Somali and Pakistani institutions have agreed priorities for cooperation on digital identity, interoperable government services and financial inclusion following a ten-day peer-learning mission. Participants validated a Somalia-Pakistan Partnership Action Matrix at a UNDP-supported technical roundtable.
The Somali delegation was led by Abdiwali Ali Abdulle, Director General of the National Identification and Registration Authority, or NIRA. It included representatives of Somalia’s finance ministry, central bank and other financial-sector and development institutions.
The United Nations Development Programme’s offices in both countries organized the mission. Delegates visited Pakistan’s National Database and Registration Authority, NADRA, to examine its national identity system and institutional arrangements.
Discussions with the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication covered digital public infrastructure, interoperability and development of a national data exchange system. An e-Khidmat Centre in Lahore demonstrated an integrated platform for delivering multiple public services.
The delegation also reviewed the Benazir Income Support Programme’s National Socio-Economic Registry and digital social protection payments. The Federal Board of Revenue discussed using identity and data integration for taxpayer registration.
The State Bank of Pakistan presented Raast, Pakistan’s instant payment system, and the banking sector’s shared electronic Know Your Customer platform. Electronic KYC allows institutions to check customer identity information through digital processes.
The action matrix covers three areas: foundational and legal identity; digital public infrastructure and governance, including interoperability and secure data exchange; and financial inclusion and public financing. The financial work spans digital payments, e-KYC, social protection disbursements and revenue administration.
Senate Chairman Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani attended the concluding roundtable as chief guest. Abdulle said the exchange would involve mutual learning, including lessons from Somalia’s mobile money experience and rapid digital adoption.
Somalia has separately linked passport applications to its national identity card. In Pakistan, NADRA has launched Nishan Pakistan to consolidate identity-verification services. Those domestic initiatives form part of the countries’ existing identity systems.
UNDP Pakistan Resident Representative Samuel Rizk said the organization’s partnership with NADRA had helped more than one million women obtain identity documents. The mission also included a civil-society session on reaching women, displaced populations and communities facing registration barriers, with continued cooperation focused on adapting services to local needs.
Sources: UNDP
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
