The Significance of Legal Identity in Situations of Poverty and Social Exclusion: The Link between Gender, Ethnicity, and Legal Identity

Failure to register births and lack of legal identity are considered to have a direct effect on possibilities and opportunities for full participation in social, political, and economic life. In order to understand the characteristics, numbers, and location of the economically, culturally, and socially vulnerable groups that are excluded from access to legal identity, studies were carried out in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Guatemala. The study does not claim to be exhaustive; rather it is meant to be a constructive contribution to the search for practical solutions that will help countries achieve universal, reliable, integrated, and secure legal identity for all of their citizens.