UNICEF pens deal to support Ethiopia’s digital ID registration for children

Ethiopia’s National ID Program (NIDP) is on the fast lane to popularizing its digital ID system with a series of partnership deals lately, the latest of which has been struck with the country office of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

A few days ago, the UNICEF country director for Ethiopia, Aboubacar Kampo, and the Executive Director of the NIDP, Yodahe Zemichael, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will support the registration of all residents in the country for the digital ID scheme.

On its Facebook page, UNICEF Ethiopia said the partnership will “support the inclusion of vulnerable UNICEF beneficiaries, including children, by providing them with a unique digital identity to help them access basic services.”

The MoU with UNICEF follows a different one sealed earlier this month between the NIDP, the Refugees and Returnees Service (RRS) and the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Under the deal, the ID authority will issue the national digital ID card (Fayda) to refugees and returnees in Ethiopia. The country hosts more than 900,000 refugees, according to the UN.

In September, another deal was concluded with the country’s Ministry of Education to integrate student IDs with the Fayda national ID. Fayda is also becoming the primary identification credential for all federal civil servants.

UNICEF is also supporting civil registration efforts in other countries such as Nigeria where a partnership with the country’s National Population Commission seeks to enroll 12.5 million children for birth certificates in a little over a score of states by the end of this year.

Article Topics

Africa  |  biometrics  |  children  |  digital ID  |  Ethiopia  |  Ethiopia National ID Program (NIDP)  |  Fayda  |  UNICEF