The National Population Commission, NPC, has said it will intensify efforts at registering new births in very difficult and hard-to-reach communities of Cross River State.
The Commission said it is aggressively pursuing the tool of birth registration to ensure the legal recognition of every child’s existence.
Federal Commissioner of NPC representing Cross River State, Alex Ukam stated this in his address at the flag-off of this year’s World Population Day road walk in Calabar.
Ukam said the theme of this year’s World Population Day, which is “Embracing the Power of Inclusive Data Towards a Resilient and Equitable Future for All”, aptly amplifies one of the key challenges to charting development quests.
He said there is a need for total upscale of birth registration, adding that there is “Significant progress made in birth registration through collaboration with the Primary Healthcare Centres across the state but noticeable gaps still exist particularly in hard-to-reach communities and new settlements which serve as serious setback.”
Ukam pointed out that cultural barriers, the low educational status of parents and caregivers in remote communities and low socioeconomic status have constrained their efforts.
Ukam canvassed serious efforts at population issues to ensure total and effective Civil Registration of Vital Statistics, CRVS, conduct regular censuses and surveys to generate timely, credible, and reliable data.
“This is imperative for actual development planning targeted at enhancing resilience and ensuring an equitable future for all.
“For far too long, segments of our population, particularly those in rural areas or marginalized communities have been denied population services, we must count them, because everyone counts.”
Ukam disclosed that NPC in collaboration with the State Government and other relevant stakeholders have designed robust and all-inclusive strategies to ensure that everyone is counted through the upcoming special population outreach programme to be undertaken in all the nooks and crannies of the state.
In his speech, the programme officer of the United Nations Fund, UNFPA, Mr Andrew Kima said they have enhanced the data-driven approach in population issues which has led to significant achievements, although it is not yet uniform.
“Our findings reveal that the most marginalized and vulnerable populations are still being left behind, and disparities in access to healthcare are growing both within and between countries.
“In Cross River State, this challenge is even more pronounced due to difficulties in reaching remote and hard-to-reach communities with essential population services such as vital registrations.”
Statistician Statistician-GeneralGeneral of the state, Dr Josephat Ogar also buttressed over 70 percent of people in the state who live in hard-to-reach areas and are often marginalized in terms of public goods and services.
He assured that the state statistical system is seriously working towards changing the narrative.