As conflict, climate shocks, and instability displace millions, identity has become both a lifeline and a liability. Refugees and forcibly displaced people—particularly children and unaccompanied minors—are too often rendered invisible to the systems meant to protect them, leaving them exposed to exploitation, trafficking, and prolonged legal limbo. At the same time, when they are made “visible,” it is frequently through incomplete or extractive data practices that fail to safeguard dignity, consent, or long-term agency.
This cross-sector dialogue confronts one of the most urgent humanitarian and governance challenges of the digital age: how to restore identity as a fundamental human right for those who have lost not only homes and borders, but recognition itself. Bringing together innovators, policymakers, humanitarian leaders, and youth voices with lived experience, the session examines how digital identity systems can either deepen vulnerability or become tools of protection, continuity, and care.
Participants will explore the ethical fault lines surrounding identity for displaced populations, from data ownership and consent to interoperability across borders and institutions. The session seeks to imagine rights-based frameworks that ensure every displaced person is seen, safeguarded, and supported as a whole human being, not merely as a case file or data trace.
Learn more and inquire further about this event here.
