Glenda Allen, Staff ReporterNEXT YEAR, 16-year-old Markwill move into a place of his own. He will swap a narrow dormitory with a gaggle of rowdy boys ranging in age from six-15 years for a single room with the bare essentials.
He must now find his own way in the world.
But that could be tough for the teenager who has spent most of his years in a private home for children at risk in Kingston.
He has no birth or family records, and according to recent UNICEF reports, now joins the growing number of 'invisible' or undocumented children around the world.
These represent a new class of children at further risk of anonymity.
At a recent launch of the UNICEF document 'State of the World's Children 2006', it was revealed that "about 10 per cent of (local births) are not registered within the first year of life."
"The right to immediate registration continues to be violated despite the fact that since 2000, in excess of 96 per cent of total births have occurred in hospitals," the report continues.
DIFFICULTY FOR WARDS OF THE STATE
It is particularly hard for wards of the State, orphans and children in institutional care who depend solely on the State for benefits.
"One of our big problems is birth certificates, we're fighting with that constantly. Right now, we're in danger of losing our arrangement with the HEART Trust as they will no longer be accepting students for training who have no birth certificates," says one representative of a Corporate Area facility.
She says the situation stems from a less than efficient documenting and processing of available data.
She says while the details of the child's history would generally come from the Child Development Agency (CDA), in instances, institutions have had to do their own data gathering then submit this to the Registrar General's Department (RGD) for a birth certificate to be issued. Even then this is done "very slowly."
Last year, one institution submitted a list of 19 teenagers; of these, to date, only a few have received certificates.
For youths like Mark, the simple document is the bridge between his old life of neglect and the new one of promise.
This is particularly difficult for them because this means they can't get important documents like a TRN or passport.
Name changed to protect identity.
