IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wdevel/v139y2021ics0305750x20304708.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Sustainable Development Goals and ‘legal identity for all’: ‘First, do no harm’

Author

Listed:
  • Manby, Bronwen

Abstract

The right to legal identity, previously neglected by the development community, has gained recognition by the adoption of a target in the SDGs to ‘provide legal identity for all, including birth registration’. In the initial absence of definition of ‘legal identity’ beyond birth registration, different actors have interpreted the target according to their own priorities, whether they be human rights protection, development, national security – or rent-seeking. Long-standing scholarship recognises both the positive and negative potential impacts of state identification systems; the adoption of new biometric technologies strengthens these potential impacts, for good or ill. The importance of data protection and the risks to privacy created by digital technologies are well-recognised. This article returns to arguments made by Simon Szreter in World Development in 2007, to argue the critical importance of independent oversight of executive decisions relating to legal identity; it adds an emphasis on the detailed regulation of enrolment processes, and the importance of nationality law reforms, as government-backed identity schemes are upgraded or introduced. The article argues that the introduction of new ‘foundational’ national identification systems for adults and more pervasive requirements for proof of identity, without simultaneously addressing gaps in the legal framework governing the determination of legal status, risks making the problems around proof of legal identity worse rather than better.

Suggested Citation

  • Manby, Bronwen, 2021. "The Sustainable Development Goals and ‘legal identity for all’: ‘First, do no harm’," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:139:y:2021:i:c:s0305750x20304708
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105343
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X20304708
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105343?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. William Reuben & Flávia Carbonari, 2017. "Identification as a National Priority: The Unique Case of Peru - Working Paper 454," Working Papers 454, Center for Global Development.
    2. Anders Aslund, 2009. "How Ukraine Became a Market Economy and Democracy," Peterson Institute Press: All Books, Peterson Institute for International Economics, number 4273, January.
    3. -, 2014. "A World that Counts: Mobilising the Data Revolution for Sustainable Development," Coediciones, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), number 40319 edited by United Nations.
    4. Qiuxiang Jiang & Tian Wang & Zilong Wang & Qiang Fu & Zhimei Zhou & Youzhu Zhao & Yujie Dong, 2018. "HHM- and RFRM-Based Water Resource System Risk Identification," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 32(12), pages 4045-4061, September.
    5. Mann, Laura, 2018. "Left to other peoples’ devices? A political economy perspective on the big data revolution in development," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 85057, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. John King, 2009. "Social Democratic and Socialist Policies," Working Papers wp191, Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
    7. repec:idb:brikps:80839 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Harbers, Imke, 2020. "Legal identity for all? Gender inequality in the timing of birth registration in Mexico," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    9. Alan Gelb and Julia Clark, 2013. "Identification for Development:The Biometrics Revolution," Working Papers 315, Center for Global Development.
    10. repec:idb:brikps:publication-detail,7101.html?id=68489 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. anonymous, 2009. "Which came first—democracy or growth?," Inside the Vault, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, issue Spring.
    12. Antonios Ch. Stasis & Loukia Demiri & Eleni Chaniotaki, 2018. "eIDAS - Electronic Identification for Cross Border eHealth," International Journal of Reliable and Quality E-Healthcare (IJRQEH), IGI Global, vol. 7(2), pages 51-67, April.
    13. Szreter, Simon, 2007. "The Right of Registration: Development, Identity Registration, and Social Security--A Historical Perspective," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 67-86, January.
    14. Е.V. Shelepova & Samofalov V.I., 2018. "Identifying Branding Features of Products for Children," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(Special 2), pages 970-984.
    15. World Bank, 2019. "South Africa ID Case Study," World Bank Publications - Reports 32760, The World Bank Group.
    16. Breckenridge, Keith & Szreter, Simon (ed.), 2012. "Registration and Recognition: Documenting the Person in World History," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780197265314.
    17. Kate Meagher, 2012. "The Strength of Weak States? Non-State Security Forces and Hybrid Governance in Africa," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 43(5), pages 1073-1101, September.
    18. Alan Gelb and Anna Diofasi, 2016. "Biometric Elections in Poor Countries: Wasteful or a Worthwhile Investment? - Working Paper 435," Working Papers 435, Center for Global Development.
    19. Bettina Boekle-Giuffrida & Mia Elisabeth Harbitz, 2009. "Democratic Governance, Citizenship, and Legal Identity: Linking Theoretical Discussion and Operational Reality," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 80279, Inter-American Development Bank.
    20. Alan Gelb & Julia Clark, 2013. "Identification for Development: The Biometrics Revolution," Working Papers id:5248, eSocialSciences.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alan Gelb & Julia Clark, 2013. "Performance Lessons from India’s Universal Identification Program," Working Papers id:5512, eSocialSciences.
    2. Jonathan Temple & Huikang Ying & Patrick Carter, 2014. "Transfers and Transformations: Remittances, Foreign Aid, and Growth," Bristol Economics Discussion Papers 14/649, School of Economics, University of Bristol, UK, revised 02 Dec 2014.
    3. Harbers, Imke, 2020. "Legal identity for all? Gender inequality in the timing of birth registration in Mexico," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    4. Laura Mann, 2018. "Left to Other Peoples’ Devices? A Political Economy Perspective on the Big Data Revolution in Development," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 49(1), pages 3-36, January.
    5. Amiya Bhatia & Jacqueline Bhabha, 2017. "India’s Aadhaar scheme and the promise of inclusive social protection," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(1), pages 64-79, January.
    6. Giulia Piccolino, 2015. "Making Democracy Legible? Voter Registration and the Permanent Electronic Electoral List in Benin," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 46(2), pages 269-292, March.
    7. van Heerden, Alastair & Harris, Danielle M. & van Rooyen, Heidi & Barnabas, Ruanne V. & Ramanathan, Nithya & Ngcobo, Nkosinathi & Mpiyakhe, Zukiswa & Comulada, W. Scott, 2017. "Perceived mHealth barriers and benefits for home-based HIV testing and counseling and other care: Qualitative findings from health officials, community health workers, and persons living with HIV in S," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 97-105.
    8. Devarajan, Shantayanan & Do, Quy-Toan, 2023. "Taxation, accountability, and cash transfers: Breaking the resource curse," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    9. Thomas Bossuroy & Clara Delavallade & Vincent Pons, 2019. "Biometric Tracking, Healthcare Provision, and Data Quality: Experimental Evidence from Tuberculosis Control," NBER Working Papers 26388, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Marek Dabrowski & Svitlana Taran, 2012. "The Free Trade Agreement between the EU and Ukraine: Conceptual Background, Economic Context and Potential Impact," CASE Network Studies and Analyses 437, CASE-Center for Social and Economic Research.
    11. Lourdes Marco & Alejandro Pozo & Gabriel Huecas & Juan Quemada & Álvaro Alonso, 2021. "User-Adapted Web Services by Extending the eIDAS Specification with Functional Attributes," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-20, April.
    12. Pulkit Sharma & Achut Manandhar & Patrick Thomson & Jacob Katuva & Robert Hope & David A. Clifton, 2019. "Combining Multi-Modal Statistics for Welfare Prediction Using Deep Learning," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(22), pages 1-15, November.
    13. Fyodor I. Kushnirsky, 2014. "Ukraine and The IMF: An Uneasy Cooperation," International Journal of Business and Social Research, LAR Center Press, vol. 4(7), pages 120-130, July.
    14. Ana Andries & Stephen Morse & Richard J. Murphy & Jim Lynch & Emma R. Woolliams, 2019. "Seeing Sustainability from Space: Using Earth Observation Data to Populate the UN Sustainable Development Goal Indicators," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(18), pages 1-20, September.
    15. de Pedraza, Pablo & Vollbracht, Ian, 2020. "The Semicircular Flow of the Data Economy and the Data Sharing Laffer curve," GLO Discussion Paper Series 515, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    16. Morgan, Mary S. & Bach, Maria, 2018. "Measuring development - from the UN’s perspective," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 90557, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    17. Laura Recuero Virto, 2017. "A preliminary assessment of indicators for SDG 14 on " Oceans "," Post-Print hal-01639008, HAL.
    18. John S. Earle & Scott Gehlbach, 2015. "The Productivity Consequences of Political Turnover: Firm‐Level Evidence from Ukraine's Orange Revolution," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 59(3), pages 708-723, July.
    19. -, 2016. "Horizons 2030: Equality at the centre of sustainable development," Libros y Documentos Institucionales, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), number 40160 edited by Eclac.
    20. Armando Barrientos & Sony Pellissery, 2012. "Delivering effective social assistance: does politics matter?," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-009-12, GDI, The University of Manchester.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:139:y:2021:i:c:s0305750x20304708. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/worlddev .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.