from ADANE BIKILA in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Ethiopia Bureau
ADDIS ABABA, (CAJ News) – ETHIOPIA has integrated thousands of refugees into its national digital identity document (ID) system.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which has partnered Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government on the programme known as the Digital ID for Inclusion and Services, confirmed the move.
UNHCR, in an update just released, discloses that as of August 26, 2025, a total of 176 663 refugees had been verified and included in the national digital ID programme.
Some 79 668 refugees have been issued with refugee ID cards and/or Proof of Registration (PoR) documents containing the lifelong unique digital identification number, known as a “Fayda number.”
“Ethiopia’s approach is pioneering and has great transformative potential for the protection of refugees in the country,” the UN agency stated.
“The inclusion of the unique digital Fayda identification number puts the refugee ID card on an equal footing with the ID credentials issued to other foreigners who legally reside in Ethiopia.”
The project is anticipated to drive innovation in service delivery by enabling digital transformation across sectors like banking, healthcare and education.
The pilot phase began in the capital Addis Ababa, in 2024, targeting urban refugees, with plans to scale to cover 1 million refugees nationwide.
Refugees with the new digital ID credentials are no longer required to obtain a letter of endorsement from Refugee and Returnee Service (RRS) for each service they wish to use.
Instead, they can now open bank accounts, register SIM cards, receive funds from micro-finance institutions, access job opportunities, establish their own businesses and obtain a Tax Identification Number using the new digital document.
Ethiopia, the iconic East African country, hosts one of the largest refugee populations in Africa, with over 1 million refugees and asylum-seekers as of July 2025.
The vast majority hail from Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan.
– CAJ News