TheCable

The National Population Commission (NPC) says it will register 12.72 million children who are less than five years of age in 2023.

According to NAN, Matthew Sunday, NPC director of the vital registration department, spoke on Monday, at an orientation on birth registration in Minna, Niger state.

He said the increased target will improve childbirth registration in the country.

Sunday who was represented by Makama Taala, a principal vital registration officer, said only 57 percent of children under the age of five were registered at birth in 2021.

“Forty-three per cent of birth registration is still needed to attain 100 percent birth registration in the country,” he said.

He said that states with low birth registration are Sokoto, Zamfara, Kebbi, Jigawa, Taraba and Niger.

He said Kaduna, Kano, Yobe, Bauchi, Plateau, Nasarawa, Benue and Ogun states are doing better in birth registration.

Wilfred Mammah, UNICEF child protection specialist,  said the organisation is supporting a functional overall birth registration system to ensure an up-to-date national digital birth registration.

Bala Musa, the UNICEF focal person, said that plans were ongoing to develop a mechanism that will enable a simplified, accessible and automated system that would better facilitate birth registration and certification of children.

In 2022, TheCable reported that the commission developed an application to ensure digital registration of births and deaths in the country.