Juan and his family fled their home during Peru’s 1995 insurgency. Like many other Peruvians, they left behind all of their possessions, including their IDs and other documents. Without an ID, Juan—along with 3 million other Peruvians whose civil registration records were lost or destroyed during this period—was unable to enroll in school or access basic social services.

Mariam, a cross border trader from Uganda, struggled to earn a livelihood because of the difficulty she faced in crossing the border to buy and sell goods in Kenya. Without the necessary IDs, she could not pass through regular border crossings and was forced to travel long distances in dangerous areas that left her vulnerable to theft and exploitation.

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