Malawi’s National Registration & Identification System has been selected as the 2021 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) global Champion.Malawi saw off other 1,270 submitted projects worldwide to claim the honors.
The WSIS is a unique two-phase United Nations (UN) summit that was initiated in order to create an evolving multi- stakeholder platform aimed at addressing the issues raised by information and communication technologies (ICTs) through a structured and inclusive approach at the national, regional and international levels. The goal of WSIS is to achieve a common vision, desire and commitment to build a people-centric, inclusive and development-oriented Information Society where everyone can create, access, utilize and share information.
Launched in 2016, Malawis National Registration and Identification System Project was implemented through a UNDP-administered basked fund in partnership with the National Registration Bureau (NRB) with support from the European Union, Government of Malawi, the Norwegian Government, Irish Aid, USAID and UNICEF. The NRIS Programme has always been aimed at generating transformative benefits and improvements in service delivery, governance, economic and social inclusion.
The goal has been to ensure a permanent and continuous national registration and identification system is established in Malawi.Posting on Facebook, UNDP Malawi wrote Congratulations to Malawi! We are excited to announce that the National Registration & Identification System in Malawi has been selected as the 2021 WSIS Champion. The right to identity and nationality is embedded in the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals.By 2017, at least over 9 million people had registered for the legal identity at the close of the initial mass registration campaign.
