Civil registration in conflict and emergency situations

Abstract

In Africa, there are multiple forms of emergencies. For example: protracted emergencies that persist even with peace agreements (Horn of Africa, Central African Republic); conflicts that affect surrounding countries (the Lake Chad Basin Crisis); and public health emergencies, such as the Ebola virus disease and natural calamities. All of these emergencies affect a country’s capacity to fulfil its responsibility to assist and protect its citizens in such times. While the core of humanitarian response is to deal with the basic needs of people (safety, health and education), the provision of civil registration services continues to be a challenge in countries with emergency settings, leading to both short- and long-term consequences. Developing guidelines and recommendations would improve a country’s preparedness, in addition to identifying key risk mitigation strategies that would make civil registration and vital statistics systems resilient in future emergencies and conflict situations. The parallel session on “Civil Registration in Conflict and Emergency Situations” responds to the recommendation of the African ministers responsible for civil registration at their third conference. The recommendation is to support the development of guidelines and recommendations for maintaining and managing civil registration and vital statistics in conflict and emergency situations as well as special circumstances by making use of experiences from countries having gone through such situations.