ID4Africa seeks declaration of Sept. 16 as International Identity Day
The Executive Chairman, ID4Africa, Dr Joseph Atick, on Wednesday called on all stakeholders in identity around the world to join the campaign for recognition of Sept. 16 as International Identity Day (iID).
Atick made the call in Abuja on the sideline of the 4th annual meeting of the ID4Africa movement hosted by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).
He said that the first step in the campaign was the signing of a petition by all stakeholders that would be submitted to the United Nations (UN) General Secretariat.
The chairman said it was time for Identity to have a day of observance, in accordance with the UN protocol for declaration of observance days.
“Why Sept. 16? The choice of the date is in recognition of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16.9, which calls for legal identity for all including birth registration by 2030.
“International days of observance are an effective and practical way to raise awareness and generate momentum around an issue.
“UN observances contribute to the achievement of the purpose of the UN Charter and promote awareness of and action on important political, social, cultural, humanitarian or human rights issues.
“They provide a useful means for the promotion of international and national action and stimulate interest in UN activities and programmes,” he said.
Atick said further that many important issues on the international development and human rights agenda had observance days.
He cited examples of Dec. 10 – Human Rights Day – and June 20, which is Refugee Day.
According to the chairman, this is the first step in a lengthy process, which will start in Abuja and will not end until declaration of that day at the UN in New York.
“To get there we need to work through a series of coordinated actions within a campaign.”
He urged stakeholders to please sign the petition and stay alert for the series of actions that would follow.
Atick added that once the petition scaled through, all efforts would shift to lobbying national authorities to recognise the International Identity Day.
The theme for the 4th ID4Africa annual conference for 2018 is: “Harmonisation of Identity Schemes” in response to one of the most frequently debated topics of the 3rd edition of the forum in 2017.
The priorities for dialogue for this year’s event are organised into six thematic tracks including: legal identity and civil registration, reforming government practices and smart borders.
Others are: identity and democracy, technology, and health, which top items on the agenda of many government agencies in Africa today.
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