Angola begins issuance of ID cards to newborns

Angolan authorities have announced a plan to strengthen birth registration and begin the issuance of national ID cards to newborns in the country.

The exercise is set to kick off in the Northern Province of Zaire in the coming days, the country’s press agency reports.

According to the government, the move aligns with the ‘Born with a birth certificate’ initiative supported by the Ministry of Health and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

In a statement announcing the campaign, the provincial delegate in charge of Justice and Human Rights, Nicolau Sozinho, said it will commence in the Mbanza Kongo municipality before expanding to the other 10 municipalities of the province.

Mbanza Kongo has the biggest hospital facility in the region, and the official said one of the wards has been used to set up the registration equipment.

“We already have the machines in the provincial maternity ward and we are working on reinforcing the security of the space that has been provided to us, to prevent any theft of the equipment,” the provincial delegate is quoted as saying. The official also explained that measures have been put in place to prevent the registration of foreigners, given that the province is close to the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The special birth registration and ID card issuance campaign, Sozinho said, is aside the routine birth registration which is unfolding normally in the municipalities of the province, which is inhabited by around 600,000 people.

The ‘Born with a birth certificate’ campaign is part of efforts to enhance civil registration especially in rural and difficult-to-reach communities of Angola, expand legal identity and facilitate access to public and private sector services.

Angola is relying on India’s experience and financial support to build its digital public infrastructure (DPI). For instance, it hopes to model its digital ID system after India’s Aadhaar which is is acclaimed as the world’s biggest national digital ID project.

Article Topics

Africa  |  Angola  |  birth registration  |  civil registration  |  digital ID  |  national ID