UNICEF awareness campaign for universal ID in Paraguay

In what has come to be known as the "No Name Match," UNICEF brilliantly harnessed the power of the Paraguay-Uruguay World Cup qualification match to drive the issue of universal ID for Paraguayans to the front of people's minds before recent elections.

The two-minute video below is really good.

 

Without universal legitimate ID, it's harder to make a lot of other things work that most of us take for granted. Universal vaccination against preventable disease, compulsory primary education, effective social safety nets — all of these things get a lot easier if everyone can prove their unique identity.

Better ID technology means more effective humanitarian assistance

South Sudan: Modern Technology Helps Meet the Needs of Refugees (All Africa)

Technology is changing all spheres of life, including humanitarian interventions. In South Sudan, UNHCR is using satellite imagery, interactive mapping, digital fingerprinting and text messaging to strengthen refugee protection, help the most vulnerable and reach out to refugees in urban areas.

UNHCR is conducting the first biometric registration exercise in South Sudan using digital fingerprinting technology. The nearly 200,000 refugees had been registered in standard databases, but biometrics will help to identify refugees more quickly so they can receive better assistance.

Much more at the link. Better ID tech makes effective delivery of nutrition and health services easier.

International Day of the Girl

Today is the Day of the Girl, internationally recognized by the United Nations.

Map: What Countries Have the Worst Gender Gaps? 
Plus, a simple yet powerful solution to help close the gender gap. (Slate.com)

Here’s how our proposed solution works: Use biometric identification, such as digital finger prints or retina scans, to give girls a formal economic identity and make sure they are counted and served by new policies and programs. Then build on advances in electronic payments and mobile money, which allow automatic provision of financial services via a digital platform or mobile device. This helps make sure the girls—not corrupt government officials or pesky relatives, for example—receive aid money. Transfer dollars electronically through systems linked directly to savings accounts owned and operated by the girls. Finally, tap into behavioral economics, which shows that simple “nudges” can lead to savings habits, asset accumulation, and investments in education, health and enterprise.

As we've said before, you can't be a fully functioning member of the modern world without a legitimate ID.

Biometrics Definitively Establish Number of Ivorian Refugees

UNICEF Weekly Situation Report No.56 (Relief Web)

According to UNHCR, the official number of refugees from Cote d’Ivoire as of 16 February 2012 currently stands at 69,561 following a recount using biometric registration.

The international development crowd has been among the most industrious in applying biometrics to helping the worlds most vulnerable people.

Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) has had two bouts of civil war in this young century.