USAID supports the civil registration of people in rural and remote communities in Papua New Guinea
Success Stories August 17, 2022
June 2022 – Papua New Guinea (PNG) has among the lowest civil registration levels in the Asia-Pacific region [1]. For the PNG Government, civil registration is a significant challenge with over 80 percent of its population living in rural and remote areas making them difficult to reach. In 2014, the PNG Government established the national register and linked it to the national identification (ID) system to help improve civil registration. This mandates retrospective birth registration for adults and the use of the birth registration number in national IDs for newborns [2]. However, despite efforts by the PNG Civil and Identity Registry Office (PNGCIR) to register citizens across the country, progress has been slow, and many citizens are still unregistered and without a national ID.
A national ID helps people engage in and benefit from the formal economy by enabling easier access to services like opening a bank account, registering a business, and obtaining finance, thus improving their economic and livelihood options. Civil registration of citizens establishes their legal identity and is a fundamental human right that facilitates the realization of other critical human and civil rights. In addition, the PNG Government produces vital statistics from these records for social and economic planning.
To bridge this gap, USAID, through its Lukautim Graun Program (LGP) supports people from rural and remote communities in PNG to register for a national ID. In June 2022, 484 people from Suit village, Raicoast District in Madang Province received their national ID cards and birth certificates with USAID’s support through its partnership with the PNGCIR office in Madang Province. The wait to receive a national ID can sometimes take over 12 months but for Simon Warr, who is from the Raicoast District, it only took six months.
“Thank you USAID and PNGCIR Madang office for bringing this service to my people in Raicoast,”
said Simon Warr, the Chairman of the Raicoast Environment and Sustainable Development Foundation, a local community-based organization that has partnered with USAID’s LGP and the Civil and Identity Registry Office in Madang Province to bring this important service to people living in rural communities throughout the Raicoast.
USAID supports people in rural and remote communities to register with the PNGCIR and obtain a national ID that gives them a legal identity. A national ID gives people the opportunity to enter the formal economy in ways that help improve their livelihoods prospects. This reduces the need for communities to resort to unstainable use of their land and reduces pressure on forest resources, which contributes to conservation of PNG’s rich biodiversity for the benefit of its people now and in the future. Led by Cardno International Development – a DT Global Company, LGP is part of USAID’s commitment to support biodiversity conservation in PNG.
- Papua New Guinea Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Action Plan (2020-2021). Noumea, New Caledonia: Pacific Community (SPC).
- Pacific Community and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) 2021. Civil registration and vital statistics in Papua New Guinea. Noumea, New Caledonia: Pacific Community.
