ADB aid for poor identity cards

The government drive to provide the poor with legal identity documents, which are required to gain access to essential benefits and services, is to receive support from Asian Development Bank (ADB).
A $2 million grant from the ADB-administered Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction (JFPR) will fund awareness raising programmes and intensive registration campaigns.
"The poor and vulnerable in Nepal have very little access to goods, resources, and opportunities such as social welfare benefits or free school textbooks. One reason for this is that they don't have legal identity documents, such as certificates of birth, citizenship, migration, marriage, and death," said Jogendra Ghimire, counsel at ADB's Office of the General Counsel.
It is estimated that at least 75 per cent of Nepal's population does not have birth certificates, and that between three million and five million people who are eligible citizens have still not acquired citizenship, said the ADB report.
An outdated and complex legislative framework, burdensome procedures, low awareness among government officials and the general public, high registration costs, discrimination and low capacity have all contributed to the lack of legal documentation of the poor.
The ADB project will be implemented over four years in the districts of Kathmandu, Jhapa, Ilam, Bhaktapur, Lalitpur, Palpa, Rupandehi, Mustang, Kailali and Dang. It will aim to provide birth certificates and other identity documents to at least 80 per cent of residents in the target areas, and ensure that individual details are logged in a computerised civil registration system that can be accessed by relevant government departments. Registration training for civil servants and public awareness campaign will also be conducted.
The JFPR was established by the Japanese government and ADB in May 2000 to provide direct relief to the poorest and most vulnerable segments of society while building up their capacity for self-help and income generation.
ADB, based in Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in the Asia and Pacific regions through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth and regional integration. Established in 1966, it is owned by 67 members -- 48 of whom are from the regions. In 2008, it approved $10.5 billion as loans, $811.4 million for grant projects and $274.5 million in technical assistance.