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From Advocacy to Implementation
AN ESTIMATED 1.1 BILLION PEOPLE IN THE WORLD ARE UNABLE TO PROVE THEIR IDENTITY.
That is 1 in every 6 individuals. The majority live in Africa and Asia, and more than a third are under the age of 18.
The World Bank Group’s Identification for Development (ID4D) initiative plays an essential role in helping countries move forward to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and leave no one behind.
IDENTIFICATION MATTERS. Why?
- Makhtar Diop, World Bank Vice President for Africa
Without official identification, a person can struggle to access:
Collectively, the barriers individuals face in turn create larger barriers for the countries they live in.
Without strong identification systems, countries can struggle to:
ID4D helps countries analyze problems, design solutions, and implement new systems to increase the number of people with official identification and the development impact of the overall identification system. When more people have formal identification and identification systems function well, individuals access necessary services, governments function better, use resources more efficiently, and improve statistics to better inform their future policies.
New Technologies creating New Opportunities for all
With the transformational potential of modern solutions—the advances in identification technology (both digital and biometric) and the dramatically falling costs of technology and implementation—there is an opportunity to leapfrog traditional paper-based approaches and build strong and efficient identification systems at a scale not previously achievable. Mobile devices also offer promising solutions to enroll and authenticate individuals with a unique identification, particularly in remote and rural areas.
Reaching the SDGs: One Identity, One Country at a time
A robust and efficient solution is becoming a priority for governments around the world and is included as Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 16.9: “By 2030, provide legal identity for all, including birth registration.” It is also key to the attainment of many other SDG goals.
Strong identification systems can lead countries to become more economically prosperous and secure, operate more effectively and efficiently, protect human rights, and deliver benefits to people. There is evidence of this in a number of developing countries:
IDENTIFICATION FOR DEVELOPMENT (ID4D) CREATES AND DELIVERS COMPREHENSIVE SOLUTIONS. How?
ID4D concentrates on three focus areas:
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
The World Bank Group is conducting research, gathering expertise about best practices, and encouraging shared approaches that will help countries understand why they need to invest in improving identification systems and how to best implement programs.
ID4D will provide policy planners, development organizations, think tanks, foundations, and private sector associations with a common platform to share what they have learned about identification systems and how to improve them. This will advance their understanding of the subject and help reach a consensus about the best ways to develop, maintain, and implement effective identification systems in specific countries and across entire regions.© UNICEF/NYHQ2011-2489/Asselin
The thought leadership agenda consists of:
GLOBAL CONVENING AND ADVOCACY
© mihailomilovanovic
ID4D brings together like-minded partner organizations to shape the first set of shared Principles on Identification for Sustainable Development replicable minimum standards, and international legal and regulatory frameworks. Together, these guide the creation of reliable identification systems that can work in different regions and countries. ID4D also facilitates South-South knowledge exchange, so governments can learn from successful models implemented in other emerging countries.
Together, these partners have reached a global consensus about how to create modern identification systems that achieve the ambitious goal of “Making Everyone Count” and ensuring that people have the identification they need to access important services and rights.
COUNTRY AND REGIONAL ENGAGEMENT
© Mia Harbitz
ID4D efforts at the country level supports countries to assess existing systems, design improvements, implement more robust systems, and strengthen linkages to services.
The World Bank will use a number of tools available across all stages of intervention at the country level.
Country assessments: To evaluate a country’s identity ecosystems, ID4D will help by conducting a country assessment using the Identify Management System Analysis (IMSA) tool. This tool is the first point of engagement in countries where assessments have not been conducted yet.
Country support, including:
For example, with the support of $165 million in assistance from the World Bank, Bangladesh will have registered and provided smart ID cards and unique numbers to 100 million people by 2018, using biometrics to ensure uniqueness and facilitate verification when needed.
While ID4D is advancing single-country engagements, it also is developing and supporting regional approaches to ensure that identification systems are established in an integrated, interoperable manner to accelerate regional integration through safe and orderly migration, mutual recognition, and infrastructure for common digital markets.
Global Leaders Join ID4D High-level Advisory Council to Accelerate Progress Towards Digital Identification for All
On October 12, 2017, the World Bank Group’s Identification for Development (ID4D) High-level Advisory Council -- co-chaired by World Bank Chief Executive Officer Kristalina Georgieva and United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed – will meet for the first time. The creation of this Advisory Council recognizes the enabling and transformational role of identification systems in achieving several of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and advancing progress in many areas such as social protection, women and girls empowerment, financial inclusion, governance, healthcare, digital development and humanitarian response.
The Advisory Council, which includes eminent practitioners and thought-leaders from the public and private sector, has been formed to provide strategic guidance to the ID4D initiative and promote the vision of services and rights for all persons through robust, inclusive and responsible identification systems. Importantly, the Advisory Council will consider emerging trends and challenges, including innovations and new technologies, privacy and data protection, migration, and displacement.
This is a critical time for ID4D as it scales up country and regional engagement to provide identification to the estimated 1.1 billion people around the world without one, and actively engages with partners to build a multi-stakeholder platform. The Advisory Council, which will meet twice a year, is positioned to play a key role.
ID4D High-level Advisory Council Members
ID4D High-level Advisory Council Members: Kristalina Georgieva, World Bank Chief Executive Officer; Amina J. Mohammed, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General; President Toomas Hendrik Illves, former President of Estonia; Nandan Nilekani, Co-founder of Infosys and Founding Chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India; Eric Jing, CEO of Ant Financial; Carolina Trevelli, former Minister of Development and Social Inclusion, Peru; Dr. Benno Ndulu, Governor, Bank of Tanzania; Mo Ibrahim, Chair of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation and Founder of Celtel; and Iqbal Quadir, Founder of the Legatum Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and of Grameenphone.
Given the size of the global identification gap, no single country, international organization, NGO, or private sector partner can surmount this challenge by working alone— coordination is needed at global, regional and national levels. To this end, ID4D has been developing critical relationships with a range of others also working on this emerging topic – from UN agencies, other development partners, think tanks and academics, regional bodies, private sector associations and standards bodies.
In addition, to accelerate our work globally, the ID4D Partnership Platform and Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) was established with a catalytic contribution from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This MDTF provides an opportunity to build a common platform to advance global knowledge and activities on this emerging topic, accelerate engagement with country clients, and test out new approaches.
Principles on Identification for Sustainable Development: Toward the Digital Age
[Download PDF: ENGLISH / FRENCH / SPANISH]
More than 15 organizations came together to develop a set of shared “Principles on Identification for Sustainable Development: Toward the Digital Age” which considers the fundamentals to maximizing the benefits of identification systems while mitigating the risks. We hope additional organizations would be interested in joining, and consider this to be a living document to be revised in the future with further learning and implementation.
The State of Identification Systems in Africa: A Synthesis of Country Assessments
[Download PDF]
The ability to prove one’s identity is a cornerstone of participation in modern life, yet over 1.1 billion people lack proof of legal identity. As a first step in assisting client countries to close this identity gap, the World Bank Group’s Identification for Development (ID4D) initiative conducts Identity Management Systems Analyses (IMSAs) to evaluate countries’ identity ecosystems and facilitate collaboration with governments. This report synthesizes the findings of IMSAs carried out in 17 African countries between 2015 and 2016.
The State of Identification Systems in Africa: Country Briefs
[Download PDF]
Toolkit for Africa [Download PDF: ENGLISH / FRENCH]
This report provides a strategic view of the role of identification in a country's national development, as well as a tactical view of the building blocks and policy choices needed for setting up a digital identification system in a developing country. The report presents a conceptual overview of digital identity management practices, providing a set of guidelines at a national level that policymakers can find helpful as they begin to think about modernizing the identity infrastructure of their country into digital identification. 
Digital Identity: Public and Private Sector Cooperation [Download PDF]
Identification in the Context of Forced Displacement [Download PDF]
The Role of Identification in Ending Child Marriage: Identification for Development [Download PDF]
The causes of child marriage are multifaceted and complex—including factors such as poverty, culture, and gender and social norms. This report investigates the positive role identification plays in preventing child marriage and empowering girls.
Identification for Development: Its Potential for Empowering Women and Girls [Download PDF]
The Role of Identification in the Post-2015 Development Agenda Digital Identity [Download PDF]
ID4D Global Data Set [click here]
Counting the uncounted: 1.1 billion people without proof of legal ID
Today, an estimated 1.1 billion people worldwide cannot officially prove their identity, concludes the 2017 update of the World Bank's Identification for Development (ID4D) Global Dataset. The data determined that 78% of these individuals live in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia; one in six are under age five. By understanding the scale of this challenge, the dataset helps tackle the daunting task of providing identification to all. [Read more]
Making Everyone Count: How Identification Could Transform the Lives of Millions of Africans
First appearing in the World Economic Forum, Makhtar Diop’s opinion piece calls on leaders to find the political will to take advantage of the transformational potential offered by investing in identification systems. Almost half of the people in sub-Saharan Africa do not have official IDs. Identification is a foundational tool, he believes, that reaps wide-ranging benefits by helping governments run efficiently and better deliver services. [Read more]
Ten Principles on Identification for Sustainable Development
The global identification gap is a significant challenge for sustainable development. The new Principles on Identification are an important step to closing it. The principles were developed jointly by more than 16 global organizations in a cooperative and consultative process to coordinate efforts to change this reality for the 1.5 billion people without official identification. [Read more]
Underage with an ID to prove it
The vast majority of countries prohibit child marriage, yet some 15 million girls are still married before age 18 every year. The causes of child marriage are multifaceted and complex—including factors such as poverty, culture, and gender and social norms. Birth certificates and effective ID systems can make it easier to enforce laws that prohibit this practice—and give young girls a chance at a better future. [Read more]
Making the invisible billion more visible: the power of digital identification
Twenty-first century technological innovation has created unprecedented opportunities to benefit the 1.5 billion individuals without official identification. [Read more]
Public-private cooperation to build digital identity systems
The World Bank, together with partners, launched the white paper, “Digital Identity: Towards Shared Principles for Public and Private Sector Cooperation,” which frames the initial key issues, benefits, and challenges for public-private cooperation to build digital identity systems. [Read more]
Identification for Development: Its Potential for Empowering Women and Girls
The reality in the developing world where one in five individuals have no proof of official identification disproportionately affects women and girls. They face more barriers in getting IDs because of restricted travel outside the home, lack of familial and communal support, and illiteracy. [Read more]
Making Everyone Count
A short video on the World Bank Group’s Identification for Development (ID4D) initiative and its role in assisting countries to reach the transformation potential of digital identification. [Watch]
LIVE Annual Meetings | Identification for Development: Harnessing the Power of Digital Solutions
Join the World Bank’s Chief Economist and panelists from governments and the private sector as they discuss how countries have developed identification systems to enable a range of key development outcomes. [Watch]
Transforming Government: Digital Identity in India
In less than 5 years, India has created the world’s largest biometric identification program in the world, issuing 1.1 billion Aadhaar cards which have given identification to an unprecedented 99.5 percent of the adult population. [Watch]
Message from the President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet
A message from the current President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet’s, on how identification can help facilitate access to services and rights, for all. [Watch]
For more information, please contact ID4D:
Email:
Vyjayanti Desai, Program Manager
