Too often, treating women with respect is seen as a luxury. It is not. Violations of human rights during childbirth are all too common in labor wards, hurting women’s chances of surviving pregnancy and childbirth.

This episode of White Ribbon Alliance’s Brave Voices, Bold Actions podcast explores Article 9 of the Respectful Maternity Care Charter, and the right every child has to an identity and nationality from birth.

We start with Samuel Senfuka, who went through an arduous process to prove that he had been born and legally existed while applying for school in Uganda. Then we chat with legal identity expert and TED Talk speaker Kristen Wenz about the role of maternal and child health services in upholding the right to an identity and nationality from birth for all children, everywhere.

Together, we have the power to destroy the structures that harm women during pregnancy and childbirth!

Topics

• How many people around the world don’t have a birth certificate or “legal identity”?
• What part does gender play in the issue of legal identity?
• Why is it a fundamental human right to have an identity and nationality from birth?