In Ethiopia, women are 15 percentage points less likely than men to possess a kebele ID, the primary proof of identity document used in the country. This report unveils findings from a study that aims to grasp the reasons behind this gender gap in ID ownership and offers recommendations for...

This paper aims to estimate the number of people globally who do-and do not-have government-recognized proof of identity ("ID"). This work is an update to the most recent estimate produced in 2018, which found that just under 1 billion people did not have an ID. The World Bank's Identification...

In May 2018, Tunisia held the country’s first democratic local elections to elect representatives to the country’s 350 municipal councils. Democratic consolidation depends, in part, on the development of municipal councils that can aggregate and process diverse societal interests at the...

The Principles on Identification for Sustainable Development, endorsed by 30 organizations, provides a framework for how to design identification (ID) systems that fulfill the promise of inclusive, sustainable development. The first principle on inclusion seeks to ensure universal access to...

Inclusive and trusted identification (ID) systems are crucial tools for achieving sustainabledevelopment, including the World Bank Group’s twin goals of ending extreme poverty and ofboosting shared prosperity and greater equity in the developing world.3 Indeed, the essential rolethat...

The environment of the mountain-steppe-taiga of northern Mongolia is often characterized as marginal because of the high altitude, highly variable precipitation levels, low winter temperatures, and periodic droughts coupled with severe winter storms (known as <i>dzuds</i>). Despite these conditions,...

Formal identification is a prerequisite for development in the modern world. The inability to authenticate oneself when interacting with the state — or with private entities such as banks inhibits access to basic rights and services, including education, formal employment, financial services,...

This paper surveys 160 cases where biometric identification has been used for economic, political, and social purposes in developing countries. About half of these cases have been supported by donors. Recognizing the need for more rigorous assessments and more open data on performance, the paper...

Formal identification is a prerequisite for development in the modern world. The inability to authenticate oneself when interacting with the state—or with private entities such as banks—inhibits access to basic rights and services, including education, formal employment, financial services,...

India’s Unique Identification (UID) project offers important lessons for other countries. UID’s performance data show that large countries can implement biometric ID programs with low levels of exclusion and high accuracy, but this requires the combined use of multiple biometrics....