UNICEF promotes birth registration and childhood development in Nigeria and Togo

UNICEF is highlighting the critical importance of birth registration and early childhood development across West Africa. In Nigeria, the organization warned that approximately 3.5 million children across seven states—including Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti, and Edo—remain unregistered. This lack of legal identity prevents children from accessing essential services such as education, healthcare, and social protection, and can limit their future rights to voting and inheritance.

To address this, UNICEF and the National Population Commission (NPC) are engaging with the media to increase public awareness and advocate for the registration of children under one year old. Officials noted that unregistered children are often missing from government databases, which complicates national planning and the allocation of budgets for health and welfare.

In Togo, the government and UNICEF are collaborating on the Dagbékéva model. This integrated community-based initiative combines maternal and child healthcare, nutrition, immunization, and digital birth registration to support grassroots families and improve early childhood development outcomes.