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A Name
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What does this mean?
It’s your right to have a name.
The Government should know who you are and have a record of your birth.
Registering your birth and your name allows you to apply for a passport and your Personal Public Service (PPS) number. A PPS number is your unique identification number.
EXAMPLE: If you didn’t have your birth certificate, you wouldn’t be able to register with a local doctor or go to school.
Learn more about this right
Do I have this right in Ireland?
- UNCRC, article 8: It’s your right to have an identity – an official record of who you are. No one should take this away from you.
- UNCRC, article 7: It’s your right to have a name, and this should be officially recognised by the Government. You have the right to a nationality (to belong to a country).
- In Ireland, all babies born in the country are given a PPS number. This is your unique identification number. This means the Government know they are alive.
- With this PPS number, parents can register you with a local doctor and having this PPS number means that youare able to go to school.
- If you don’t have a PPS number, it can be difficult to get all of your rights.
Find out more
- Cartoons for Children’s Rights – Watch two short cartoons about the right to a name and a nationality, made for Unicef’s Cartoons for Children’s Rights initiative – hereand here
- Humanium – Find out more about children’s right to an identity, which includes a right to a name and nationality
