Every child must have a legal identity.
It simply reflects on the seriousness of any country committed to advancing its development on all frontiers.
For a nation to achieve its developmental goals, every name must then be accounted for. To accentuate this, there must be a collective effort by governments, community structures, age groups, and the media to improve such birth registration system, digitally.
Nigeria’s Experience with E-Birth Registration
Data has shown that Nigeria is lagging behind in its e-birth registration for children aged 0-59 months. Despite this, significant strides have been made to address these challenges.
According to a recent data, more than 50% of the births of children under 5 remain unregistered in Nigeria.
Perhaps, it was with this in mind that The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and its partner, the National Population Commission (NPC) projected a digitalized process of birth registration and certification in Nigeria to overcome many barriers to child registration at birth.
This will also ensure the highest standards of data protection and confidentiality of personal data while promoting birth registration among civil registration, health, and identity management systems in Nigeria.
The Digital Transformation Initiative
In November 2023, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu launched the Electronic Civil Registration and Vital Statistics System.
This initiative was to enhance the efficiency and accuracy of civil registration while addressing the country’s historically low birth registration rates.
As such, the digital transformation, a collaborative effort between the NPC, UNICEF, and private partners, replaced the cumbersome paper-based system with a streamlined digital process.
This initiative also aligned with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16.9.2, which ensures legal identity for all, including birth registration.
The SDG Target 16.9 places a demand on governments – by 2030, must be able to provide legal identity for all, including birth registration. The indicator for the target is the “proportion of children under 5 years of age whose births have been registered with a civil authority, by age.”
The Role of a Well-Developed Civil Registration System
According to UNICEF, a well-developed and functioning civil registration system ensures the registration of all vital events, including births, marriages, and deaths, and issues relevant certificates as proof of such registration.
This system is essential for achieving Nigeria’s developmental targets and highlights the importance of stakeholders in securing the legal identity of every Nigerian child.
Stakeholder Engagement and Media Dialogue
At a media dialogue in Lagos on July 16, organized by UNICEF in collaboration with the NPC and the Lagos State Ministry of Youth and Social Development, the roles of stakeholders in improving birth registration numbers were emphasized.
Chief of UNICEF’s Office for the Southwest-Nigeria, Celine Lafoucriere highlighted that accurate data collection is essential for effective governance and resource allocation.
“E-birth registration is crucial for national planning and development,” she stated. “It guarantees that each child is recognized and accounted for, which is essential for effective governance and resource allocation.”
Against this backdrop, comprehensive digital registration is seen as a game-changer for Nigeria, such that it provides accurate and reliable statistics fundamental for effective planning and policy-making.
Ambitious Targets and Collaborative Efforts
The NPC has ambitious targets: registering over nine million children under five and four million children under one year.
According to NPC Lagos Director, Mr Salihu Bamidele, efforts are afoot to capture births across all societal strata and detailed the protocols necessary for credible data registration nationwide.
There are also plans to consistently collaborate with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to link birth registrations with National Identification Numbers (NIN). This ultimately will help create a unified and reliable database.
Bamidele said:
“Linking e-birth registration with NIN will resolve issues of multiple registrations and provide a unique identity for every child born in Nigeria,”
State Contributions and Media’s Role
The Lagos State Ministry of Youth and Social Development, represented by Permanent Secretary Mrs. Toyin Oke-Osanyintolu, mentioned the State’s contributions to protecting child rights, urging journalists to amplify the awareness around the existing e-birth registration. She equally reinforced stakeholders’ efforts at addressing common concerns.
For more information and to get acquainted with the e-birth registration process, visit the NPC website
