, there is no guarantee that their disappearance will be either \u2026 as they will not be included in statistical information about children, their situation cannot be monitored (p.2).<\/p>\n