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 centers and community leaders to ensure that all children are registered at birth.
UNICEF Chief Nutrition Officer Nemat Hajeebhoy expressed this concern during a meeting with the District Development Committees (WDCs) at the Primary Health Center (PHC), Ekpo Abasi, District 12, Calabar South.
Hajeebhoy, who works at UNICEF headquarters in Abuja, said birth registration was not simply an administrative requirement but a fundamental right of every child.
He said UNICEF was concerned that Cross River was “a little behind” in registering births, and urged WDC members and health workers to mobilize parents and ensure children in their communities were registered.
“Birth certificates are very important. We work for UNICEF, that’s why we talk about children’s rights. So this is the right of all children,” she said.
Hajeebhoy explained that birth registration would become increasingly important as children grew older, particularly for accessing government services and obtaining essential identity documents.
He 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 primary care and ward levels, supporting mothers and fathers to complete the registration process.
He said the National Population Commission (CNP) was already conducting online birth registration, adding that parents could facilitate the process by providing the required identification details.
“Every ward, every primary care center must do the best it can,” he said, urging community structures to work with the relevant authorities to close the gap in birth registration.
The Head of UNICEF Enugu Office, Juliet Chiluwe, also identified birth registration as one of the areas requiring greater attention in the state.
Chiluwe said that although Cross River had recorded positive progress in child health and nutrition through its collaboration with UNICEF, more needed to be done to ensure that all children were registered.
Officials also expressed concern about declining rates of early and exclusive breastfeeding in Cross River, saying only about half of the state’s children were being fed adequately.
They urged WDCs to mobilize market women, religious leaders, youth and other community stakeholders to promote early initiation of breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life.
During their interactions with WDCs, they called for stricter community oversight of nutritional products supplied to health centers, warning against the diversion and sale of items intended to be distributed free of charge to children.
On behalf of the WDCs, Tony Bassey commended UNICEF for its partnership with Cross River State and called for support in converting the Ekpo Abasi Primary Health Center into a rural hospital to improve child-friendly healthcare services in Calabar South.
It also called for capacity building programs for health workers and WDC members to strengthen their capacity to support maternal and child health interventions.
In response, Hajeebhoy said UNICEF could not carry out the proposed infrastructure upgrade because such projects fell outside its mandate, but promised to convey the request to the state and federal governments.
However, he pledged UNICEF’s support for training and upskilling of health workers and WDC members.
A similar meeting was held at PHC, Ediba, Calabar Municipal, where UNICEF officials urged WDC members to advocate for greater government investment in the scheme, which they said could support the procurement of multiple micronutrient supplements, ready-to-use therapeutic foods and other commodities to prevent and treat child malnutrition.
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