Plan InternationalEnsuring Identity in Developing Countries
About Plan
Established in 1937 – oldest, leading child rights organizations in the world
Working in 50 developing countries across Africa, Asia and the Americas
Hand in hand with Governments, UN Agencies, INGO’s, NGO’s
Income of around $700 million per year – 43% spent in Africa
Our approach is called CCCD – child centred community development - putting children at the heart of everything we do
Why Count Every Child?
Invisible = Vulnerable
Today, 51 million babies remain invisible and are being denied their right to an identity, to the fulfilment of additional rights and to protection as citizens. Statistical analysis show that children under five whose births have not been registered, tend to: • be poor, live in rural areas, have limited access to health care
• are not attending early childhood education
• have higher levels of malnutrition and have a higher mortality rate.
What are the effects of not having a birth certificate?
• difficulty in enrolling at school or taking exams
• missing out on access to health services such as vaccination programmes
• difficulty in being reunited with the right family after being trafficked or separated from families due to conflict or natural disaster
• child headed households are often denied inheritance
• trouble accessing bank accounts, financial products, passports, ID cards, voting
• trouble accessing telecommunication services and mobile money services (i.e. M-Pesa)
Challenges
• Low awareness
• High infant mortality
• Remote areas
• Minority ethnic groups
• Centralized registration
• Complicated systems and bureaucracy
• Lack of equipment
• Insufficient training for registrars
Count Every Child Impact
40.6 million direct registrations globally
• Since the last global report (2009), only in Bangladesh Plan has facilitated the registration of 11,866,000 children.
• Plan and partners improved the law in 10 countries and as a result 153.3 million children can now have a free birth certificate
• In March 2012, for the first time in its history, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a resolution entirely dedicated to the issue of birth registration and legal identity for all without any discrimination
Count Every Child external context
•Increased political will to improve birth
registration
•Strong ICT visions to increase digitisation
across government and society for civil
registration
•Regional and global commitments made
by governments (RESA, WARO, ARO)
Count Every Child External context
•UBR prioritized in UNHCR, WHO,
UNECA, UNESCAP, UNICEF strategies
•Strong interest from UN agencies to
partner on UBR
•Strong interest from mobile operators to
work on innovative birth registration
solutions
•UBR highlighted in the European Union
Commission development agenda
Digital Birth Registration:Using Mobile Phones to Count Every Child
The Problem
Barriers to Registration:
• Unclear process• Distance• Cost• Unreliable service• Corruption
The Problem
The Problem
The Problem
Birth registration rate 2009 – 43.44%Birth registration rate 2010 – 58.94%
Source: Government of Kenya, Department of Civil Registration- Annual Civil Registration Statistics Report 2010
Digital Birth Notification
Senegal KenyaUganda
Benefits
• Improved registration rates • Costs• Locality • Simplicity• Timely data collection • Digitised data
The Problem
Approximately 25% of guardians can produce a Birth Certificate
KNBS and ICF Macro 2010, Kenya
Digital Identity
Uganda TurkeySri Lanka
Name___________Date of Birth _____Sex____________Mother’s Name_____________Father’s Name_____________Location________
High Level DBR Process
Benefits
• Timely identification• Access to key child services• Potential for future mobile offerings• Transparent process• Sustainable, scalable model• Strategic identity platform
To Recap:What is Digital Birth Registration?
Digital Birth Registration:• Is a comprehensive process model for birth registration via mobile phones• Provides a suite of technical, program and advocacy support to governments• Creates a digital form of identity on the guardian’s phone
Digital Birth Registration is not:• A technical, ‘one size fits all’ solution• Replacing paper certificates• The best method for all countries, it compliments Plan’s broader Count Every
Child work to accelerate registration within a specific context
Current Status
• Currently working with the government in 4 priority countries: ‒ Kenya‒ Pakistan‒ Sierra Leone‒ Cameroon
• Engaging with:‒ Mobile Operators‒ Technical Solution Providers‒ Implementation Partners (e.g. development agencies, health providers)
Next Steps:• Complete the detailed analysis phase (feasibility and blueprint)• Identify additional partners to support the pilot and rollout
Thank you
FAQs
Who is the Registration Agent?• Plan will work with the government to clarify the key criteria for selecting the registration agents
and the governments will appoint the necessary. This could be: community health workers, police, priests, imams etc.
What if the family doesn’t have a phone?• The country selection process will initially focus on countries where large numbers of people can
benefit. However, families without mobiles will also benefit as their child will exist in the government database at an earlier stage and the paper certificate process is simplified
Is the intention to have one global solution?• The aim is to create a ‘best practice’ global framework which can be tailored to each
implementation country. For example, the government will appoint the registration agents, establish the terms of the relationship with mobile operators, determine the security level given to the mIdentity and hence determine which services can be accessed
Will paper certificates still be required?• It is likely that paper certificates will be produced in tandem during the transition, the intention
of the concept is not to replace the paper certificate as such, but to reduce the urgency to acquire a paper certificate, reduce the barriers to registration and enable digitalisation of child data.
FAQs
What about the risks of digital data collection?• The concept includes a risk assessment (e.g. child protection, fraud) and includes potential
mitigating actions as well as highlighting the risks contained within the current process. Although the solution will need to be tailored to each country, the key risks are expected to decrease through implementing DBR. However, it is important to note that no process (manual or digitised) can claim to be 100% risk-free. Instead the risk profile must be managed effectively.
How will the process be sustained?• Plan will work very closely with the relevant government authorities to ensure limited
dependence post-pilot. The process will be incorporated into current civil registration eco-system, with the aim of improving the registration of other civil registration events in the future.
How will the Public Private Partnership work in-country?• The concept contains potential PPP models, but this will need to be tailored to each country.
How does this differ from other initiatives?• DBR re-engineers the birth registration process, using mobile devices as an enabler. It goes
beyond digitising the collection of birth registration data and creates an identity for the child at the point of registration.