Home Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo, left, has urged provincial administrations throughout Indonesia to implement online electronic budgeting systems in an effort to boost transparency. (Antara Photo/Wahyu Putro A.)

Jakarta. The Ministry of Home Affairs has revealed that nearly 20 million Indonesian children between the ages of 1 and 18 do not have birth certificates.

"More than 25 percent of children in Indonesia do not have birth certificates," Home Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo said on Friday (10/03).

According to Tjahjo, the number of children who do have birth certificates has increased to 74 percent in 2016 from about 31 percent in 2014.

The minister explained that the public's lack of understanding on the importance of obtaining birth certificates, as well as a lack of access to civil registration services for people in remote areas, have contributed to this phenomenon.

"There are birth certificates that have yet to be updated on the population database," Tjahjo said. "Another factor is our limited budget for mobile birth certificate services."

Though the certificate is seen as unnecessary by a sizable number of Indonesians, children who do not obtain birth certificates are likely to face difficulties in applying for government-issued identity cards, passports and marriage certificates later in life.