Publication database

Part 1 of this report discusses instrumental and infrastructural approaches to ID and argues for long-term investments in ID infrastructure. Institutions and individuals each have key roles in the ID ecosystem, and we will discuss the tensions inherent in trying to serve both. Part 2 of this report asks how the ID landscape is changing. Emerging technologies will expand the options for identifying and authenticating individuals and introduce new actors across the DID value chain. While some emerging trends may offer greater opportunity for inclusion, higher confidence in authentication, or better data security, new technologies and new actors may also change the roles of traditional ID-granting institutions and their relationships with ID-holding individuals. How we address these emerging trends in technology will determine whether ID is an instrument of empowerment and inclusion or surveillance, disempowerment, and exclusion.

Microinsurance is growing and expanding throughout Africa. Led by the ILO's Microinsurance Innovation Facility and the MicroInsurance Centre, Briefing Note #1 identified over fourteen million low-income people in Africa who were covered by microinsurance at the end of 2008. The outreach almost doubled over the last 4 years. Even with such growth, there are clearly significant gaps. Substantial parts of the continent remain almost barren of microinsurance. Health, agriculture and property covers, all significantly in need by the low-income market, are evident as a mere fraction of life insurance coverage. This study provides a detailed picture of microinsurance in Africa and discusses challenges in the years to come in order to facilitate broader, high-quality expansion.