Toybox is delighted to have been chosen for a BBC Radio 4 Appeal, presented by the wonderful Reverend Richard Coles.
A birth certificate is the kind of key that unlocks the door to services like education and healthcare. Without that, a life that’s already tough gets to be a whole lot tougher.
When you do that very specific and very precious thing to give street children an official identity, you give them a future too. I’m very honoured to be involved in the work of Toybox to help improve the lives of street children around the world.
These children have no identity and no legal rights. They are denied healthcare and unable to go to school.
Many unregistered children end up on the streets where they are vulnerable to trafficking, abuse, and sexual exploitation. Because they do not officially exist, no one is obliged to protect them.
On average, obtaining a birth certificate in Bolivia costs just £46. For children living in crises, this cost can be insurmountable. But with your help, it is possible.
After fleeing abuse from his father, 10-year-old Messi and his family survived on the bustling streets of one of Bolivia's largest cities, La Paz. Without their identity documents, they were rejected every time they asked for help and even turned away from refuges because they couldn’t prove who they were.
"I lived in fear with my siblings - we were afraid that they would separate us from our mother."
Read more“Nobody would let us into accommodation so that we could stay overnight because my mother was asked for our identity documents. The hardest part of being on the street is the weather. We get a lot of cold and rain. Plus, having only one meal a day or not eating anything all day – or eating leftovers from other people’s meals is hard. People treat you badly because you are badly dressed or dirty, and don’t buy the sweets you are selling. Sometimes we go into restaurants to sell sweets and I always want the food that people are eating.”
8,000
children
registered around the world thanks to Radio 4 listeners.
With your support, we can register even more.