A new report, 2021 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) has shown that only 57 per cent of children born in Nigeria are registered at birth with civil authorities as this indicated that over 40 per cent of children are still unregistered in the country.
The MICS Survey is a household survey developed by UNICEF to assist countries in filling data gaps for monitoring human development indicators in general and the situation of children and women, in particular.
It has evolved over the years to respond to changing data needs, expanding from 28 indicators in the first round in 1999 to 200 in its current sixth.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)’s Chief of Monitoring for Result (M4R), Claes Johanson in his presentation at the Media Dialogue on MICS 6 in Port Harcourt noted there is a 10 per cent increase in the number of birth registration between 2016-2021, but there is still an existing gap to be filled.
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While speaking further, Johanson said birth registration increased from 47 per cent in 2016 to 57 per cent in 2021.
“Lagos state recorded the highest number of birth registration with 94 per cent, closely followed by the FCT with 87 per cent. States with the lowest registration are Jigawa with 23.6 per cent and Sokoto with 22.5 per cent.
“The survey shows that three per cent of children under the age of five had their births registered, but do not have birth certificates.
“It also indicates that two out of every three mothers and caregivers of children aged below five years whose births were not registered did not know how to register births.
“It shows that the percentage of children under the age of five whose births are registered ranges from as high as 89 per cent for the richest wealth quintile to as low as 33 per cent for the poorest wealth quintile.”