The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) with the support of the National Population Commission (NPC) and National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) will be deploying 850 corps members to 22 states across Nigeria for digital birth registration.

Spokesperson for UNICEF, Geoffrey Njoku, in a statement, said the organisations have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to solidify their commitment to the project.

UNICEF said the partnership aims at providing a framework within which the parties involved can implement a comprehensive and efficient digitalised birth registration process across the country.

The UN children’s agency said they intend to enroll 12 million children under the age of five as primary beneficiaries of the resources and facilities available.

“By leveraging their existing resources and facilities, the NYSC, NPC, and UNICEF intend to benefit at least 12 million under-5 eligible children who will be registered as primary beneficiaries. Additionally, families, parents, caregivers, communities, households, state and local government areas (LGAs), and ward level administrators will be indirect beneficiaries of this collaboration,” the statement said.

The director-general of NYSC, Brigadier General, Yusha’u Ahmed said 850 corps members will be deployed as coordinators and supervisors across 22 states, including the federal capital territory to monitor and supervise the birth registration processes.

He added, “Together, we will strive to achieve comprehensive data collection and availability, supporting increased birth registration coverage in our respective LGAs.”

The chairman of NPC, Nasir Isa Kwarra, said the commission is committed to the success of the programme and will be providing materials and education that will promote the importance of digital birth registration.

“We are committed to supporting the recruitment of ad hoc birth registrars at the ward level and ensuring the availability of registration materials to coordinators and supervisors,” he said.

“By distributing protocols, checklists, FAQs, and informational materials, we aim to engage local government chairpersons, traditional and religious leaders, and communities to promote the importance of birth registration.

“Together, we will generate and analyse digitalised birth registration data at the LGAs and wards, ultimately increasing birth registration coverage.”

Cristian Munduate, UNICEF representative in Nigeria said the integration of digital birth registration with aid service delivery in the health sector adding that every child will benefit from essential health and birth registration interventions they deserve.

UNICEF reiterated its commitment towards the project and childrens’ by providing technical assistance for the smooth running of the project.