Why identification matters for development
For people, identification is a right, an instrument of protection, and a gateway to
access services, benefits, and opportunities.
The importance of identification for people’s rights and for development was recognized by the international community through adoption of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 16.9: “by 2030, provide legal identity for all, including birth
registration.” The right to an identity starting from birth—as guaranteed in Articles 7
and 8 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)—and to be recognized as a
person before the law are critical first steps in ensuring lifelong protection and are a
prerequisite for exercising other rights. A legal identity is the basis on which children
can establish a nationality, avoid the risk of statelessness, and seek protection from
violence and exploitation. For example, proof of age is needed to help prevent child
labor, child marriage, and underage recruitment into the armed forces.
Furthermore, having an official way to prove one’s identity may be requied for many
formal interactions, transactions, and services across the public and private sector.
For example, verifying a person’s identity against an official credential or registry is
often required to open a bank account, vote in an election, obtain formal employment,
acquire a nationality, register for school, enroll in health insurance, receive a social
transfer, buy a SIM card, register property, cross borders, or seek legal redress. The
acceleration toward online services and digital transformation across governments
and firms means that people also increasingly need a secure and accessible means to
prove their identities remotely, such as over the internet.8
For governments, private sector actors, and other stakeholders, being able to reliably identify people or verify certain attributes is critical for delivering programs
and services efficiently, effectively, and accountably.
The ability to know who people are is essential for a number of government responsibilities, including targeting social programs and ensuring that the correct people receive benefits; responding to emergencies, disasters, and epidemics that require rapid
direct assistance; collecting taxes; reducing fraud in public wages; facilitating safe
and orderly migration; and, in the case of civil registration, producing vital statistics
for planning and monitoring development progress. For certain private entities, verifying customers’ identities to a particular level of assurance for certain services—such
as opening or allowing access to an account—is necessary to mitigate risk, comply
with customer due diligence (CDD) or know your customer (KYC) requirements or
8 For these reasons, identification is a key enabler of numerous SDG targets in addition to 16.9, including 1.3 (implementing social protection systems), 1.4 (ensuring that the poor and vulnerable have control over land, property, and financial assets), 5a (giving poor women equal access to economic resources, including finance), 5b
(enhancing the use of technology, including ICT to promote women’s empowerment), 8.10 (universal access to
banking, insurance, and financial services), 10.7 (safe and responsible migration and mobility), 10c (reducing
the cost of remittance transfer), 12c (phasing out harmful fuel subsidies), 16a (strengthening the capacity to
fight terrorism and crime), 16.5 (reducing corruption), and many others.
Principles on Identification for Sustainable Development
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