The National Population Commission (NPC) has described its inability to access over 400 communities in Cross River State to register new births as a serious draw back in the discharge of its mandate.
The federal commissioner representing Cross River State in the NPC, Alex Ukam disclosed this in an interview with journalists in Calabar after meeting with a delegation from the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF).
He called on UNICEF and other relevant stakeholders to help in addressing the situation so that the people of those communities can enjoy services rendered by the Commission.
Ukam noted that the import of the meeting was to build a collaborative effort between the State NPC and UNICEF aimed at improving population services, particularly focusing on birth registration and logistical support in hard-to-reach areas of the state.
The commissioner further listed the key areas of need to include: provision of equipment and materials (such as printers, inks) for effective delivery of population services, modern technologies/electronic gadgets to process backlogs of unprocessed data, provision of utility vehicles, tricycles, motorcycles and boats to increase access to population services in these communities.
Ukam equally emphasised the need for adequate funding of researches geared towards improving population services in the state and called for extensive collaborations with other relevant stakeholders.
Leader of UNICEF team, Mr Ibrahim Sesay assured of the organization’s continuous support especially in the training of ad-hoc staff for the upcoming birth registration exercise intended to cover the entire state.