The National Population Commission (NPC) is seeking to upscale birth registration in Cross River hard-to-reach areas.

Alex Ukam, NPC’s federal commissioner for Cross River, said this during a roadshow and advocacy campaign in collaboration with the state government on Thursday in Calabar.

The commissioner, therefore, said some segments of Cross River’s population, particularly those in rural areas or marginalised communities, have been denied services, noting that the communities should be counted.

He added that it was against such background that the commission at the state level was aggressively pursuing the tool of birth registration to ensure the legal recognition of every child in the state.

He said, “Significant progress is being made in birth registration through collaboration with primary healthcare centres across the state, but noticeable gaps still exist, particularly in hard-to-reach communities and settlements.

“The way forward is for the state government and indeed the entire nation to ensure total and effective registration of vital statistics and conduct regular census to generate timely, credible and verifiable data for planning.”

While launching the roadshow, Deputy Governor Peter Odey stressed the importance of having proper census figures.

Mr Odey added that the state was throwing its weight behind NPC because accurate data is necessary for all forms of developmental plans.

Andrew Kirima, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) programme coordinator in Cross River, said the event’s theme underscored the need for inclusive data in crafting a resilient and just future for everyone.

Mr Kirima noted that the State of World Population (SWOP) Report 2024 launched by UNFPA in Abuja demonstrated progress in ending unmet needs for family planning, preventing maternal death, and eliminating gender-based violence (GBV), among other harmful practices.

He, however, said the progress had not been uniform across all communities, as the report revealed that most marginalised and vulnerable populations are still left behind.

He called for a resilient and equitable future by prioritising investment in a comprehensive population data system, ensuring safe and inclusive data collection, collaborating with marginalised communities and supporting the national census.

(NAN)