Identification for Development (ID4D): Diagnostic of ID Ecosystems, Haiti

The diagnostic, published in November 2026 in English and French under the World Bank's Identification for Development (ID4D) initiative, assesses civil registration (CR) and identification (ID) in Haiti using the Principles on Identification for Sustainable Development.

About 2.7 to 3.1 million Haitian adults lack a valid Unique National Identification Card (CINU); the National Identification Office (ONI) reports that about 67 percent of adults have received one. Among children under five, 85 percent have had their birth registered but only 77 percent hold a birth certificate, with the lowest coverage among the poorest and rural households. Gaps are widest for the poorest 40 percent, people in remote or insecure areas, deportees and internally displaced persons.

The report finds civil registration underfunded and largely on paper: some civil registrars pay for the registers themselves, the National Archives (ANH) receives registers late and does not digitize them systematically, and late birth registration requires a court procedure. On the ID side, enrollment centers are sparse and urban, unofficial fees occur, the legal framework set by the June 2020 decree remains unsettled, there is no data protection law, and ONI data are not shared with civil registration, the statistics institute (IHSI), the central bank or social protection programs. Financing for both systems depends on donors.

Nine recommendations are grouped under inclusion, system design and governance: attribute the NINU from birth and ease late registration; run mass enrollment using SIMAST and IHSI data; earmark civil registration lines in the budget law; launch awareness campaigns; consolidate the legal framework and adopt data protection and cybersecurity laws; professionalize service delivery; build an interoperability framework linking ONI, ANH and IHSI; digitize and decentralize records and card printing; and upgrade infrastructure. Chapter 6 ranks the measures from quick wins to long-term investments.