Malawi has recently joined the rest of the SADC countries in successfully establishing a permanent and continuous National Registration and Identification System, that is aimed at transforming service delivery for the citizens across all government services and in the most important private sector institutions. The benefits of the registration exercise will go far beyond the attainment of the right to identity for all eligible Malawians. As the continuous registration and the collection of the National ID cards continue across the country, some of the young people hired to work in these operations have commended the process to have given them skills that will greatly improve their opportunities on the job market.

Twenty-four years old Rachael Msukwa attained a Certificate in Business Studies in 2015, a qualification she refers to as ‘just the first step to greater things’

“My mother would tell me repeatedly, on the importance of education for girls and women. And I also have had real life examples of how life turns out when you are not financially independent. My mother did not go far with her education. None of my siblings went far with their education, and so I wanted to break that family cycle and that is how I remain focused on my goals,” Rachael says.

A few months ago, Rachael moved from her home town in Mzuzu City, to the capital Lilongwe to work at the Call Center for the National Registration and Identification System (NRIS) Project.

“I feel quite privileged to have gotten this opportunity. I have learnt so many skills which will give me an added advantage when this assignment is over. As a Call Center Assistant, I have sharpened my customer care skills and can easily work for the big mobile phone companies and financial institutions that require such services if I wanted to. I have also learnt how to interact with different people from all walks of lives which will make my work as a community development worker easier,” she says.

Rachael also has a passion for community development and working with vulnerable children. She is currently enrolled for weekend classes at a private college in the city to upgrade her qualifications in community development. 

“I also worked as a Registration Officer during the mass registration campaign last year. And because of that, I am now more aware of the community development issues that we learnt about in school. Instead of just reading about the challenges in the communities, I can now share real life experiences with y classmates. I tell them about the lack of role models who encourage girls to stay in school, how elderly people are excluded and not well taken care of in some communities, and how some underaged girls are being forced into marriages by their families,” says Rachael.

Sitting next to her and nodding in agreement is one of her workmates, Chifundo Mikwamba, a 24-year-old young lady working with Rachel at the NRIS premises as a Finance and Logistics Assistant.

Chifundo, who is also a former Registration Officer concurs with Chifundo on the life-changing opportunities that working for the mass registration exercise gave them, that will continue to impact on their careers and life goals.

“The Registration Officers who were part of the mass registration exercise were awarded a Certificate of Achievement. This is a qualification that has given our CVs an extra boost. Currently, departments like the Malawi Road Traffic, Malawi Electoral Commission, Malawi Posts Corporation, and the National Registration Bureau are all using biometric systems that we were trained in,” says Chifundo.

With over 4,000 young men and women awarded certificates of Achievements in 2017, the former NRIS Registration Officers have also gained a step in acquiring relevant technical training and qualifications to the current digital revolution in Malawi and across the world.

For Malawi with its youthful population where more than half are under the age of 30, investing in young people to ensure their economic empowerment is crucial to ensure their self-reliance and in the attainment of the 2030 development agenda.

 “This experience has further cemented my interest in information systems and it has made me even more ambitious. The systems and protocols that we use here are more advanced than other systems, so this will be a plus as one of my skills when my assignment here is completed. Ultimately, I want to be one of the influential females in Malawi when it comes to information technology and I feel like I am going in the right direction,” Chifundo says.

The NRIS (National Registration and Identification System Project) is a partnership between NRB (the Malawi National Registration Bureau) and UNDP- Malawi, with support of the Development Partners, DFID, the European Union, USAID, the Government of Norway and the Government of Ireland