Promoting Digital Inclusion through Legal Identity Governance in Namibia

By Yrika Maritz, Head of Experimentation

October 28, 2024

Over the past few months, I have had the privilege of working with UNDP’s Chief Digital Office by engaging in focused discussions with the Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security in Namibia regarding the governance of digital legal identity. As the custodian of Namibia's national population register, the Ministry plays a key role in shaping how citizens can safely and securely prove their identity in both physical and digital contexts.

Digital legal identity is crucial for ensuring access to essential services like healthcare, education, and social benefits, while also enabling economic participation through secure banking and e-commerce. It supports civic engagement by facilitating secure voting and legal recognition. UNDP's focus is on providing assistance to the government in the establishment of a robust legal and regulatory framework, enhancing institutional capacity, and promoting inclusivity and innovation. Our approach in consulting diverse stakeholders to address privacy and security concerns, aims to foster digital inclusion and ensures that all Namibians, including those in underserved communities, can benefit from digital transformation. The background to our journey can be found in Part 1 and Part 2.

Join us in Part 3 of this blog series as we describe the assessment process of Namibia's digital legal identity landscape using UNDP’s Model Governance Framework and reflect on some of the key lessons learned for future endeavours.

a man and a woman standing in front of a store

The assessment methodology involved focus group interviews with key stakeholders, addressing eight areas: accountability and rule of law, legal and regulatory framework, capable institutions, data protection and privacy, user value, procurement and anti-corruption, participation and access to information, and equality and non-discrimination. Conducted over four days, the Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security (MHAISS) led the initiative to strengthen Namibia’s digital legal identity systems, focusing on security, legal recognition, consumer protection, interoperability, and economic efficiency. This approach aimed to establish robust yet accessible legal identity governance principles that protect individual rights and promote digital inclusion.

Other essential institutions the team consulted included the Office of the Prime Minister, responsible for government’s ICT systems architecture; the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT), the custodian of national digital transformation; The Ministry of Finance and Public Enterprises, whose interest is to ensure that electronic transactions for public services are safe and reliable, with mechanisms like chargeback methodologies in place to protect consumers. Other Ministries such as the Ministries of Health and Social Services, Ministry of Justice and the Office of the Judiciary were consulted due to their role in ensuring that all vital events, such births, deaths, marriages, divorces and other significant life events are registered in a timely manner while maintaining accurate population data and for individuals to access essential services. Accurate registration of births and deaths helps in public health planning and management while also aiding the Ministry of Health and Social Services with data to track health trends, allocate resources effectively, and implement health policies based on reliable statistics. In turn, the registration of vital events helps individuals establish their legal identity, which is essential for accessing various rights and services, such as education, healthcare, and social benefits. Key representatives of the Parliament of Namibia were also consulted as their role in providing legislative oversight, ensure accountability and transparency, promote digital inclusion, and protect fundamental rights. The Communications Regulatory Authority was also consulted as their role in regulating the supporting infrastructure, enforcement of both data protection and privacy in protecting consumers. Finally, the team also engaged the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), the Internet Society of Namibia and other civil society organizations who play a vital role in advocating for rights, ensuring accountability, contributing to policy development, educating the public, and conducting research related to digital legal identity systems.

This open engagement process allowed stakeholders to identify gaps and limitations while ensuring that the voices of the most underserved communities were included. International frameworks like those from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) can help guide Namibia in balancing centralization with distributed mechanisms of identity assurance. Accountability and auditing will also be important as more private sector stakeholders become involved.

Ensuring inclusion involves overcoming barriers faced by rural and technologically underserved populations. Innovative solutions like biometrics, digital IDs on mobile phones and community access points can extend legal recognition to all Namibians. Namibia is poised to advance in areas such as digital know-your-customer checks, e-healthcare identifiers, e-learning credentials, and online voting, potentially leading Africa in digital identity. Effective governance that protects individuals and fosters participation is crucial as digital and physical worlds merge. However, robust legal frameworks are necessary to safeguard personal data and privacy. The model governance framework promotes a whole-of-society approach, enhancing inclusion, security, and service access.

We invite you to follow UNDP Namibia and our Chief Digital Office as we support the charge in driving digitalization efforts in the country. UNDP Namibia is committed to fostering innovation and enhancing access to digital services.