Mobile PinkID

Young women in Zambia don’t register their births due to the lack of incentives, resources and difficult access to Registration Offices. The proposed solution addresses the three challenges by the use of mobile registration offices - buses fully equipped with laptops, internet, cameras, printers that would allow immediate access to registration and the issuing the birth certificate for girls who usually do not have access to technology, resources and/or guidance needed to solicit this service. At the same time young girls will receive menstrual kits, highly needed, as an incentive for registering through our mobile offices.  

The pilot would be implemented  in 3 districts of Lusaka and selected GRZ schools. The mobile offices  will incorporate digital technology  for registering and authenticating so that the file can be published on the database of the  Department of National Registration supporting its efforts to digitize their records.

Our solution addresses a global problem visible in Zambia and other African countries. Vulnerable and marginalized groups usually are not able to register for a birth certificate due to difficult access, lack of incentives and lack of resources and guidance; and young girls face all of the challenges above. First, they do not fully understand the benefit of having a birth certificate or in case they need one, access to offices imply transaction costs - money and time - that usually don’t have, and even if registration is available online, internet connectivity is limited. Lack of birth registration affects almost 4 million of girls under 18 years old in the country, particularly in rural areas where only 6,7% births of children are registered. The mobile PinkID is a creative solution to empower women and girls through birth registration while diminishing barriers related to access for an identity, suggesting an holistic approach that will also facilitate access to education, mainly since 44% of girls drop out of school before completing their secondary education due to the poverty period.

Being a young girl in Zambia is difficult. Most of them face several challenges such as poor educational opportunities, teenage pregnancy, early marriage and limited employment opportunities which increase exclusion and poverty rates. Accessing a legal ID could be the key to promote social inclusion for women and girls; and our mobile PinkID wants to give the opportunity for girls to be recognized as legal citizens, potentially influencing their school attendance. Therefore, our solution includes a set of workshops to educate students about the importance of birth registration and menstruation. 

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Our solution seeks to support young women attending selected schools, to register their births through a mobile station at school in order to receive a menstrual kit. This will allow them to access not only an ID but also to sanitary products they lacked. The MBC criteria seeks to support vulnerable populations such as young girls and women who often lack access to tablets, phones, computers or internet but also lack digital capacity to look for information or digitally register themselves. Mobile stations registering girls at school will allow them to easily access an ID and also a sanitary kit

For many young women accessing an NRC by the age of 16 means or even older women it is a hassle to go to one district office, queue and do all the paperwork for the NRC in general terms. Women also need to do this process twice, once when they are 16 and when they get married. All these factors coupled with the challenges mentioned above widen the registration gap between men and women. 

Mobile registration offices are for birth registration and also issuing the NRC.  would serve these groups of women and at the same time will decongest district offices. The proposed solution is simple but innovative in the sense that it focuses on addressing access challenges by taking the services to remote areas where they are needed the most. The Mobile PinkID  is designed around women and aims at empowering them through civil registration systems, and the Mobile PinkID  eliminating the main barriers that young women face in accessing birth registration and NRC. 

Mobile PinkID will help bridging the gap of unregistered women by bringing the service directly to them. The Mobile PinkID bus will be fully equipped with technology necessary to register and issue the NRC for girls and young women in Lusaka.

Our solution wants to replicate the principles and best practices used in the program: Buses as Tech Hubs, which is a vehicle loaded with wi-fi and more tech tools used for students who don’t have access to technology needed to meet their academic needs. 

The Brillant Bus is another initiative that works as a tech hub for children.The bus is fully equipped and travels to different neighborhoods providing educational services for children. http://estellasbrilliantbus.or...

Both are evidence that mobile tech hubs work to bring technology and provide services to different groups, specially those restricted.

Birth registration is the main key to social inclusion, and lacking it leads to increased poverty level and close opportunities to girls. With our solution we want to give young girls an opportunity to be known and counted, as well as giving them enough support to complete their secondary studies, mainly when school absenteeism is caused by inadequate infrastructure to support girls during their menstrual period. The mobile PinkID wants to promote the importance of gender equality in civil registration systems, and how with the adequate incentives, awareness on birth registration can be promoted in vulnerable populations. Therefore, our solution suggests to train the personnel that will be registering young girls through the mobile bus, support and monitor how our pilot solution is being adapted and implemented, for later evaluate its results, and consequently make recommendations and improve the pilot model.  

Our solution wants to understand the changes that targeted population will experience once Mobile PinkID is launched, as well as monitors the pilot, and evaluates the impact that could have for the community. 

Our solution focuses on increasing birth registration rates of young girls. It is intended to register all the births digitally so that the information could be used later for the issuance of the national identity card in Zambia. Since the system will be designed in open source code, later it could be adapted to the needs of the country. Our added value includes the digitized information that could eliminate future requirements needed for the issuance of the National Registration Card, that represents associated costs for families. 

The Mobile PinkID is a pilot project inspired in digital solutions for vulnerable populations. The software that will be included in the project will be designed to respond adequately to the needs of young women in Zambia, as well as the needs of the National Department of Registration. Since it will be an open source development, the registration process and the related project’s activities can be adjusted and improved. Our main objective is to facilitate the access to a birth certificate by showing that with the adequate incentives, young girls could accomplish their educational goals.

The software development that will be included in the Mobile PinkID  will have the following features: i) privacy by design, data won’t be shared without user consent and it will be encrypted, ii) secure by design, data will be accessed via APIS and build end to end trust, iii) interoperable wit standard interfaces and standards formats. The integration of ISO standards could be included as well.

The bus will include the following equipment: computers, printers, paper, tablets, and a satellite antenna for internet services. The Mobile PinkID will host its own internet service to avoid potential risks on areas with low connectivity. If the bus is experiencing problems with its internet, the system will be able to register the information "offline", for later uploading it in the main database. 

Since this is a pilot project, in one year, we could be able to register 3,000  to 5,000 young girls that are attending the selected secondary schools in Lusaka. 

In five years, the Mobile PinkID could be able to register more than 2 million of girls, and potentially including their family members as well. 

First year main goal: 

Mobile PinkID is enrolling young girls in Lusaka's secondary schools.  

Five year impact goal:  

Increase drop attendance by 80% through birth registration. (Currently, 44% of girls are reported to drop out of school before completing their secondary education)

The main barrier could be the institutional arrangements needed for the implementation of the pilot. It will be needed to sign an institutional agreement with the Ministry of General Education and the Department of National Registration. Likewise, the Department of National Registration will need to approve this project and sign a cooperation agreement between the parties. 

Regarding the cooperation agreement: a previous presentation and discussion about our initiative could be held with the National Authorities. Since this is a pilot project, potential benefits could be shared with the main authorities, showing the potential impact that this initiative could have. Mobile PinkID is an inclusive and user-centered project, and therefore the participation of government representatives in the stages of this initiative is pivotal.

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Full-time staff:

Estefania Calderon, CEO

Darinka Vasquez, Director of Innovation

Our team included well-known professionals with wide experience in projects implemented in developing countries. Although our organization was founded earlier 2020, we count with an extensive network of experts who have previously collaborated in topics related to innovation, digital and social inclusion.

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Our organization promotes innovation by introducing creative tools and methodologies in our clients’ businesses to improve their user experience. We help our clients explore their specific challenges, and create alternative and targeted solutions to enhance their productivity and bottom line. Our main goal is to support innovative transformation through a holistic approach by offering technical assessments in:

• Innovation Experience

• Digital Strategies

• User-Centered Design

Our main customers are international organizations and government entities who look for  products and services that can support innovative transformation as well as promoting social and economic inclusion. In developed countries we have been able to promote discussions on digital transformation and human rights, as well as inclusion and digitalization. We support initiatives that reach vulnerable populations while bridging the digital divide. 

Our organization is funded by grants that support innovation and inclusion projects. Also, we offer technical assessment to organizations in order to increase our capital, and support other initiatives.

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US$65,000 for 2020

Women and girls are likely to face a number of unique challenges
when accessing and using the National Registration Card. Data from the World Bank’s 2017 Findex Report shows that 85% of women have access to an identification compared to 88% of men, and therefore 13% of women are less likely to access financial services or apply for a mobile SIM card. The identification inequality starts at the beginning of the girl’s life, and with our solution, we want to offer opportunities to women, so that they can have access to a legal form of identification as well as finishing their education, and in the future improve their lives. Our solution offers the possibility to include more women in the economic development that Zambia needs.

The infrastructure in Zambia is limited. Guidance will be needed to understand the proper logistics for the functionality and display of the Mobile PinkID. Likewise, it will be needed to work with government representatives to define a proper strategy for the registration process. 

A partnership with the Department of National Department would be ideal.