Secure Photo ID Cards for Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

With a population of almost 80 million people, Congo is one of the largest and strongest growth markets on the African continent. Reforms in recent years have supported efforts by the government to facilitate access to education and further increase the literacy rate. The fruits of this initiative are already being achieved by an ever-increasing number of pupils and students.

Identification during examinations

For lack of forgery-proof documents and misuse of identities during examinations, the ministries of primary schools and universities commissioned VARIUSCARD with the production of forgery-proof photo ID documents. The task was to produce and deliver high volumes of high quality photo ID cards for the school year 2016/2017 within a very short time.

More than 100,000 of these photo ID cards, equipped with many security elements, were produced and personalized daily at the Printing house in Vienna. In order to meet the high requirements of the ministries, both visible and invisible as well as forensic features and encodings were integrated into the card during the implementation of the card lay-out, which contribute to the clear identification of the pupils.

Identification that grows with the child

It is particularly promising for the future that the ID card will “grow” with the young people and in the future will serve as a base for the creation of ID documents such as identity cards, driver’s licenses and identification for election. “The registration and identification of pupils and students in our country lays an important foundation stone for leading Congo to modern e-government”. – says Lufunisabo Bundoki, Secretary General of the Ministries of Education.