UNICEF raises alarm over low birth registration in Cross River

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has expressed concern over the low rate of birth registration among children in Cross River State, urging parents, health facilities and community leaders to ensure that every child is registered at birth.

UNICEF Chief of Nutrition, Nemat Hajeebhoy, raised the concern during an engagement with Ward Development Committees (WDCs) at the Primary Health Centre (PHC), Ekpo Abasi, Ward 12, Calabar South.

Hajeebhoy, who is based at UNICEF’s headquarters in Abuja, said birth registration was not merely an administrative requirement but a fundamental right of every child.

She said UNICEF was concerned that Cross River was “lagging a bit behind” in birth registration, urging WDC members and health workers to mobilise parents and ensure that children in their communities were registered.

“Birth certificates are very important. You know, we work for UNICEF, so we talk about the rights of children. So this is the right of every child,” she said.

Hajeebhoy explained that birth registration would become increasingly important as children grow older, particularly in accessing government services and obtaining essential identity documents.

She urged parents, especially fathers, to take responsibility for registering their children, stressing that every child born in Nigeria should have official documentation establishing their identity and birth.

The UNICEF official also called on WDCs to make birth registration a priority at the ward and primary healthcare levels by supporting mothers and fathers to complete the registration process.

She said the National Population Commission (NPC) was already conducting online birth registration, adding that parents could facilitate the process by providing the required identification details.

“Every ward,…