For the first time, Governments, the UN and civil society organisations from across the region are meeting in Paraguay under the slogan "Write me down, make me visible" to guarantee the rights, safety, and opportunities of millions of Latin American children with no birth certificate or legal identity.

The sheer numbers, highlight the scale of the issue facing the continent. Throughout the region, one in six children born children do not legally exist because they were not registered at birth and have no formal or official identity. That means a staggering 2 million of the 11 million births in Latin America are not registered. Without a birth certificate millions of children are excluded from basic services such as health and education and face daily exploitation and risk.

"Marcos Alexandro, is ten years old, lives in the State of Chiapas in Mexico, and was accepted into school at 10 years of age after registering in the registry. In Paraguay, it is estimated that only 30 percent of boys and girls are registered during the first year of their life, for the remainder they simply don't exist as citizens." says Nils Kastberg, Director of the Regional Office of UNICEF for Latin America and the Caribbean. "and when we do not register our boys and girls, we deny them the basics like going to school, to hospital, getting a passport or being part of a family, and we are not protecting them against serious crimes such as child trafficking".

The conference,1st Latin American Regional Conference on Birth Registration and the Right to Identity" has been organised in conjunction with the Government of Paraguay, by three of the Region's main international agencies, UNICEF, OAS, and leading children's non-government organisation, Plan International. Delegates from the 18 countries represented include, high level political and government authorities, technical experts responsible for the civil resisters, civil society organisations.

We are extremely pleased that the region's governments have shown true commitment to the issue by attending this event - it has taken a long time to organise, but this enthusiastic response makes worthwhile. This is a vitally important issue and it's a great first step to guaranteeing the rights of every child in Latin America." said Pia Stavas-Meier, Plan's Regional Director for the Americas. "Every day millions of children are denied access to the basic rights and opportunities many of us take for granted. It is only with all of us working together that those rights and opportunities will be recognised."

The 3-day event is designed to achieve consensus and form the basis of regional and national plans that will guarantee free, universal and timely birth registration for all children by 2015. The event also looks to sensitise public opinion to the importance of birth registration as a means of access to children's rights. While a birth certificate alone is not a guarantee, registration helps identify and legally protect marginalised and vulnerable children.

Birth registration is not only essential for the safety and development of the children; it is also essential for the development of the countries. Children who have full and legal access to health and education services grow up into fully participating citizens. At the national level, registration provides governments with specific information on their populations and lets them make better use of increasingly limited resources - ensuring State funds go further and to where they are most needed.

Since 2005, these three organizations have been uniting in efforts and coordinating different actions to support governments and civil society to ensure that "Register me, make me visible" becomes a global reality, and " to ensure the right to an identity as a fundamental element for citizenship.", stresses Marie Claire Acosta, Program Director of Universalisation of the Civil Identity in the Americas of the O.A.S.. " Citizenship implies the exercising of rights and constitutes one of the pillars of democratic governability

The conference will conclude with a series of conclusions and recommendations. The conference will then be replicated for the Caribbean Region next year - although exact dates are yet to be confirmed.

The delegations attending, in alphabetical order: Argentina, Bolivia, Brasil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, México, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Uruguay, Venezuela.