What the guide covers
The UN released the Universal Digital Public Infrastructure Safeguards Framework in September 2024. The accompanying guide explains how to apply it to the design and operation of shared digital services. It covers the risks people can encounter, the principles that guide decisions, the roles of different organizations, and the actions those organizations can take at each stage.
How to use it
- Choose a service and define the specific decision, transaction, or exchange being assessed.
- Describe the harm that could occur and identify the people who would bear it. Consult people who use the service in difficult conditions as well as typical users.
- Connect the risk to a safeguard and assign a team with the ability to act. Specify what it must do before launch and what it will monitor afterwards.
- Decide how someone will report a problem, get a correction, or use an alternative channel. Keep a record of whether these routes work in practice.
Who will find it useful?
Public service owners, technical teams, regulators, and civil society groups can use the guide to structure a review. It can also help procurement and funding teams ask for evidence of safeguards during evaluation instead of relying only on design promises.
Publication details
The official title is The Universal Digital Public Infrastructure Safeguards Framework: A Guide to Building Safe and Inclusive DPI for Societies. For the release history, see the UNDP announcement. For the current implementation resources, visit the official framework site.
Explore the framework overview · Read about the IOCG statement