By Steve Oko

United Nations International Children Emergency Fund, UNICEF, has commenced a three -day training  of volunteers on Electronic Civil Vital Registration Statistics (ECVRS) for children between age zero to five years in Abia State.

The training which was in partnership with the National Population Commission, NPC, held simultaneously at the three senatorial districts in the state – Bende, Isiala Ngwa North and Aba North Council headquarters.

Speaking at the Bende Local Government Area headquarters, centre for Abia North, the State Coordinator for NPC, Lady Adaku  Ezebuiro, charged the volunteers to expand their knowledge on the new system of digital birth registration.

Ezebuiro explained that the training was intended to acquaint the ad-hoc volunteers with information on

ECVRS before they would be deployed to various wards in the state for the assignment.

She said that computer literacy was needed for the volunteers to effectively deliver, stressing that harvesting data about new births is very crucial to Government for adequate planning.

“The job requires a good knowledge of computer and android phone. So, you must pay attention to every detail of the training. I urged you to be passionate about the job for posterity sake”.

She hinted that  the second phase of the training which will cover other Local Governments in the state would soon commence.

The NPC boss further said that the aim of training ad-hoc volunteers on E-VR was to take care of the backlogs of unregistered children in the state.

She, however, cautioned the volunteers against any sharp practices in the field , stressing that the registration is free of charge, as UNICEF is bankrolling the project including payment of the registrars.

The NPC boss commended UNICEF for its numerous supports to the Commission.

One of the resource persons, Ugochukwu Emenike said UNICEF was involved in the training in line with its mandate to support the efforts of Government to protect children everywhere in the world.

According to him, the foundation of  protection of children’s rights starts with their identity through birth registration and certificate.

He said:”The birth certificate plays a lot of role in giving the child a name and protection. This training is not a data hunting exercise, but it is aimed at ensuring that the right of a child is given to the child.

“Getting the children registered will help to address the issues of their health, education, housing and food security in the future.

“NPC has the mandate to register every child that is born in the country. But they face the challenge of man power shortage. That is where a programme like this becomes necessary to close the gap.

“That’s why UNICEF is helping in building the capacity of NPC staff in ITC and also training the ad-hoc staff who supports NPC in ensuring that all the nook and cranny in the state is covered during the birth registration drive that’s coming up soon.

“This training is basically to ensure that the persons  doing the work are better informed and equipped especially this period that the registration has gone digital. Very soon they will be hitting the field to collect the data electronically”.

 Emenike urged the volunteers to first obtain the concept of the parents and guardians of the children before registering them.

He revealed that “NPC through the support of UNICEF intends to

eradicate the era of paper work in the registration of birth in the country to improve accuracy of the data collected.”

“The data they will collect will be stored in the cloud and it can be  called for at any given time. Through the data, we will know the number of children that are born weekly, monthly and yearly and  even daily because the format they will use will do the registration in real time. As you are registering it is recording the time of registration and taking the GPS of the location.”

One of the participants, Abel chukwuemeka, said the training was educative and it’s for the betterment of children in future.

Meanwhile, 128 participants from different LGAs in Abia North registered for the training.

While the target group is children from zero to five years,  those within 17 years could still be registered at the Primary Health Centres or at the LGA headquarters.

Vanguard reports that in 2023, UNICEF supported the National Population Commission (NPC) and multi-sectoral partners in improving Nigeria’s birth registration coverage by investing in safe and innovative technology, to use the state-of-the-art digital birth registration platform to ensure timely, accurate, and permanent records of births at healthcare facilities and within communities.

The platform (e-CRVS), according to UNICEF, will transit the process from paper-based to digital, improving efficiency and accessibility.

UNICEF said the training on the digital birth registration system is aimed at building the capacity towards deployment of a significant workforce, including volunteers, to facilitate birth registration.

 UNICEF source said: By engaging these as ad hoc registrars who will be immediately afterwards deployed on under-5 birth registration drive, NPC  can effectively reach children across diverse communities and economic backgrounds, including those in hard-to-reach and rural areas.

“In addition, UNICEF is supporting efforts to raise awareness and promote the importance of birth registration, especially collaborating with traditional and religious leaders, the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, the National Orientation Agency, the media and National Population Commission. Advocacy efforts will focus on increasing government commitment and public financing for birth registration services, as well as ensuring sustained investment and support.

“Importantly, birth registration services will be integrated with broader health services, including outreach facilities and community-level programs. This will support increased birth registration, especially in hard-to-reach areas. UNICEF will work closely with healthcare delivery points to ensure comprehensive coverage and utilize digital innovation technology to streamline the registration process.

“By focusing on these areas, UNICEF aim to improve knowledge and sensitization about birth registration, strengthen community participation and ownership, and expand partnerships to achieve quality and at scale results of birth registration for under-5 (especially under-1) children in the states.”