WASHINGTON, Oct 29, CMC – An estimated 2.7 million to 3.1 million Haitian adults, or about one in three, still need a valid national identification card, limiting their access to essential services and economic opportunities, according to a new World Bank report.
The report, Diagnostic of ID Ecosystems: Haiti, says the country has made progress in expanding identification, with cards issued to about 67 per cent of adults. However, it calls for further reforms to reach underserved communities and strengthen the systems supporting legal identity.
“Expanding coverage can help more people access essential services, jobs and economic opportunities,” the report states.
World Bank Group Country Manager for Haiti Anne Lucie Lefebvre said improving the identification system so that public and private service providers can use it would enable more reliable identity verification and authentication.
The report notes that 85 per cent of children under five have had their births registered, while 77 per cent hold a birth certificate.
It credits reforms introduced under a 2020 decree, including biometric, chip-enabled identification cards, decentralised card printing and expanded service points, with providing a foundation for further progress.
However, the report says predictable financing, clearer institutional responsibilities and a unified, costed national strategy are needed to close remaining gaps.
It identifies poor households, people in remote or insecure areas, women facing cultural barriers to birth registration, and people displaced by insecurity, including deportees and internally displaced persons, among groups requiring targeted support.
Although identification cards are officially free, travel expenses, informal fees, repeat visits and lost income can make registration difficult, particularly for poorer households, the report says.
It recommends bringing services closer to rural communities, simplifying late birth registration, supporting single mothers declaring births, reducing waiting times and strengthening accountability.
World Bank digital specialist Alexandre Amard, a co-author of the report, said people without valid identification or civil registration could struggle to enrol in school, access social assistance, open bank or mobile money accounts, secure formal employment and participate in civic life.
Weak identification systems also reduce the efficiency of social protection programmes and can exclude low-income households from the digital economy, he said.
The report outlines recommendations under three pillars: inclusion, system design and governance. These include expanding and decentralising registration services, conducting mass enrolment campaigns, securing long-term financing, clarifying the legal framework and adopting data protection and cybersecurity laws.
The proposed reforms are intended to advance Sustainable Development Goal Target 16.9, which calls for legal identity for all, including birth registration.
The World Bank’s Identification for Development initiative supports countries in expanding access to inclusive and trusted identification and civil registration systems.
CMC/nk/ed/2026