Global Identity Principles (ID4D)

15 global organizations issue new principles for inclusive, secure identification in the developing world

In its ongoing effort to fight poverty, the World Bank has joined with a number of international partners, issuing a list of 10 key principles to ensure proper identification for citizens in the developing world, particularly with the aid of modern technology.

Entitled Principles on Identification for Sustainable Development: Towards a Digital Age, the new guidelines have been endorsed by a range of organizations from varying industries, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the United Nations Children’s Fund, and Mastercard.

The newly announced principles are part of a global effort to enable more inclusive and robust identification systems. The United Nations have targeted to provide legal identity for all, including birth registration, by 2030, and the guidelines look to help organizations do their part to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal.

“Given the size and complexity of the global identification gap, no single country, international organization, NGO, or private sector partner can surmount this challenge by working alone — coordination is needed at global, regional and national levels,” Vyjayanti Desai, ID4D program manager at World Bank Group, told One World Identity. “This effort is one step towards shaping a shared vision to advance progress globally.”


The list of 10 principles are broken in to three larger categories:

• Inclusion, with the goal of universal coverage and accessibility
• Design, aiming for robust, secure, responsive and sustainable methods of identity
• Governance, building trust by protecting privacy and user rights

The principles were drawn up with the belief that every person has the right to participate fully in their society and economy. But full participation can be difficult without any verifiable proof of identity.
“No one should face the indignity of exclusion, nor be denied the opportunity to realize their full potential, exercise their rights, or share in progress,” the guidelines state. “No one should be left behind.”

Full details can be found in the full report, but the short list of 10 guiding principles are as follows:

• Inclusion:
  • 1. Ensuring universal coverage for individuals from birth to death, free from discrimination.
  • 2. Removing barriers to access and usage and disparities in the availability of information and technology.
• Design:
  • 3. Establishing a robust — unique, secure, and accurate — identity.
  • 4. Creating a platform that is inter-operable and responsive
    to the needs of various users.
  • 5. Using open standards and ensuring vendor and technology neutrality.
  • 6. Protecting user privacy and control through system design.
  • 7. Planning for financial and operational sustainability
    without compromising accessibility.
• Governance:
  • 8. Safeguarding data privacy, security, and user rights through a comprehensive legal and regulatory framework.
  • 9. Establishing clear institutional mandates and accountability.
  • 10. Enforcing legal and trust frameworks though independent oversight and adjudication of grievances.

Republished from One World Identity (OWI) blog.