The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), has said the Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey (MICS) and the National Immunization Coverage Survey (NICS) reports paint the true picture of women and children situation in Nigeria.
The Planning and Monitoring Specialist, UNICEF, Enugu Field Office, Maureen Zubie-Okol, stated this during the MICS/NICS dissemination meeting in Enugu.
Zubie-Okolo stated that current MICS-NICS data is critical for effective budgeting and decision making.
She said: “The data from this survey paint a picture of the situation for children and women in Nigeria. The picture is a mixed one. While good progress has been made, disparities still exist.
“For instance, the 2021 MICS-NICS report reveals that child mortality has decreased from 1 in 8 children dying before their fifth birthday to 1 in 10 children since the last round of MICS five years ago,” she said.
She further stated that: “There is also significant progress in exclusive breastfeeding and birth registration rates. The exclusive breastfeeding rate doubled from 17 per cent to 34 per cent, while 57 per cent of Nigerian children under age of five have their birth registered with civil authorities, compared to 47 per cent in 2016.
“In addition, child marriage (women married before age 18) has dropped from 44 per cent to 30 per cent since 2016.
“As highlighted disparities still exist, while exclusive breastfeeding is almost two times higher among mothers of tertiary/higher education than those with no education, child marriage is about four times higher in rural areas than in urban areas.
“MICS is designed to collect statistically robust and internationally comparable data on child mortality, health, nutrition, education, child and social protection, women’s health care and empowerment, water, sanitation and hygiene, while NICS assesses vaccination coverage provided through the health systems.”
