The Director General of the ONI made several announcements over the weekend regarding ongoing initiatives to make the institution he leads more dynamic. Underlying these new measures is the desire to “enable the ONI to fully carry out its mission—to identify citizens at birth and ensure the traceability of their lives until death,” explained the Director General, who was taking part in the CAVDHA 2025 organized by the SIPDEC Consulting Office through its structure known as the Sectoral Revitalization Group (GDS).

The decree of March 11, 2020, concerning the Unique National Identification Number (NINU) and the National Identification Card, designates the ONI as the main body authorized to issue civil status documents such as birth or death certificates. Yet, the institution’s current work is limited to issuing national ID cards. “The actors involved in civil registration are not the right ones. Haitian exceptionalism has made the National Archives an institution that manages civil records, even though that is not its role—it is meant to preserve heritage,” lamented Mr. Guerrier.