MOSIP, OpenCRVS develop age verification PoC to help prevent child marriage

A combination of open-source technologies from non-profits has been developed to help governments and communities around the world tackle child marriage. A MOSIP and OpenCRVS collaboration is focused around a Sustainable Development Goal, target 5.3, which aims to eliminate all harmful practices such as child, early and forced marriage by 2030.

MOSIP says the “Age Verification Safeguard to Prevent Child Marriage” proof-of-concept will enable marriage officiants to verify the ages of both parties before a ceremony takes place, using either a national digital ID system or a civil registration platform.

OpenCRVS is an open‑source civil registration system and has been recognized as a Digital Public Good (DPG). The digital platform enables governments to maintain full ownership of their civil registration data, and is interoperable with national identity and social protection systems.

Because child marriages often occur informally in religious or cultural settings, MOSIP emphasizes that the safeguard must work beyond formal registry offices. The initiative therefore pairs technical tools with social interventions, including training religious and community officiants to use digital devices, along with raising awareness about the legal and health risks associated with child marriage.

After training, officiants can verify ages through MOSIP’s national ID authentication or through OpenCRVS, which allows age checks using birth registration numbers or personal details entered via web, mobile app, SMS, USSD or popular messaging platforms like WhatsApp.

If either party is underage, the system alerts the officiant, who must inform families of the legal age requirement and the risks of early marriage. OpenCRVS dashboards also flag attempted underage marriages. This allows social services to target high‑risk areas and connect eligible families to social protection programs that encourage continued education.

In civil registry offices, the age verification safeguard functions through an integration of MOSIP and OpenCRVS, which is already in place in countries including Ethiopia, Indonesia, Morocco and the Philippines.

Civil registration officers enter the national IDs of the proposed marriage partners, and the system authenticates them. If both individuals meet the legal age threshold, the marriage is registered. If not, officers are required to inform families of the law and link them to government programmes designed to keep children in school rather than entering marriage.

MOSIP stresses that the age‑verification safeguard is only one element of a wider strategy to end child marriage. The organization offers the tool as a way to strengthen national advocacy efforts, support community‑level awareness, and ensure that children and families are connected to social protection services that promote better health and education outcomes.

MOSIP’s Substack blog provides details on implementation here. The MOSIP community shared practical digital identity deployment lessons at the Connect 2026 conference in Rabat, Morocco.

Article Topics

age verification  |  civil registration  |  digital identity  |  MOSIP (Modular Open Source Identity Platform)  |  OpenCRVS