1. Disasters – Issues for Civil Registrars Jeff Montgomery, New Zealand Registrar-General

2. Recap: three CRVS components
Notifications and Registration – vital events are recorded and counted
Certification – individuals receive legal certificates
Vital statistics – statistics are compiled and disseminated
CRVS systems will not function well, and will fail
if one of these systems is not functional.

3. Recap: Civil registration process
Declaration of birth
by informant
Registration of birth
by civil registrar
Issuance of birth
certificate by
civil registrar
Notification of birth
(by hospital, midwife,
village chief)
Notification (additional
requirements in some countries)
Supplementary evidentiary documentation (e.g. hospital
attestation of birth) either given to informant to present to registrar or
to civil registrar directly.

4. Recap: CRVS and ID systems
National ID systems will fail if there is inadequate Civil Registration as result of disasters
Retrospective registration is good – but a trap
Civil Register
Migration
Population Register
Education
Vital Statistics
Employment

5. CRVS and Disasters Impact on people and families
Impact on CRVS system – recovery and scale-up
Impact on national ability to respond and recover

6. Implications for CRVS customers
Ongoing nature of CRVS – the show must go on!
Increased need for services – extra events to register, replacement of vital documents for families, and increased risk of exploitation
But customer might not be able to meet the normal evidence of identity or fee policy

7. Implications for CRVS systems
Protection and resilience
Infrastructure - people, equipment, materials, software, offices
Data (paper or digital) in various locations and daily before and during disaster
Scaling Up during emergency
More deaths or presumed dead
9 months later …

8. Implications for Disaster Response
An effective CRVS system as essential in disaster planning and response. CRVS committee play important role
“Never let the opportunity of a crisis pass you by …”

9. So what? What is your registry’s resilience and response plans?
What about the wider system? Does the CRVS committee have a system-wide plan?
What might others in the region do to help your registry and what can you offer others – resilience and response?