UNICEF unveils guide for design of DPI systems that work better for children

Sometimes, countries design digital public infrastructure (DPI) systems that either harm or totally exclude children from enjoying some of their fundamental rights. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) recently published a guidance note aimed at reversing this trend.

The purpose of the document titled Safeguarding Digital Public Infrastructure for Children, which was drafted with the support of DPI funder Co-Develop, aims to provide UNICEF member countries and other nations building DPI with practical and experience-laden insights on how to build digital systems that work better.

According to UNICEF, the document is important for referencing across the DPI development cycle, but it is most useful during the design and early rollout stages.

The guide defines what DPI is in the context of children, how useful it is for them, highlights some DPI risks associated with children, as well as action points intended to improve the design of DPI that is better suited for them.

UNICEF says in the guide that designing DPI that takes into consideration children’s rights has become almost unavoidable given that many public services for children are increasingly being delivered using digital means through DPI components like digital ID, digital payments, and data exchange platforms.

This, the UN agency adds, is even more crucial as a child comes into contact with DPI from the time of their birth, through birth registration.

“Identity, health, education, social protection and protection from harm all depend, to a growing extent, on how these systems function in practice. When they work well and are designed to include children, they can strengthen rights. When they fail or are poorly governed, they can undermine those same rights,” UNICEF states.

“When designed and governed with children in mind, DPI can support children’s rights in practical ways by serving as the foundation for legal identity, enabling continuity of care and services, improving inclusion, and supporting participation and accountability.”

The guidance note argues that because of the huge importance which DPI systems hold for children, efforts must be amplified toward combatting some of the risks that the systems may come along with. Some of these, according to the document, include systems designed for adult biometrics and those that deliberately leave out children, equipment and environment not suited to children, lack of fallback options, dependency and proxy issues, weak data protection, and unsafe and unclear accountability mechanisms.

Through the guide, UNICEF urges countries to take intentional measures to design DPI with children’s rights in mind, put in place immediate fallback alternatives, ensure adequate data protection and governance safeguards, introduce real continuity and accountability for children, and above all ask themselves if DPI systems are designed and governed in relation to the obligations of child rights.

UNICEF has been supporting nations on legal and digital identity initiatives around the world. It released a guide on the use of biometrics for children in 2019.

In its last report on the state of global birth registration, the body signaled progress but raised the alarm on the wide gap that still exists, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Article Topics

children  |  Co-Develop  |  digital ID  |  digital inclusion  |  digital public infrastructure  |  UNICEF