The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has stressed the importance of birth registration, describing it as the foundation of a child’s legal identity and a gateway to essential services and opportunities throughout life.
UNICEF Chief of Lagos Field Office, Celine Lafoucriere, made the assertion on Tuesday in Lagos, during a two-day media dialogue on birth registration organised in partnership with the National Population Commission (NPC), Lagos State.
The workshop with the theme: “Giving Every Child a Legal Identity by Driving Birth Registration in Nigeria,” brought together journalists from states across the South-West and Edo State to strengthen public awareness and media reporting on the importance of registering children at birth.
Lafoucriere explained that birth registration goes beyond documenting a child’s date and place of birth, saying it establishes the legal identity required for a child to be recognised by the state.
“Civil registration is the child’s identity, and it is the foundational right of every child. Without that right, nothing else can happen. A child cannot go to school without an identity,” she said.
According to her, the implications of birth registration extend into virtually every stage of a person’s life, including access to healthcare, education, social protection and civic rights.
“A registered child can access health services and, as an adult, will be able to vote, own property and inherit wealth. A child cannot access the health system without an identity. And it goes on like this throughout life,” she added.
The UNICEF official noted that despite the importance of birth registration, many parents still delay the process because children without birth certificates can sometimes access certain public services.
She said this situation could make families underestimate the long-term importance of obtaining official documentation for their children.
Lafoucriere further linked birth registration to effective national planning, explaining that reliable information about the population enables governments to properly determine the resources required for education, healthcare and social welfare.
She said the information was particularly important as Nigeria works to establish a credible social register for the distribution of government assistance to vulnerable households.
“We are working with the Government of Nigeria to build a credible social register that will be used to deliver benefits to vulnerable families.
“If a child doesn’t have an identity, he or she does not exist on the social register.
“Unregistered children are missing from government budgets, which affects funding for health, education and welfare programmes.
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“If there are 3.5 million children who are not registered, it means that 3.5 million times whatever the budget is normally for one child is not in the government’s budget,” she said.
Lafoucriere therefore urged the media to take a more active role in educating parents about the importance of birth registration and directing families to locations where the service is available.
She identified primary healthcare centres and other community registration points equipped with the required digital devices as some of the facilities where parents can register their children.
The UNICEF chief encouraged journalists to use human-interest stories to demonstrate the real-life consequences of failing to register children and to reach families who may have limited access to information.
“You can tell a specific child’s story, a specific mother’s story, and tell it to the world, tell it to the parents who are isolated, who are the most vulnerable, who need to understand why it’s important and where they can have their child registered,” she said.
Earlier, the Lagos State Director of the National Population Commission, Sherifdeen Kekere-Ekun, said the media dialogue was designed to increase public understanding of birth registration and address misconceptions surrounding the process.
Kekere-Ekun said journalists had several platforms at their disposal to educate Nigerians, including news reports, radio programmes, television broadcasts, feature articles and social media campaigns.
He stressed that effective media reporting could help parents understand that birth registration is not merely an administrative requirement but an important mechanism for securing a child’s rights and legal identity.
“Through news reports, radio jingles, television stations, features and social media campaigns, journalists can explain that birth registration is not just paperwork but a child’s first fundamental right and legal identity.
“By telling real stories of children and mothers, the media helps parents understand the long-term benefits, from access to school and healthcare to voting, inheritance and social protection, as well as where they can register, such as PHCs and community centres equipped with tablets.
“Beyond awareness, the media also acts as a watchdog and mobiliser that holds government and communities accountable,” he said.
The dialogue highlights the broader role of birth registration in Nigeria’s development, particularly in ensuring that children are visible in government planning and social protection systems.
Beyond providing proof of identity, accurate civil registration records can help authorities determine population needs and improve the planning and delivery of essential public services.
With UNICEF and the NPC seeking stronger public awareness, journalists are expected to play a significant role in encouraging parents and caregivers to register children promptly and ensuring that families understand where and how the process can be completed.
