6 optimisation proposals for identity solutions — for more inclusive and efficient identification in the African context
This version is an AI-assisted translation. Read the original in French
6 proposals to optimise identity solutions for more inclusive and more efficient identification in the African context.
What is the goal?
Sustainable Development Goal 19.1, along with many international programmes, takes its rationale from the observation that part of the population is not identified (the 1 billion people without identity). These people are invisible because they are not registered; they are therefore not taken into account in government policies and are broadly excluded, both socially and economically.
The strategy: focus on the excluded
To reach this goal, priority must be given to the populations excluded from identity (the “invisible”) because they are the ones who make up the 1 billion people without identity.
It is therefore essential to understand the root causes of non-identification and address them with specific solutions, even if it means levelling down technical solutions further in order to remain inclusive.
The many causes of the problem
Unidentified people sometimes face an access problem: distance to the registration point, travel time due to lack of means or transport infrastructure, time lost on complex administrative procedures, and the loss of earnings for those who barely earn enough to subsist. There is also the issue of access to technology, for example because of missing infrastructure such as electricity or internet.
There is often a lack of motivation: through unawareness of the benefits, or because there is no clear and immediate return. In addition, some are unfamiliar with the procedures because of a lack of education, or because they cannot read or write. Finally, some feel they do not need it because they live in a world that remains informal and local.
Lastly, there are social, religious and community barriers that contribute to the obstacles to identity registration, particularly for children.
The consequences for individuals
People without identity are directly or indirectly affected because they are not counted in government programmes such as education, health or social aid.
As a result, they are not eligible for their fundamental rights such as the right to health, to education or to vote.
Without any means to prove their identity, everything becomes even more complicated for them and they enter a spiral of exclusion and poverty into which they also drag their children.
Classical solutions can be adapted
The spectrum of solutions
There is no single miracle solution; the reasons for non-identification are multiple, so the solutions must be multiple too. The closer one tries to get to 100 % registration, the more edge cases appear.
Fortunately, there are spectra of solutions that address sets of causes which, when combined, allow to approach 100 % coverage.
Finally, for those who remain, it must be possible to address edge cases and to plan workarounds for both registration and identity verification.
Analysing the change to be made
The same causes lead to the same consequences: if identification methods are not changed, the same people will always be excluded.
Some solutions are obvious: for greater inclusivity, States must engage more proactively, and therefore registration must be more mobile.
This means using solutions adapted to the daily contexts of the populations.
It also means not relying on individuals to come forward voluntarily, but instead shifting the responsibility for registration onto the public service and putting in place specific solutions for cases that are not covered.
What is the success indicator?
The success measure for Sustainable Development Goal 19.1 is not the percentage of the population registered with an identity, but the percentage of people who previously had no form of identity and are eventually registered.
Those who already have a birth certificate, a voter card, a bank account or a mobile phone, which already constitute a form of identification that can be “recycled” into a foundational legal identity, are not the priority; they do not really contribute to the United Nations goal.
However, they should be addressed by reusing their existing form of identity (see below).
Tracks and proposed solutions
1 / More proactivity and mobility
Proactive registration
More proximity in registration is what makes it possible to reach those who do not currently access identity.
Registration must come to the people, not the other way round; it must be performed as close as possible, both physically and in time, to life events (such as birth), preferably therefore by health or justice agencies.
Newborns of course have no prior form of identity; not registering them means creating tomorrow’s invisibles, and therefore failing to put a sustainable solution in place. The same problem keeps repeating itself indefinitely, requiring repeated massive investments instead of a long-term solution.
Stepping back from classical methods and diversifying solutions
Classical methods such as enrolment centres or mobile enrolment kits have successfully registered part of the populations who today possess an identity; for the others they have failed, so new solutions must be deployed for them.
Mobile kits offer the advantage of high-quality biometric and demographic data capture, but their portability is limited: they are relatively bulky and heavy, hard to carry where roads are in poor condition, particularly for a single individual. Their deployment also requires a dedicated space (table, chair) and preparation time (setting up the equipment).
It would therefore be useful, in some geographic areas, to introduce more portable, autonomous and mobile solutions in order to reach the most remote populations, deploying solutions designed for transport, flexibility of use and rapid setup.
This could concern part of the enrolment fleet; the rest can keep relying on fixed stations used in places dedicated to long-term enrolment, or on mobile kits where transport infrastructure (roads) is available and where local population density justifies it.
More mobile solutions adapted to field constraints now exist, in particular electronic tablets that combine all the necessary capture elements in a compact and portable form factor in order to reach the most remote areas.
While their use differs little from classical solutions, their deployment must include certain adaptations of identification systems to extract the full benefit, by stepping back and re-shaping the procedures.
Proposal 1: integrate more mobility into identity registration in order to cover the most isolated areas.
2 / Adapting to the context, particularly to the infrastructure available or unavailable
Lack of infrastructure
In the African context, infrastructure is limited or sometimes non-existent in certain places: roads, electricity and internet are simply not there.
Even though significant efforts are being made to deploy networks, there will always be areas where population density (or non-sedentary lifestyles) make it hard to justify very large investments in this infrastructure.
Internet connectivity
Most identity registration systems work in connected mode by default.
Yet the registration context for the “invisible” is often offline. Identity registration solutions should run in offline mode by default, and take advantage of connectivity when it is available.
Failing to follow this principle leads solutions to operate in a degraded mode rather than nominal mode, resulting in loss of efficiency and exclusion.
Voter enrolment systems have shown that offline operation is possible; this is a good model to follow.
Opportunities offered by mobile networks
In some countries, the 2G GSM network is widely deployed and provides relatively broad coverage; the success of mobile money solutions is proof of this.
Many opportunities open up in the field of identification for countries that know how to leverage these networks. Numerous interactive services could be built on top of them.
Proposal 2: registration must be available in offline mode and leverage 2G networks.
3 / Building on what is already in place
Reusing existing forms of identity
In most countries, forms of identification already exist: birth certificates, voter cards, mobile or banking registrations. They can be reused as part of identification to feed the population database, or even used as identifiers (for instance, reusing a voter card that has already been distributed).
Proposal 3: reuse the forms of identity already in place, which already cover a very significant share of the population. Focus on integrating them with the foundational identity and on registering those who have no form of identity at all.
Involving local stakeholders
Since proximity is paramount, it is important to involve the local stakeholders who already have access to the populations: local administrations, community leaders, health facilities and personnel, and so on.
They have direct access to, and the trust of, the population: they can become barriers if they do not feel involved; conversely, they will be drivers if they are made stakeholders.
Proposal 4: use existing local resources (premises, personnel, networks), whether public or private.
4 / Building attractiveness, lifting fears, sending strong messages, particularly for child registration
An individual’s decision to register is made by weighing immediate benefits against constraints and fears. The benefits must therefore be clearly identified and the fears mitigated, then carried by communication towards the population.
To prepare communication to the population properly, prior studies are needed to map the advantages obtained from identification as well as the psychological barriers to lift; these can be personal, cultural, family-related, religious, financial, and so on.
Proposal 5: the design of identity programmes must build on a fine-grained understanding of the populations’ challenges to identify what will influence the decision to register. This of course requires field study with local actors.
5 / Planning workarounds
We have seen that to reach 100 % inclusivity, it is necessary to know the reasons that hold registration back and to address them with specific solutions.
This implies that the registration process must be able to detect them and address them, and therefore have the capacity to adapt when edge cases are identified.
Proposal 6: beyond nominal processes, the identity system must rely on a panoply of degraded-mode processes to handle edge cases and offer the flexibility to handle the unforeseen ones.
Conclusions
Inclusive identification must be intelligent, not mechanical.
It must take advantage of technologies and of the experience of other countries, but it must know how to adapt to local contexts by adapting procedures and choosing the right technologies.
It must also account for the most edge cases, be flexible, and avoid eliminatory criteria by offering case-by-case workarounds.
Lastly, it must draw benefits from all the assets that are already in place: forms of identity, infrastructure, data, communities.
Summary of proposals
- More mobility. Integrate more mobility into identity registration in order to cover the most isolated areas.
- Offline / 2G. Registration must be available in offline mode and leverage 2G networks.
- Reuse. Reuse the forms of identity already in place, which can already cover a very significant share of the population. Focus on integrating them with the central identity and on registering those who have no form of identity.
- Local capabilities. Use existing local capabilities (premises, personnel, networks), whether public or private.
- Motivate. The design of identity programmes must build on a fine-grained understanding of the populations to identify what will influence the decision to register. This of course requires a local field study.
- Workarounds. Beyond nominal processes, the identity system must rely on a panoply of degraded-mode processes to handle edge cases, and offer the flexibility that will prevent exclusion.
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