By Simon Pierre Diouf and Kelvin Miami
UNHCR’s Regional Bureau for the East and Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes (EHAGL) is piloting a new self-service kiosk application called Localized Identification & Self-service Access (LISA). Designed to transform how refugee verification is conducted, LISA empowers refugees to verify their presence independently and at their own convenience, reducing costs, improving data accuracy, and promoting greater inclusion.
LISA enables forcibly displaced people to confirm their presence in their country of asylum through verifying their biometrics at a self-service kiosk. LISA is interoperable with UNHCR’s registration systems and is aligned with UNHCR’s wider Digital Gateway initiative. It also supports host governments and humanitarian partners by easing administrative workloads and improving data reliability.
Through its transparent, user-centered design, LISA enhances refugees’ control over their personal data and aligns with UNHCR’s digital transformation strategy and the Global Compact on Refugees’ call for innovative, inclusive solutions.
A cost-effective shift from traditional verification
Refugee verification has traditionally been a resource-heavy process, costing on average $10 per individual. Verification exercises, which are often time-consuming and expensive, are becoming increasingly difficult to conduct in today’s resource-constrained environment, leading to delays in critical data updates.
LISA offers a smarter solution to verification exercises. Each kiosk costs around $6,000 and shifts human resource-intensive verification tasks to a self-service model, giving refugees the opportunity to update their presence at their own convenience. This allows UNHCR to redirect human resources to complex cases and other protection priorities while enabling more frequent data updates and better accuracy of population figures. It also improves biometric enrolment rates, currently between 60% and 80% in some regions, and helps eliminate duplicate records.
What once took up to six hours, between waiting and processing, can now be done in minutes, at a time chosen by the individual. This flexibility gives refugees greater control and autonomy, while reaffirming UNHCR’s accountability to the people it serves.
How LISA works
LISA allows refugees to:
- Verify their presence in the country of asylum through their biometrics
- View and confirm personal information
- When necessary, request an appointment to update their information
The interface is simple and intuitive, requiring minimal digital literacy. Importantly, no personal data is stored on the kiosk itself, ensuring compliance with UNHCR’s data protection standards.
What is next?
LISA recently completed successful user testing in Kampala, Uganda, with a pilot launch planned for late 2025. Refugees who tested the system shared positive feedback, noting ease of use (especially among literate testers) and enthusiasm for future use in verification. Uganda was chosen for its large refugee population and enabling environment for digital innovation.
Insights from the testing phase are now informing improvements ahead of wider deployment. Because LISA only requires electricity and internet, it can be installed in UNHCR offices, partner sites, government facilities, or community centers, making it highly adaptable for global rollout.
A gateway to the future
LISA is more than a tool for verification. It is a step toward efficiency, transparency, and empowerment. As part of UNHCR’s broader digital transformation, it supports a future where forcibly displaced people have the skills, tools, and agency to safely navigate an increasingly digital world.
Over time, LISA kiosks will serve as one of several access points to the Digital Gateway, linking refugees with a broader array of secure, self-managed digital services. Through innovation like this, UNHCR is reshaping how protection and assistance are delivered, placing people at the center of every step.