Regina Otokpa 
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and the National Population Commission (NPC) have partnered to ensure a digitalized birth registration process in 22 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), with 12m under 5 children as primary beneficiaries.
Signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at enhancing birth registration in Nigeria on Wednesday in Abuja, the three organizations are committed to collaborating and supporting the process by providing a robust framework within which the parties could implement a comprehensive and efficient digitalized birth registration process across Nigeria.
Besides the 12 million children, the three organisations leveraging on their existing resources and facilities, are also targeting families, parents, caregivers, communities, households, state and local government areas (LGAs), and ward-level administrators as indirect beneficiaries of the collaboration.
Through this partnership, the NYSC, NPC, and UNICEF are committed to promoting the importance of birth registration within the National Youth Corps programs, stimulating increased demand for birth registration services in health facilities and at the community level.
“The collaboration would also foster constructive engagement with local government chairpersons, and traditional and religious leaders, leveraging their support to enhance the digitalized birth registration process.
Director General NYSC, Brigadier General YD Ahmed who expressed enthusiasm for the collaboration noted that “NYSC is honoured to join hands with the NPC and UNICEF in this vital initiative.
“Our deployment of 850 corps members as coordinators and supervisors, spread across 22 states and the FCT, will ensure effective monitoring and supervision of the birth registration process. Together, we will strive to achieve comprehensive data collection and availability, supporting increased birth registration coverage in our respective LGAs.”
Chairman of NPC, Nasir Isa Kwarra noted that as a key partner, the Commission would play a crucial role in ensuring the success of the partnership.
“We are committed to supporting the recruitment of ad hoc birth registrars at the ward level and ensuring the availability of registration materials to coordinators and supervisors.
“By distributing protocols, checklists, FAQs, and informational materials, we aim to engage local government chairpersons, traditional and religious leaders, and communities to promote the importance of birth registration. Together, we will generate and analyze digitalised birth registration data at the LGAs and wards, ultimately increasing birth registration coverage.”
UNICEF representative in Nigeria, Cristian Munduate, noted that UNICEF as a leading organization in child welfare and development would bring its expertise to the table to support the digitalised birth registration services in focus states.
“Our primary focus will be on providing technical assistance and evidence-based interventions,” emphasized. “By integrating birth registration into routine health service delivery, conducting the digitalized birth registration process, and increasing awareness through state and community-level campaigns, we aim to ensure that every child has access to and benefits from the essential health and birth registration interventions they deserve.”
