The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), on Monday, reaffirmed its commitment to supporting Lagos State in ensuring that every child’s birth is registered, with a target to register 545,000 children under the age of one as part of a national drive to protect the rights of all Nigerian children.
Chief of UNICEF Lagos Field Office, Celine Lafoucriere, who disclosed this at the birth registration multi-sector dialogue held in Lagos, described birth registration as the first line of protection for every child.
She stated that without it, children remain invisible and unable to access basic services such as healthcare, education, and social protection.
Lafoucriere commended Lagos State for achieving a 94 percent birth registration rate among children under five, placing it at the forefront of Nigeria’s progress in civil registration.
She, however, noted that “ hard-to-reach communities, informal settlements, and low-income families still face barriers to registration, our goal is to leave no child behind.”
The dialogue, she explained, aims to co-create a Lagos State birth registration plan that will drive demand at the community level and identify pilot opportunities to integrate birth registration with child health and immunisation services.
“This work belongs to all of us. Let us leave here today with commitments, not just plans. Commitments that will be captured in a communique for everyone to see and follow.”
The UNICEF chief recalled that the National Population Commission (NPC), with its support, began distributing over 16 million birth certificates nationwide in September, with Lagos receiving the largest allocation of over six million certificates, a reflection of the state’s strong systems and commitment.
Lafoucriere urged stakeholders across various sectors; health, education, traditional institutions, civil society, and the media, to work collaboratively to achieve full birth registration coverage.
“Here in Lagos, the foundation is in place with the support of UNICEF and other partners. All birth registration training has been completed across the 20 Local Government Areas, including Health facility training. Registration supplies, including tablets, have been distributed. I can safely say that we are ready.
For 2025, UNICEF is supporting an ambitious plan to register 3.69 million children under one year across 15 priority states. Lagos alone has a target of 545,000 children. This is achievable because you have shown that it can be done.
“The Ministry of Health must integrate registration into immunisationand maternal health services. Education authorities must ensure birth certificates are required for school enrollment. Traditional and community leaders must champion registration as a civic responsibility,” she said.
On her part, the Welfare Officer, Child Protection Network Lagos State Chapter, Mrs. Olajumoke Otitoloju, advocated the establishment of birth registration desks at various state’s universal boards across the country.
According to her, “We need to stop driving away parents who don’t have birth certificates for their children during primary school registration. Rather the country must ensure that each SUBEB at State levels has a birth registration desk so that we can capture them very easily.”
Funmi Ogundare and Oluchi Chibuzor
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