Only Half of Children Aged 0-17 in Papua Possessed Birth Certificates in 2022

A birth certificate is legal proof of someone's birth, containing identifying information such as name, place and date of birth, parents' names, and citizenship. This document is issued by the Population and Civil Registration Office (Disdukcapil).

Unfortunately, not all children in Indonesia possess a birth certificate. Findings from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) indicate that only 53.77% of children aged 0-17 in Papua had a birth certificate in 2022. This means that only about half of the children in that province have obtained a birth certificate.

This figure is the lowest compared to other provinces, even below the national percentage of 90.41%.

The next provinces with the lowest percentage of children possessing birth certificates are East Nusa Tenggara (69.47%), followed by West Papua (77.76%) and North Sumatra (85.14%).

Following these are Maluku (85.84%), Banten (87.51%), Central Sulawesi (87.68%), North Maluku (87.81%), Central Kalimantan (88.13%), and Riau (88.31%).

Zudan Arif Fakurlloh, Director General of Population and Civil Registration (Dukcapil) at the Ministry of Home Affairs, stated that children without birth certificates have less protection regarding their existence and future, and face difficulties accessing public services.

"Children also become vulnerable to criminal acts such as human trafficking and underage marriage," said Zudan on the Dukcapil website.

Of the 34 provinces, 14 have a percentage of children aged 0-17 with birth certificates below the national average. The remaining 21 provinces are above the national average.

This data comes from the National Socioeconomic Survey (Susenas) by BPS in March 2022. The survey sample reached 345,000 households spread across all provinces in Indonesia.

BPS ensures that the sample does not include households residing in special census blocks and special households such as dormitories, prisons, and the like, but only households located in regular census blocks.

Here is a complete list of the percentage of children aged 0-17 who possess birth certificates in each province in 2022:

1. Papua: 53.77%
2. East Nusa Tenggara: 69.47%
3. West Papua: 77.76%
4. North Sumatra: 85.14%
5. Maluku: 85.84%
6. Banten: 87.51%
7. Central Sulawesi: 87.68%
8. North Maluku: 87.81%
9. Central Kalimantan: 88.13%
10. Riau: 88.31%
11. West Nusa Tenggara: 88.42%
12. West Java: 88.44%
13. West Kalimantan: 89.59%
14. Southeast Sulawesi: 89.83%
15. Indonesia: 90.41%
16. South Sumatra: 91.93%
17. East Java: 92.20%
18. South Sulawesi: 92.49%
19. South Kalimantan: 92.63%
20. West Sulawesi: 92.77%
21. North Sulawesi: 92.87%
22. West Sumatra: 92.96%
23. Lampung: 94.49%
24. Jambi: 94.62%
25. Bengkulu: 94.62%
26. Gorontalo: 94.81%
27. North Kalimantan: 94.96%
28. Riau Islands: 94.97%
29. East Kalimantan: 95.24%
30. Bali: 95.55%
31. Aceh: 95.59%
32. Bangka Belitung Islands: 96.06%
33. Central Java: 96.63%
34. Jakarta: 97.83%
35. Yogyakarta: 98.17%