International Identity Day shifts focus beyond coverage to trust

The ninth annual International Identity Day is being observed today under the theme “My Identity, My Shadow. Never Apart.” 

This year’s campaign emphasizes the need for identity that remains useful, secure, and trusted throughout a person’s life, beyond registration and credential issuance. 

ID4Africa Executive Chairman Dr. Joseph Atick says population coverage remains important but is no longer a sufficient measure of an identity system’s success.

In a message for the observance, he asks whether an identity works for the individual and provides practical value in daily life.

Atick says legal identity should be established from the beginning, remain useful throughout a person’s life, and be secure by design.

People should also know when their identity is accessed and have control over what information they share, with whom, and for what purpose, he says.

Atick continues, “Trust is not created by technology alone. It is earned through strong institutions, effective safeguards, transparency, accountability.”

The message reflects ID4Africa’s broader shift from enrollment targets to sustainable identity ecosystems.

The latest World Bank ID4D Global Dataset estimates that 800 million people lack proof of legal identity, down from one billion in 2017.

More than 400 million of them live in Sub-Saharan Africa. Approximately 450 million are children whose births were never registered.

The World Bank estimates that 2.8 billion people lack access to a government recognized digital ID that can be used for online transactions.

Having a digital ID also does not mean that it is being used. More than 70 percent of adults in Vietnam have one, but fewer than 20 percent have used it.

The figures highlight different challenges: lacking proof of legal identity, lacking access to digital identity, and not using an available digital ID. 

September 16 was selected because it corresponds to the UN Sustainable Development Goal 16.9 that seeks to provide legal identity for all, including birth registration, by 2030.

ID4Africa launched the campaign at its annual meeting in Abuja in 2018. International Identity Day has not been designated as an official UN international day. 

The campaign coalition has since grown to more than 400 partner organizations from governments, development agencies, civil society and the private sector.

Nigeria, Namibia, Niger, Liberia and Madagascar have formally adopted September 16 as a National Day of Identity. Countries across Africa are commemorating Identity Day through national events, public outreach and community activities.

Identity technology provider Veridos is among the companies supporting this year’s observance. CEO Bernd Kümmerle says trusted identity enables people to participate in society while protecting them from growing physical and digital threats.

Atick’s message places that technology within a broader governance framework: identity systems must combine utility with institutional safeguards, transparency and accountability if they are to earn public trust.

Article Topics

Dr. Joseph Atick  |  ID4Africa  |  International Identity Day  |  legal identity  |  SDG 16.9