Monday, July 16, 2024 - The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF has expressed concern over the increasing number of children without identification in Nigeria.
This, according to the charity, would have
an impact on the Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs, one of which was to
ensure legal identification for everyone by 2030, with a specific target of
16.9 under Goal 16.
Celine Lafoucriere, Chief of UNICEF Field
Office for South West Nigeria, stated this on Tuesday during a 2-day media
dialogue held in Lagos to drive e-birth registration in Southwest.
The dialogue themed “Giving Every Child a
Legal Identity” was organized by the Lagos State Ministry of Youth & Social
Development, in collaboration with the National Population Commission, NPC and
the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF.
Lafoucriere emphasised the need to grant
every child the right to identification, stressing that without it, the child
is invisible.
The UNICEF Chief of Field noted that the
E-registration is an opportunity to produce the statistics required for
efficient planning, adding that the government cannot properly plan for
children if it lacks adequate statistics.
In his remarks, the Lagos State Director of
the National Population Commission, Sadiku Bamidele, maintained that
eliminating the problems associated with duplicate registration and giving an
identity to every child is the primary purpose of the registration.
Bamidele, however, harped on the need to
create awareness of birth registration, and engage community structure, age
groups, and governments, saying everyone should be involved so that things can
be done properly.
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