Short description
Due to lack of recognized proof of identity, roughly 1.5 billion individuals (World Bank, 2016)1 face challenges in accessing or enjoying basic rights and services such as voting, setting up a bank account, registering a business, land ownership, receiving social protection payments, school enrollment, and even humanitarian assistance.
Identity (ID) management remains one of the biggest challenges for humanitarian action. The causes for not having an official proof of identity vary. Some people may have lost documents during a natural disaster or fleeing from conflict. Others have never owned an ID, due to cumbersome procedures, high costs, lack of knowledge on how to register for a National Identity Card (NIC) or lack of feeder documents, such as birth registration. Lack of government identification can make people “invisible” and hamper effective humanitarian assistance. Attempts to address this issue are often ad hoc and siloed within individual aid organizations.
Early experiences in developing digital ID solutions seem to indicate potential for empowering and engaging recipients of aid, facilitating efficient and large-scale cash transfer Programming (CTP), and enhancing coordination and collaboration among multiple agencies.