5. “Ugandans are suffering”: Why exclusion from Ndaga Muntu is an urgent human rights concern The accounts that we have shared in this section of the report were summed up well by Parliament when it debated the problems with Ndaga Muntu in March 2020, “Ugandans are suffering.”135 That statement is hardly hyperbolic in light of our findings and of others. For poor, pregnant, women and poor, older persons as well as many other individuals living in Uganda the inability to: (i) register for Ndaga Muntu, (ii) obtain an NIN and NIC, (iii) replace a lost or stolen NIC, (iv) correct errors on the NIC or in the NIR, or (v) complain about any of these situations is more than a mere inconvenience. Exclusion from Ndaga Muntu may violate their human rights, including their right to health, social security, and their dignity. This report’s primary purpose is to describe exclusion from Uganda’s national ID system based on our extensive research and is not intended as a comprehensive legal analysis. Nevertheless, the following sums up some of the main, actual and potential, human rights concerns that may arise from our findings. When Uganda ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and became a State Party to that treaty, Uganda agreed to recognize: the right of everyone to social security (article 9), that special protection should be accorded to mothers during a reasonable period before and after childbirth (article 10 (2)), the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions (article 11), and the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health (article 12), which includes taking steps necessary for the “creation of conditions which would assure to all medical service and medical attention in the event of sickness” (article 12 (2) (d)). The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) has said in particular that states, “should, within the limits of available resources, provide non-contributory old-age benefits and other assistance for all older persons, who, when reaching the age prescribed in national legislation, have not completed a qualifying period of contribution and are not entitled to an old-age pension or other social security benefit or assistance and have no other source of income.”136 The Ugandan Constitution further provides that the Ugandan state shall in particular ensure that, “all Ugandans enjoy rights and opportunities and access to education, health services, clean and safe water, work, decent shelter, adequate clothing, food security and pension and retirement benefits.”137 The Constitutional Court of Uganda recently recognized that the Ugandan Constitution safeguards the right to maternal health care for women.138 The Court held that it is “the responsibility of the government to ensure that the services are physically accessible to women across the country especially in rural areas. It cannot under any circumstance justify noncompliance with the core obligations which derive from economic, social and cultural rights of the individual or group.”139 The 1995 Constitution also provides that the “State will make reasonable provision for the welfare and maintenance of the aged.”140 Article 32 further requires affirmative action for groups marginalized on the basis of age and disability.141 The Committee on Gender, Labour and Social Development of the Ugandan Parliament has acknowledged the importance of the right to social security as also recognized in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, stating that according to the Universal Declaration, “Uganda is mandated to uphold and promote the rights of vulnerable persons in general and those of older persons in How a National Security Approach to Uganda’s National Digital ID Has Led to Wholesale Exclusion of Women and Older Persons 61