The World Bank says 850 million people across the world do not have proof of identity, with half of the number being people in Sub -Saharan Africa.
The Practice Manager for Social Protection and Jobs, West and Central Africa of the World Bank, Mr. Christian Bodewig, stated this on Wednesday.
He spoke at the inaugural meeting of the Supervisory Committee for the West Africa Unique Identification for Regional Integration and Inclusion (WURI) Programme, held at Raddison Blu Hotel, Ikeja.
He said that lack of identity was a major challenge which must be resolved in the nearest future, noting that identification systems are paramount for public and private service providers to facilitate access to basic services.
WURI is a multi phase programme financed by the World Bank and implemented by Economic Community of West African States.
Its aim is to foster regional dialogues and cooperation for cross border mutual recognition of foundational identity systems for access to services.
“In a rapidly changing world, identification systems have become a fundamental pillar on which public and private service providers rely to facilitate access to basic services such as social protection, health, education, water, electricity, financial and digital services.
“It is estimated that approximately 850 million people worldwide lack proof of identity, half of whom are in Sub-Saharan Africa, and this creates daily challenges for the people concerned.
“It is a major obstacle to the efforts of states as they strive to organise and augment participation in society through the services offered to the population,” he said.
He noted that the WURI programme had adopted a regional vision from its conception and took into account,p the high level of intra-regional mobility in the ECOWAS region.
Bodewig said that the programme aims to facilitate access to services by providing proof of government-recognized identity in participating countries.
“The programme is structured through national projects, and at the same time, it’s a project of cross-border interoperability of the foundational identification systems of each of the participating countries, and mutual recognition of those credentials, allowing access to services therein.
“The vision is ambitious and innovative and its scope goes beyond these six countries, paving the way for other countries to facilitate cross-border access to services and greater movement of people and goods,” he said.
He expressed confidence in the political will of the participating states and their capacities to meet the challenges and ambition of the programme and its vision of boosting human capital in the region.
Bodewig reiterated the bank’s commitment to supporting economic development and improving the well-being of people.
Mrs Massandje Toure-Litse, Commissioner, Economic Affairs and Agriculture, said that the commission had commissioned technical studies to shed light on the roadmap for cross border interoperability of foundational identity systems across the six member states.
She noted that the commission would harmonise with committees to facilitate cooperation towards attainment of the programme’s goals.
“There is much for the member states to discuss as we collaborate on linking the foundational identity systems to at least four services across the region.
“It is a huge task, but its achievement is nonetheless within our reach if we relentlessly sustain and even improve momentum gathered by all,” she said.
Mr Albert Siaw-Boateng, Project Coordinator/Director of Free Movement of Persons and Migration, said that the programme would help in addressing poverty in the region.
He noted that it would also help in strengthening economies of the countries involved in the programme.
“In every programme initiated, the core aim is to help the interest of the masses, so this programme would ensure that people have access to basic facilities through identification.
“Due to the lack of proper identification, people have been missing out on several benefits so the importance of this programme cannot be overemphasized,” he said.
Permanent representatives of the six member states signed the governance framework of the supervisory committee.
The member states are Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Niger and Togo.
