A new report by the United Nations Population Children’s Fund, UNICEF,  shows improvement in  birth registrations in Nigeria even though the births of about 230 million under-fives around the world, approximately 1 in 3 of all children, have never been registered.

Tagged; Every Child’s Birth Right: Inequities and trends in birth registration, the report shows that the overall growth and progress in birth registration of children under 5 years old in Nigeria rose from 30 percent in the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, MICS, 2007 to
41.5 percent in 2011.

Released globally to mark UNICEF’s 67th year of existence, the report collects statistical analysis spanning 161 countries and presents the latest available country data and estimates on birth registration.

A close look at the data  showed that  in Nigeria not all children have benefited from the progress. “Children from poorest households saw only a slight increase from 9 percent to 12 percent; whereas their richest counterparts increased from 51 percent to 76 percent.”

UNICEF Country Representative in Nigeria, Jean Gough said: “We still have a lot of work to do in terms of narrowing the gap for Nigeria to achieve universal registration of all children under five years.

“Moving forward, it would be necessary to focus on those children who are currently under-served. These include children from the poor neighbourhood, rural areas, children with disabilities and all marginalized, excluded and invisible children.”

Gough said children unregistered at birth or without identification documents are often excluded from accessing education and health care.

“If children are separated from their families during natural disasters, conflicts or as a result of exploitation, reuniting them is made more difficult by the lack of official documentation.

“Nigeria’s progress in birth registration is hinged on innovative use of the RapidSMS technology introduced by UNICEF. This has improved the national birth registration system.

“Today we can get the real time data and trends of birth registration in any of 774 LGAs. Over 4,000 registrars report twice-monthly the number of registered boys and girls and the data are posted immediately on publicly accessible website.

“In the past, Nigeria’s birth registration was characterised by delay, but today, as a result of Rapid SMS, those registered by their 1st birthday has increased from 10 percent in 2009 to over 40 percent in 2012.

“Birth registration, as an essential component of a country’s civil registry,  strengthens quality of vital statistics, aids planning and government efficiency. Praising effort of government, the UNICEF Rep asked for more.”Let us seize this momentum and get every child registered by 2015,” he stated.