Honduras Strengthens Digital Identity Verification with World Bank Support
Modernizing Public Institutions for a Better Future
Washington, D.C. - In a significant step towards modernizing its public institutions, Honduras has received a $40 million loan from the World Bank to automate birth registration and provide identification documents for children and adolescents. This project aims to improve identity verification and authentication services for Hondurans, making civil registry and identification services more accessible to all citizens.
Enhancing Identity Verification for All Citizens
According to Finance Minister Rixi Moncada, “This project is an important step in guaranteeing one of the most fundamental rights that we enjoy - the right to an identity.” The government of President Xiomara Castro values the World Bank’s support as it implements its modernization agenda for the benefit of the Honduran people.
Project Objectives
The Strengthening Honduras’ National Civil Registry and Identification Ecosystem project will be implemented by the National Registry of Persons (RNP) over a period of three-and-a-half years. The project aims to:
- Boost birth registration coverage to 97% through the redesign and automation of civil registry processes.
- Issue a national identification document to 1.3 million children and adolescents between the ages of 6 and 17 for the first time.
Beneficiaries
The project will particularly benefit:
- Children living in rural areas
- Afro-Hondurans
- Indigenous populations
- Persons with disabilities
- Persons living in remote areas vulnerable to climate impacts
Providing identification documents reduces the risk of children falling victim to trafficking and being trafficked along migration routes because they have no legal document to verify their identity and nationality data.
Improving Access to Services and Strengthening Data Protection
The project will not only improve access to social programs, education, health, financial, and other services but also strengthen RNP’s capacity to:
- Ensure data protection
- Improve cyber incident detection, response, and prevention capabilities by creating a security operations center
- Support resilience to allow the continuity of operations in the event of extreme weather events such as hurricanes and tropical storms.
World Bank Commitment
“This project is an important step towards reducing exclusion and poverty in Honduras,” said Kinnon Scott, World Bank Resident Representative in Honduras. “We are committed to supporting Honduras’ efforts to accelerate human and economic development by strengthening public institutions for more efficient service delivery.”