This guidance note unpacks how strategic communications can enhance the design, implementation, and delivery of identification (ID) systems that are inclusive and trusted.

When leveraged holistically, strategic communications can help governments engage effectively with relevant actors throughout the lifecycle of an ID system, including stakeholders on the supply side of ID administration, such as government and private sector implementing entities, and those on the demand side, namely the people that an ID system is intended to serve. Effective communication with relevant actors sows the seeds for public awareness about an ID system, which ultimately helps boost engagement through increased access, both of which are fundamental to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Target 16.9 on the provision of legal identity for all.

This note builds on best practices for communications outlined in the ID4D Practitioner’s Guide to offer governments and ID system practitioners a more in-depth perspective on how to craft an effective strategy and implementation framework. In doing so, the guide highlights essential components for a communications strategy; spotlights cross-country campaigns specific to ID systems and beyond to demonstrate the breadth of potential approaches; and provides practical tools, such as terms of references and a measurement framework, that can support practitioners as they transform ideas into action.

The guide is structured around six components for effective strategic communications on ID systems: Section I provides guidance on how practitioners can frame, define, and prioritize communications objectives around a broader national strategy and highlights five common goals related to ID systems: (1) informing the public about the purpose of an ID system or feature; (2) motivating an action or behavior change by emphasizing the benefits of participation; (3) communicating progress and changes over time to foster transparency; (4) dispelling myths and responding to concerns to build trust in an ID system; and (5) preparing crisis communications to proactively manage potential risks.

Section II highlights considerations for mapping resources against a communications strategy to optimize efficiency around timelines, human capital, and costs. This section underscores the significance of planning to budget for time; surfacing factors, such as when communications activities for ID systems could begin; their duration; and sequencing. It also sheds light on how practitioners can strike a balance between internal team members or an external firm, offering a sample term of reference (TOR) for the latter (annex I). Finally, the section outlines three areas of consideration for financial resource allocation, including costing associated with the intended reach of a communication campaign, the implications of logistics and related expenditures, and the opportunity for cost-sharing vis-à-vis third-party partnerships.

Section III emphasizes the importance of ensuring that strategic communications for ID systems are tailored appropriately to different relevant audiences across the public, government line ministries, and the private sector. This section highlights different audience groups referenced in the communication strategies of different countries to demonstrate the diversity of stakeholders; promotes the inclusion of underserved populations, such as the rural last-mile; and reinforces the opportunity, as well as the costs, linked with segmenting the target audience.