National IDs in a developing country context with a focus on Africa

Transcription

1 National IDs in a developing country context with a focus on Africa Robert Palacios, Global Lead for Pensions and Social Insurance, World Bank 21st Century National Identification Systems Conference Harvard, November 20, 2015

2 Developing country contextual factors Limited infrastructure (connec1vity, reliable power supply, internet penetra1on etc.) Historically low rates of birth and death registra1on and poor state of what does exist Compe1ng role of electoral bodies in ID provision Lack of personal data protec1on legisla1on and resources These factors are correlated to income levels and are evident in low income countries in all regions, not only Africa

3 Africa is moving to card-based national IDs 60 Iden&fica&on and Civil Registra&on in Sub Saharan Africa Cumula1ve number of Economies : Iden1fica1on & Civil Registry Solu1ons BR NID e- ID Source: World Bank ID4D database

4 Africa is moving to card-based national IDs

5 Low birth registration rates and poor records

6 Implications of low birth registration rates Birth registra1on is oten the founda1on of na1onal ID systems as birth cer1ficates are used as breeder documents for NIDs This is not possible in low income countries due to historically low birth cer1fica1on rates and the poor quality of those records that do exist This limita1on applies just as much in Bangladesh or Bolivia as it does in sub- Saharan Africa The goal is to improve the FLOW of birth and death registra1on while capturing the STOCK through NID and doing it in such a way that the CR (ideally linked to mother s NID) and the NID eventually converge for the whole popula1on

7 Competing electoral ID systems Coverage of elec&on vs na&onal IDs in selected African countries Cost of voter IDs in selected African countries $50.00 $45.00 $44 $40.00 $35.00 $30.00 $25.00 $22 $20.00 $15.00 $12 $14.80 $10.00 $5.00 $6.00 $4 $4.60 $5 $5.20 $5.30 $7 $7.40 $8.60 $8.80 $0.00

8 Competing electoral ID and other ID systems: Nigeria and Mexico 14 ID Ins&tu&on Poten&al Coverage Actual Coverage 12 INE Electoral Commission Vo1ng age popula1on 83.5 million Number of ID systems biometric IMSS ISSSTE Seguro Popular IMSS ISSSTE Ministry of Health Formal private sector workers and their families Public sector workers and their families Popula1on without a public health insurance benefit 56 Million 2.8 Million 57 Million 2 PROSPERA Ministry of Social Development Families living under the poverty line 29 Million 0 Nigeria Mexico PPAM Ministry of Social Development Popula1on over 65 5 Million Note: Mexico has no Na1onal ID

9 Implications of electoral IDs Electoral IDs oten get priority funding from governments and donors, achieve higher coverage and provide a form of useful ID that reduces incen1ves for na1onal ID But voter IDs deteriorate un1l the next elec1on, are not linked to civil registra1on and ins1tu1onal mandate does not encourage links with func1onal (program) ID efforts The experience of Peru informa1ve here RENIEC created based on two policy choices: 1) to separate iden1fica1on sec1on of electoral commission and 2) to incorporate civil registra1on in same ins1tu1on. Today, it is one of the most successful iden1fica1on systems.

10 Personal data protection gaps ID systems being introduced in the context of very limited personal data protec1on Few countries in Africa have basic legal frameworks or ins1tu1onal capacity Regional standards emerging (e.g., ECOWAS) but need to set realis1c goals in near term Tradeoff between privacy and need for iden1fica1on services very different in low and high income countries

11 The case of Ethiopia: an example of the need to take into account country specific context income per capita of US$550 and 80+% rural popula1on No tradi1onal civil registra1on; 7% of births registered according to UNICEF Na1onal ID system consists of paper IDs (see photo) issued by 16,000 administra1ve units (Kibeles) covering 5-10,000 people Akesta1on- based iden1fica1on using units of 30 people (5 families) with strict, top- down government control Kibele ID can be used na1onwide for: Gemng a voter card Gemng a drivers license Opening a bank account Mobile telephone account Gemng a passport Gemng a tax ID Registering for the cash transfer program Registering property Extremely easy to get In 2012, Law to introduced to set up civil registra1on and a new na1onal ID in 2016 to be rolled out over a five year period; biometrically deduplicated and stored biometrics on card.

12 Some preliminary conclusions Prac1cal approaches to crea1ng good na1onal ID systems must take into account ini1al condi1ons rather than apply approaches that have evolved for different reasons in richer countries. Prac1cal steps include: Develop birth/death registra1on systems but do not rely on them to address the current popula1on s ID needs set up new systems to converge over 1me Coordinate na1onal and voter ID systems to avoid costly duplica1on and move to appropriate ins1tu1onal responsibili1es for iden1fica1on services Support development of minimal, appropriate standards for personal data protec1on and the capacity to implement them (as is star1ng to happen with Open Data and right to informa1on) Beyond these common issues, country- specific ini1al condi1ons should be assessed before embarking on major projects and plans customized accordingly