By Aliyu Dangida
The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, has appealed to parents to prioritize the registration of the birth of every child under the age of five and a certificate of birth obtained for the child.
The global organisation noted that birth registration is a legal right of a child and a legal proof of identity, and that without a birth certificate, children are invisible to their governments.
The Country Representative of UNICEF Nigeria, Cristian Munduate, made the call
while addressing mothers, stakeholders, Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, and traditional rulers in Daudu shortly before performing the groundbreaking ceremony
for a modern Mother and Child health facility at the FSP Clinic Daudu in Guma Local Government Area, LGA, of Benue state.
According to her “every child under five years must have its birth registered and have a birth certificate. It is important; If you come to the health facility ensure you have the birth of your child registered at the centre.”
The traditional ruler of the area and Kindred Head of Mbayiar, Chief Oliver Chado commended UNICEF for supporting his community and thousands of IDPs in Daudu community and its environs through its various interventions.
Speaking after laying the foundation stone of the new Clinic, the Country Representative noted that the global organisation yearly supports Benue state with hundreds of thousands of dollars in kind, in different interventions including the health systems among others.
Hear her: “We do yearly support of several hundreds of thousands of dollars for Benue state, in kind, in different aspects. So we support the health system and we are fully engaged in the immunisation campaigns. That is something we support. We are looking for children who have never received one vaccination. It is important that we find them and we reach them.
“I earlier shared with the women here in the health facility that UNICEF with the support of donors brings the necessary Vitamin A to cover all women and all children in the country. It’s a huge amount of Vitamin A that we bring and the whole idea is that women and children come to have it whenever we have our one week of immunisation.
“We work with partners here in this health facility. Hopefully this year we can also have the birth registration facility so that children are properly registered which is important. When they have to go to school they need to have a birth history.
“Many families in poor condition receive vouchers or cash transfers. It is very important that their children are properly registered. And by putting up this building, we are contributing to amplifying the healthcare service delivery in the Centre.”
The team also visited the Uikpam IDPs camp also in Guma LGA where she expressed happiness with the performance of the pupils in the school facility built for children in the camp by the UNICEF and commended the results being achieved at the learning facility.
The Country Representative had earlier led her delegation on a courtesy call on Governor Samuel Ortom where she said the essence of the visit was to “express our thanks to the outgoing government before the end of your administration for all the things we have done together. We look forward to the incoming government sustaining that partnership.”
Responding, Governor Samuel Ortom, represented by his Deputy, Mr. Benson Abounu thanked UNICEF for its various interventions in the state.
He said “UNICEF has done a lot in Benue state. I have served in three different administrations in this state and I am a witness of what UNICEF has done especially as it affects children. In the area of immunisation, addressing the issue of out-of-school children and primary health care delivery UNICEF has done so much for us and we remain grateful.
“The challenge we are facing presently is the issue of displaced families as a result of armed herdsmen attacks on our various communities. Some have been displaced for up to five years from their ancestral homes and it is taking its toll on the children. And even at that UNICEF has not been found wanting, they have been doing so much for the displaced persons and we cannot thank you enough,” he added
On the team to the State was the Chief of Field Office, UNICEF Enugu, Juliet Chiluwe and a host of other officials of the global organisation.
*Culled from Vanguard