The Federal government will digitise the civil registration and vital statistics process and is targeting the registration of 12.7 million under-five children in 2023.
Matthew Sunday, the Director of the Vital Registration Department, the National Population Commission says that with digitisation, the commission plans to register 8.08 million children in 22 priority states and 4.6 million in other states.
He says digitisation would increase the percentage of children with birth certificates which is currently 33% – 63% in urban areas and 32% in rural areas.
UNICEF says the FG’s birth registration efforts are now showing progress, with 57% of children under age five registered compared with only 47 per cent in 2016/17.