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Nigeria: UNICEF partners local agencies to drive digital birth registration

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The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is championing digital birth registration in Nigeria as it has patterned two local agencies, the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and the National Population Commission (NPC),  to achieve the feat.

UNICEF Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the NYSC and the NPC to solidify the commitment of the three organizations to collaborate and support the digitalized birth registration process in 22 states out of 36 and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

UNICEF, through a country representative, Cristian Munduate, says its primary focus on the initiative will be on providing technical assistance and evidence-based interventions.

“By integrating birth registration into routine health service delivery, conducting the digitalized birth registration process, and increasing awareness through state and community-level campaigns, we aim to ensure that every child has access to and benefits from the essential health and birth registration interventions they deserve,” Munduate said.

The parties will adopt existing resources and facilities for the initiative which it said would benefit at least 12 million under-5 eligible children who will be registered as primary beneficiaries.

The initiative will help the country to achieve comprehensive data collection and availability, supporting increased birth registration coverage in our respective local government areas.

The availability of reliable social data is a contentious issue in Nigeria, particularly as the country last had a population census in 2006. An initially planned census for this year has been postponed twice. Digitalized registration is capable of significantly improving population data and ultimately improving policy decisions.

Population size is a strong consideration in Nigeria’s federal arrangement, being one of the metrics considered for revenue allocation from the national purse to constituent units—the 36 State governments, the 774 Local governments, and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

Musings From Abroad

Explain dire consequences of Rafah operation to Israel, Egypt urges UN, US

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Following Washington’s objection to a military incursion into the southern Gaza city of Rafah on its border with Egypt, Egypt’s foreign minister argued on Monday that the United States ought to explain to Israel the consequences of doing so.

Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said this while speaking with United Nations chief for Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, in Cairo.

He said, “It is not enough for rhetoric, it is not enough to state opposition, it is also important to indicate what if that position is circumvented, what if that position is not respected.

“It is also up to the international community and the United States, who have indicated their refusal to such an eventuality, to make clear what are the consequences if their appeals are not heeded,” Shoukry added in English-language remarks.

After more than five months of fighting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated during a cabinet meeting on Sunday that Israeli forces would advance into Rafah, the last mostly safe area in the small, densely populated Gaza Strip, despite international demands for Israel to prevent civilian losses.

Netanyahu is under intense pressure from Israel’s allies not to assault Rafah without a strategy to safeguard civilians, as over a million displaced Palestinians from other areas of the destroyed enclave have taken refuge there.

More than a million Palestinians have fled into Rafah as part of an offensive that has destroyed the majority of the Gaza Strip since Hamas terrorists attacked Israel on October 7. Israel has declared that it will carry out its ground offensive into Rafah.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Israel to take all reasonable measures to prevent its troops from committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza last month in response to a lawsuit filed by South Africa.

He also warned that the humanitarian consequences and the loss of lives that would result from an Israeli ground assault on Rafah would be “catastrophic”.

Egypt, which controls the Rafah gate, the hub of operations to get humanitarian aid into Gaza and for the expulsion of injured individuals and holders of foreign passports, has already issued warnings about the “dire consequences” of a possible Israeli military assault close to its border.

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Musings From Abroad

US/Africa plan suffers further blow as Niger ends military ties with Washington 

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Niger Republic, one of the West African countries burdened with terrorist operations in the Sahel, has announced an end to military ties with the United States, dealing a blow to Washington’s recent push for a renewed global influence in Africa.

 

Niger’s ruling military spokesman, Colonel Amadou Abdramane, announced that the West African country had suspended its military agreement with the US “with immediate effect.”

 

Speaking on local television, Abdramane claimed that the US delegation had broken diplomatic protocol by not informing Niger about the delegation’s makeup, arrival date, or agenda.

 

The decision was made on Saturday following a visit to the West African nation earlier this week by top US officials to discuss democratic transition. Among them were US Africa Command head, General Michael Langley, and Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Molly Phee.

 

“Niger regrets the intention of the American delegation to deny the sovereign Nigerien people the right to choose their partners and types of partnerships capable of truly helping them fight against terrorism,” Abdramane said.

 

“The American presence on Niger’s territory is illegal and violates all constitutional and democratic rules,” Abdramane said, adding that the citizens of Niger must be consulted before having a foreign army on their territory.

 

According to the US military, there are more than a thousand American soldiers stationed in Niger. Additionally, the US has a drone base in the northern part of the nation, which is essential for tracking extremist organisations in the Sahel region— a region of Africa that lies just below the Sahara desert.

 

The hub of US operations in west and north Africa is Niger, particularly at Air Base 201, one of the most costly building projects the US government has ever undertaken outside it soil. Although it is there to support counterterrorism efforts, it is widely believed that the project represents strategic positioning against US global rivals, China and Russia, both of which African countries have tilted towards in recent years for economic and military relations.

 

Niger has been at the receiving end of regional and international sanctions following a coup in which president Mohamed Bazoum was ousted. The US essentially stopped providing military support to Niger, and the base’s operations were restricted to surveillance to keep an eye on US forces.

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