No Longer Invisible: Unlocking Legal Identity for Millions in Madagascar

Mr. Francois Rakotondramanana, 37, mends shoes on the streets of Andoharanofotsy, on the outskirts of Antananarivo. A father of eleven, he has never held a formal job. “I hope to find more stable work as a security guard. But without a national identity card, nobody hires me. And without a birth certificate, I cannot obtain one,” he says. In Madagascar, François’s story is not unique. An estimated six million adults, around 40% of the population, do not have a birth certificate. For many, this means exclusion from jobs, barriers to opening a bank account, and limited access to basic services. In theory, registering a birth in one of Madagascar’s 1,700 communes is relatively straightforward, if it is done within thirty days. After that, the process becomes far more difficult. Late registration requires appearing before a judge, presenting witnesses, and obtaining a doctor’s attestation. For families living far from administrative centers and struggling with the costs of transport and paperwork, these requirements are often out of reach. For years, the Ministry of Justice, responsible for the judicial process, organized periodic field campaigns to encourage late birth registration. But the approach was costly and reached only a fraction of those affected. A problem of this scale required a different response: one combining legal reform, administrative coordination, and innovation. That response is now taking shape. On May 28, 2026, the Government of Madagascar passed a new law allowing births to be registered en masse “within the framework of the mass biometric enrollment operation.” The reform opens a pathway for adults who have long lived outside the civil registration system to obtain birth certificates without a costly and complex judicial process. The reform builds on an unprecedented national enrollment effort that is underway. Since April, more than 2,000 teams, led by Ministry of Interior staff and supported by the World Bank- and GFF-financed Digital Governance and Identification Management System Project (PRODIGY), have been deployed across the country with biometric kits. Operating 26 days a month, they are registering adults nationwide by collecting fingerprints, iris scans, and basic personal information, along with any existing documents. As of June 10, more than 3.25 million adults were enrolled in the national database. A critical part of the effort lies at the community level. Across Madagascar, more than 19,000 fokontany chiefs, the heads of the country’s smallest administrative units, can help confirm the identity of people who have no formal documentation at all. Their signed testimony, combined with biometric data stored in a de-duplicated database, provides a trusted basis for issuing birth certificates at scale. For the first time, community verification, biometric technology, and legal reform are being brought together to address a problem that had long seemed impossible. François was enrolled in the biometric database on February 4, 2026, during the pilot phase, in the spacious marriage hall of the Andoharanofotsy commune. Welcoming people to enroll, at scale, without any prior document marks a significant shift. Some officials initially expressed concerns about the risk of identity fraud, while others remained attached to traditional procedures. The new law is a breakthrough, but its success depends on implementation. As of June 10, only about 50,000 of the 3.25 million people enrolled had never held any identity document. This is a small share of those who could benefit from the reform. Reaching the millions who have lived outside the system for years will require sustained communication, local mobilization, and continued deployment of mobile teams to remote communities. The reform also leaves an important challenge unresolved. While it creates a pathway for adults who were previously excluded, it does not remove the barriers that continue to prevent many newborns from being registered on time. Distance, cost, limited awareness, and the short registration window continue to hinder this aspect. Even though the PRODIGY Project strengthened capacity of hospitals and communes to digitally register births, further reforms will be needed to ensure that exclusion is not passed on to the next generation. Madagascar’s new approach marks an important step forward. It shows how evidence-based advocacy, political commitment, and practical innovation can work together to address a long-standing development challenge. “This reform shows that solving exclusion at scale requires more than technology. It requires political leadership, local institutions, and practical solutions that people can actually access,” shared Zubair Bhatti and Lira Rajenarison, World Bank Task Team Leaders of the PRODIGY Project. Ms. Meme Zeria, 25, a farmer from Antetezamba commune in the Toamasina region, grew up without a birth certificate. She enrolled on May 23, 2026. For her, the process was simple enough to be possible. “The centre is only 15 kilometers away, and there is no fee,” she said. Her hopes extend beyond herself. “It will help me obtain documents for my three children. I also want to benefit from the advantages that people with a national identity card receive,” she said. She then added: “I want to be recognized by the state.”