UNICEF’s new publication on Early Child Development highlights the importance of birth registration

UNICEF recently launched its newest publication, Collecting Data on Early Childhood Development in Household Surveys. In line with the SDGs, the latter intends to ‘guide the collection of reliable, internationally comparable data on key ECD indicators that can be produced through household surveys. Detailed information on the selected indicators is provided along with guidance for the collection, analysis, monitoring and reporting on these indicators at national and global levels’. Amongst several relevant indicators to Early Child Development (ECD), the publication focuses on SDG 16.9 and birth registration, stressing that the latter ‘is often a condition for the receipt of state services such as health care, education and social protection’ and is therefore ‘a critical way to ensure a safety net is available to children’. Furthermore, it clearly highlights the key role of civil registration systems in producing vital statistics and in contributing to planning and resource allocation and enjoyment as well as the importance of their interoperability with other services.

CHIP welcomes the emphasis on birth registration in ECD, which further contributes to advocating for and implemeting the child’s right to identity from birth. Birth registration is indeed a key indicator of access to a range of other rights and services.

See: UNICEF (2024). Collecting Data on Early Childhood Development in Household Surveys. Available at: https://data.unicef.org/resources/collecting-data-on-early-childhood-development-in-household-surveys/?utm_campaign=Collecting%20data%20on%20ECD%20in%20household%20surveys&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Mailjet.