PNG hiring to clear NID backlog, govt wants 95% of population registered

Papua New Guinea has registered around 3.8 million residents to the National Identification (NID) project since it began 10 years ago, according to the PNG Civil and Identity Registry.

Acting registrar-general Salome Bogosia said about three million records have been processed by the registry, according to reporting by The National, with 2.8 million birth certificates and 1.3 million NID cards issued.

Bogosia highlighted “poor infrastructure,” difficult geography, “severe weather,” misinformation, staffing shortages and low awareness hindering participation. “Offline NID processing continues daily, but backlogs persist,” she said. “We are working through digitisation, automation, and enhanced data security to address some of these issues.”

Bogosia said the registry intends to hire more staff in the following year to assist in reducing the backlog of registrations that need processing as well as the issuance of NID cards. The recruitment strategy includes hiring new graduates.

“We are also promoting zero tolerance on a ‘no gift policy’ to manage the perception of bribery and corruption in all client interactions,” she said. “We are now currently focused on mobilising manpower to double the workforce from 500 to 1,000 to tackle the call by the government to register 95 percent of the country.”

Bogosia highlighted the recently enacted Civil Identity Registry Act 2024 as underpinning how the registry currently works as the Act mandates registration of births, deaths, marriages, adoptions, divorces and legitimization. The legal framework enables the integration of NID with biometric verification and enables data sharing.

“It also reinforces governance with biometric verification and inter-agency data sharing with the Electoral Commission and National Statistical Office,” she added. The developing country recently approved the National Digital Identity Policy 2025, under which the government plans to issue a secure and interoperable digital ID to all citizens.

PNG piloted its SevisPass digital identity successfully in 2024 and started to promote it to stakeholders and integrate data earlier this year.

Mobile biometric registration kits support rural registrations

PNG Civil and Identity Registry has also partnered with energy corporation Santos to provide 120 biometric mobile registration kits for the NID program across the country. Santos country chairman Leon Buskens said the kits would help register individuals living within some of their project areas.

“These kits will unlock efficiency and allow our people access to opportunities as it will give them true and legal identity,” Buskens said. “It will also strengthen our operations so it’s a win-win for us. PNG has oil, gas, and other resources so it is important that our people in those project areas are identified so they can have access to services.”

Administrative Services Minister Richard Masere welcomed the donation and said the kits were designed to support registration in rural areas where much work remains to be done.

Article Topics

biometric enrollment  |  biometrics  |  digital identity  |  legal identity  |  national ID  |  Papua New Guinea