Migrants as Messengers in West Africa

Each year the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund (UNJSPF) conducts an exercise to verify the continuing eligibility of UNJSPF retirees/beneficiaries to the benefits they are receiving. As part of this exercise, each individual in receipt of a benefit must submit an annual proof of existence. The UNJSPF Digital Certificate of Entitlement (DCE) app, launched in 2021, with the support of the United Nations International Computing Centre (UNICC), addresses this challenge of verifying the identity and location of UNJSPF retirees/beneficiaries worldwide. This state-of-the-art mobile authentication solution leverages blockchain, biometrics/facial recognition, and global positioning technologies. The DCE offers a secure, efficient, and eco-friendly alternative to the traditional paper-based proof-of-existence exercise. It allows retirees and beneficiaries to complete the exercise using their mobile devices, either on or off-line, eliminating the need for paper and postal services, with a secure identity verification conducted through facial recognition. Aligned with the UNJSPF strategy to enhance client experience and modernize services, as of November 2023, over 40% of the retiree and beneficiary population has enrolled in the DCE app.

With the increasing use and dependency on digital technologies, digital transformation has become a fundamental aspect of public policy in the past decades globally. As one of the key policy areas, migration management is no exception to such efforts. Robust digital systems and digitalized procedures are essential aspects of every effective migration and border management system. Digital access to public services for migrants, such as registration, visas, residence permits, identity documents, as well as the use of digital technologies in migration management including processing asylum applications, referral and case management, border security, and returns, have become essential in ensuring that procedures and services are effective, accessible and rights oriented.

Developed by UNICEF, Oky is a girl-centered digital solution for menstruation, sexual and reproductive health education and period tracking, that addresses the taboos, misconceptions, and lack of quality information surrounding reproductive health. As an approved Digital Public Good, Oky is co-created with and for adolescent girls in low- and middle-income countries, including girls with disabilities. Using a gamified interface, Oky, works on low-end devices and for phone sharing, and has highest data protection and privacy by design. Oky is currently live in 12 countries in 17 languages with more than 800,000 users.

Digital Readiness Assessments in four countries; workshops for government on digital development principles; grants scheme for CSOs on online harms, mis/disinformation, and tech-facilitated abuse; policy studies on Information Pollution in the Pacific and Behavioural Change Approaches to Online Gender-Based Violence