Please join us today in celebrating International Identity Day.
Identity is a fundamental and universal human right. Unfortunately, one in seven people globally — more than one billion individuals — are unable to prove who they are by any widely recognized means.
This most fundamental function — the ability to prove who we are — is something that many of us take for granted. Yet it is an incredibly important one, allowing us to enjoy rights and protections under the law, access a variety of services, participate as citizens and voters, transact in an increasingly digital economy, and much more.
ID2020 was launched in 2016 to address this global issue by fostering collaboration between the private sector, government, and nonprofit organizations toward a common vision: good ID for all.
Our work is premised on the notion that we all deserve better ways to prove who we are, both in the physical world and online. But achieving our vision will require an intentional focus and sustained commitment to ensuring that the needs of the most vulnerable in society are met. If past experience has taught us anything it is that, absent this focus, hundreds of millions of people will be left behind.
In 2018, in collaboration with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), we published the ID2020 Manifesto. The Manifesto outlines our values and serves as the basis for the ID2020 Certification for digital ID solutions, our advocacy activities, and the programmatic work we are undertaking in partnership with governments and development and humanitarian organizations.
ID2020 Alliance partners recognize that achieving our shared vision will also require businesses, government, and civil society to collaborate and make simultaneous progress along four tracks:
- Continuing to advance digital ID technologies and test them in the field
- Promoting public and private sector implementations
- Establishing the technical standards and legal and regulatory frameworks necessary to ensure that these systems are privacy-protecting, user-controlled, portable, interoperable, and persistent across an individual’s lifespan
- Working across sectors — and with a wide array of stakeholders — to build trust in these systems and support their adoption
ID2020 exists to support this type of collaboration.
Each year, the United Nations recognizes official days of observance for a variety of issues on the international development and human rights agenda. These days promote awareness of, and global action on, important political, social, cultural, humanitarian, or human rights issues.
This is a marathon, not a sprint, and a mission we cannot accomplish alone. We are proud to support efforts, such as the International Identity Day Coalition, that expand awareness of this critical development goal.
We hope that you will consider joining ID2020 as a member of the International Identity Day Coalition. The Coalition brings together development agencies, governments, and public interest organizations to advocate for the formal recognition of International Identity Day by the United Nations and its member nations.
For more information about the Coalition, please visit their website: https://www.id-day.org
