One in three children under five does not officially exist.

This statistic from UNICEF aims to call attention to a “forgotten” problem for many vulnerable families around the world. Children unregistered at birth or without identification documents are often excluded from accessing education, health care and social security.

A child without a birth certificate, and therefore unable to prove his or her age, is more at risk of being exploited by being trafficked, arrested and treated as an adult in the justice system, of being forced into the military or child marriage.