United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is set to register 545,000 children under the age of one year in Lagos State before the end of 2025. This initiative is part of a nationwide campaign to ensure that every child has a legal identity.

The UNICEF Chief of Lagos Field Office, Celine Lafoucriere, who disclosed this at the Birth Registration Multi-Sector Dialogue in Lagos, noted that birth registration is the first line of protection for every child and essential for accessing healthcare, education, and social services.

According to her, without registration, children are invisible, and accessing key services, particularly healthcare, education, or social services, will be difficult.

Although she noted that Lagos State had made significant progress in birth registration, with 94 per cent of children under five already registered, she, however, lamented that some children in hard-to-reach and low-income communities remain unregistered.

“We must ensure that no child, especially in hard-to-reach and low-income communities, is left behind,” she stressed.

To achieve this goal, Lafoucriere called for collaboration among health, education, and social development sectors.

The dialogue, themed “Every child counts: Accelerating birth registration in Lagos State,” brought together key officials from the Ministries of Health, Education, Youth and Social Development, Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), civil society, and the media.

Participants agreed to co-create a state action plan to improve awareness, integrate registration into health and education systems, and track progress towards universal coverage by year-end.