By Asha Elmi - Reporter
Somalia, November 25, 2025 — Speaking at the second Somalia National Identity Conference on Monday, United Nations Development Programme Resident Representative Lionel Laurens praised the country’s rapid progress in building a legal digital identity system, calling it a “cornerstone of state-building” and a critical tool for transparent, inclusive governance.
Laurens commended the Federal Government, the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA), and the Ministry of Interior for advancing a system that, since its 2023 launch, has registered more than one million people—half of them women—and is increasingly integrated across public and private sectors. He noted that enrolment has expanded to displaced populations and Somali communities abroad.
According to Laurens, the national ID system is already delivering benefits including improved accountability, cost efficiencies, and greater access to essential services.
He stressed that digital identity is foundational not only for citizenship recognition but also for financial inclusion, social protection, and rights-based service delivery.
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He linked Somalia’s efforts to global trends, pointing to examples from Malawi, Kenya, Ghana, and Rwanda, where digital ID systems have strengthened welfare systems and enhanced governance transparency.
Effective digital ID, he said, depends on privacy safeguards, interoperability, and user-centric design.
Laurens also highlighted South-South cooperation as a key driver of Somalia’s progress, citing partnerships and knowledge exchange with Pakistan’s NADRA, Malawi’s National Registration Bureau, Ethiopia, and regional platforms such as ID4Africa.
The UN system, he affirmed, remains committed to supporting federal and state authorities as Somalia moves from system establishment to nationwide adoption and integration across government, humanitarian, and development programs.
