The United Nations Children Fund(UNICEF) has stressed the need for parents to register their children at birth.
UNICEF said that birth registration protects children from exploitation and abuse, without birth certificates they are more vulnerable to child labour, child trafficking and forced marriage.
The Bauchi Chief of Field Office, UNICEF, Dr. Tushar Rane stated this during the opening of a three-day operational Plans for Birth Registration, 2023 Orientation and Planning Meeting for massive scale-up in Bauchi State held at the Jamil Hotel, Bauchi.
According to the UNICEF Chief of Field, obtaining a birth certificate, confirms the identity, nationality, and age of the child, adding that it is important in Bauchi State of Nigeria, as it is in any other state.
“For Legal identity, birth registration is the first step towards establishing legal identity. Without a birth certificate, a child may face difficulties in accessing basic services such as education and healthcare, as well as in exercising their rights as a citizen.
“It is for planning and development as it provides essential data for planning and development purposes, such as determining the number of school-aged children in a particular area or assessing healthcare needs. It is also for citizen participation as an important prerequisite for citizens participation in democratic processes, such as voting, as it provides proof of age and nationality”
“Birth registration is an essential tool for protecting children’s rights and ensuring their access to basic services, as well as for promoting development and citizenship in Bauchi State and beyond.
“According to the 2021 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) findings, Birth Registration (US children) is at 38.3% in Bauchi State. Moreover, in 2022 when a joint UNICEF/Government performance review took place in the Bauchi Field Office, it was found that Bauchi State was one of the lowest performers in birth registration”
“Therefore, we will continue to work with the Bauchi State Office of the National Population Commission as well as the government and people of Bauchi State, to scale up the registration of births in the State by strengthening routine registration focusing on children 0-4 years of age,” he said.
He noted that the agenda for the event was to orient the participants on the range of initiatives to support the State in strengthening routine birth registration and micro-planning to enable a smooth and successful roll-out of the initiative.
“The initiative targets to register the births of at least 1,080,984 children under 5 years of age in Bauchi State, saying that to achieve this ambitious goal, “We would need the engagement, participation and full commitment of all stakeholders present today In the State and every LGA. I would like to appeal to all the esteemed stakeholders present in this august room for your wholehearted participation in the deliberation to draw maximum learnings from this orientation and planning meeting.”
“A task of such magnitude cannot be achieved working in silos without collaboration and coordination. Therefore, I would also like to urge your complete commitment to work together with coordination and collaboration with each other, so that Bauchi State becomes one of the best-performing states in birth registration service delivery, not just in the north but across the entire country.
The health sector conventionally facilitates a sizeable percentage of deliveries, their role in registering birth is critical and I am certain that the children of Bauchi State can count on all the sectors, particularly the health sector.” Tushar Rane said
Also speaking on behalf of the government, the State Governor, Senator Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir reiterated his administration’s readiness to collaborate with International development partners in ensuring quality service delivery in the health sector.
The Governor who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Ali Babayo Gamawa commended UNICEF for donating a modern oxygen station to the General Hospital in Azare, saying that the gesture will go a long way in solving the problem of scarcity of oxygen in the hospital.
As regards birth registration, the governor lamented the low progress in the state, assuring that his administration is committed to ensuring that the next exercise succeeded in the state as the government will give all necessary support needed.
He urged the participants to be attentive to the papers that will be presented during the meeting and come up with an implementable action plan for the exercise.
