Nigeria reaches 57% in special birth registration drive targeting 12M children

The National Population Commission of Nigeria (NPC) says its teams have attained 57 percent coverage of a digital birth registration drive which it started in May, in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

The Director of Vital Registration at the NPC, Sunday Matthew, told The Punch recently that 57 percent of the 12.7 million under-five children targeted for registration this year have already been issued birth certificates in 23 states.

Progress on this initiative will seek to increase the rate of child birth registration in the country which is reported to be between 33 and 62 percent in urban settings and only 32 percent in rural communities.

The progress made so far notwithstanding, the NPC official says sensitization activities are continuing on the field to encourage parents to bring forth their children for civil registration.

Matthew also dropped a hint that the president, Bola Ahmad Tinubu, will soon launch a dedicated app for digital birth registration.

Uganda drums role of birth registration in digital ID issuance

While Nigeria is carrying on with the special campaign for digital birth registration, Uganda has been explaining how birth registration facilitates the issuance of the national identification number (NIN).

The National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) used a recent primary school music and dance festival to emphasize this message, Nile Post reports.

Held under the theme “My NIN My Birth Right,” the children used the platform, through songs, dances, and drama pieces to highlight the important role of obtaining the NIN, how to register for it, and the documentation needed to carry out the registration.

The various uses of the NIN were also explained through the various activities of the festival which is the second consecutive in which NIRA has staged the NIN enrollment campaign.

NIRA Executive Director Rosemary Kisembo insisted on the usefulness of the NIN, saying it “is a birth right.”

OpenCRVS upgrades

Meanwhile, open-source civil registration organization OpenCRVS has announced the launch of v1.3 of its platform on October 11.

In a LinkedIn post, the “digital public good” said the launch event will unfold in two sessions during which participants will update their knowledge on various aspects including the new feature and functionality of the upgrade, the recent investment from Co-Develop, OpenCRVS implementations as well as its system integrator accreditation programs.

Article Topics

Africa  |  birth registration  |  digital ID  |  national ID  |  National Identification and Registration Authority of Uganda (NIRA)  |  National Identity Number (NIN)  |  Nigeria  |  OpenCRVS  |  Uganda