Dealing with the situation of persons without a legal identification

In Honduras, the new demographic database now has information on about 5.4 million people.

In addition to making life easier for people like Mr. Santos, the new technology has helped the Honduran government build a more reliable electoral database. This will make it much easier to vote in the elections in 2021 and reduce voter mistrust.

Your chances of success in life are slim if you lack legal identification. During COVID-19 pandemics, times of war, or climate emergencies, it will be very unlikely that people will need social services or basic health care. It is far more difficult to get employment in the formal economy. Insurance, pensions, and even basic utility services like water, phone, and gas connection may be impacted by a lack of legal identification.

The Honduras project is one example of how the UN assists nations in their efforts to set up national demographic registers, national ID systems, or digital ID programs.

A young Sierra Leonean mother and her infant were uprooted due to war (file)

Identification of persons displaced by conflict in Sierra Leone

Years of armed violence in Sierra Leone, along with the widespread violations of human rights that went with it, led to a lot of people moving around inside the country and losing their citizenship.

The UNDP and its partners are helping the government integrate the people who have been exiled and don’t have a country to call home. This is so that people who don’t have proper identification can get a National Identification Number (NIN).

They can now apply for official jobs, get driver’s licenses, and, most importantly, have a legal name. It means more security, better checks and balances, less corruption, and the government keeping track of tax money.

Because of these efforts, six million people in Sierra Leone who didn’t have any records now do.

Mothers weigh babies at a clinic in Zambia (file)

Zambia: Significant rise in birth registrations

Zambia’s government has gotten a lot of help from the UN to set up an integrated, computerized national registration system that covers people from birth to death in different parts of the country. This exact legal identification is used to enroll children in school and administer vaccinations.

As a result, birth registration in Zambia increased from 14.3 percent to 84 percent as of 2022.

According to Zambia’s Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security, Jacob Jack Mwiimbu, “the integrated national registration system shall provide reliable and timely vital statistics for planning purposes and targeted provision of social services to eligible population groups, in addition to providing legal identity from birth to death and contributing to the maintenance of internal security.”

Mozambican citizens holding their ID cards

A “ground-breaking effort” in Mozambique

One of the UN Legal Identity Agenda pilot nations is Mozambique, which has low levels of civil registration (12.1 percent of deaths and 49 percent of births are recorded).

As part of the project to upgrade the registration and national identification database, the UN country team made a plan to improve these numbers and set up ways to handle civil registration, vital statistics, and identity management.

Myrta Kaulard, the top UN representative in Mozambique, has praised the project. According to Ms. Kaulard, “The Legal Identity Agenda is a trailblazing project to benefit from migration and ensure the rights of individuals who are in the country.” Jack Mwiimbu, Zambia’s minister of internal security and home affairs,