Securing and Adapting Birth Registration Systems in Response to Climate Change-Induced Disasters

Highlights

Climate change is increasingly disrupting the systems that help make children visible, protected and counted. As floods, cyclones, droughts, storms, displacement crises and other disasters become more frequent and severe, they threaten the continuity of birth registration and Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) systems by damaging infrastructure, destroying records, interrupting services and limiting access to legal identity. For children, the consequences can be profound, increasing the risk of exclusion from health care, education, social protection and humanitarian assistance at precisely the moments when these services are most needed. 

This UNICEF research package, comprising a synthesis report, policy brief and five country case studies from Ethiopia, Mozambique, Nepal, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines, examines how climate-related disasters affect birth registration systems and identifies practical pathways for strengthening resilience. Drawing on a global evidence review and country-level analysis, the research offers a multidimensional framework, evidence-based recommendations and real-world examples of how governments and partners can safeguard legal identity before, during and after crises. The findings demonstrate that resilient CRVS systems are built through coordinated investments in law and policy, governance, digital transformation, interoperability, community engagement, workforce capacity and data protection.

The research calls on governments, development partners, international financial institutions, civil society and donors to recognize CRVS systems as essential public infrastructure and a critical component of climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction. Priority actions include strengthening disaster-responsive legislation, expanding digital and back-up systems, investing in preparedness and continuity planning, improving integration across health, social protection and identification systems, and ensuring that vulnerable and displaced populations remain connected to registration services. Ultimately, strengthening climate-shock resilient CRVS systems is an investment in children’s rights, inclusion and protection in an increasingly climate-affected world. 

This research package was developed with support from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad).