When Disasters Strike, Homes are Destroyed, Livestock Lost, Crops Fail or Local Economies Collapse

By Lepakorn Phisainontarith and Hamish Patten
BANGKOK, Thailand, Aug 26 2025 – As climate change intensifies, disasters like hurricanes, floods, droughts and wildfires are becoming more frequent and devastating. Rising sea levels are further threatening coastal communities, putting millions at risk. Strengthening disaster preparedness and resilience is now essential to protect lives and mitigate long-term climate impacts.

When disasters strike, accurate data is crucial for effective response and recovery. A key impact of disasters is population displacement. Disasters, including slow-onset ones, can make areas unsafe or uninhabitable.

When homes are destroyed, livestock are lost, crops fail or local economies collapse, relocation often becomes a necessity. Health risks and resource shortages add to the pressure, all contributing to the forced displacement of many.

Despite this increasing phenomenon, many displaced people remain invisible in official records, making it difficult to measure the true impact of disasters and impeding an evidence-informed response. Similarly, disasters and their aftermath often bring mass casualties, yet the true death toll is frequently unclear or only discovered long after the event, if at all.

Displaced people are often in need of proof of their legal identity in order to access essential services, both long standing and those related to disaster response. Civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems ensure the continuous, permanent and universal recording of vital events such as births, deaths and marriages, the issuance of documents to individuals, as well as the compilation of related statistics.

Strengthening these systems is key to ensuring that all displaced individuals are counted and that disaster-related deaths are properly recorded.

A well-functioning CRVS system is also essential for disaster management as it enables authorities to identify affected populations, coordinate humanitarian aid and support family reunification. Linking CRVS with other data sources can further improve the ability to locate and assist those impacted.

Reliable cause-of-death data can help distinguish between direct deaths caused by disasters and indirect ones due to disrupted healthcare, malnutrition or unsafe living conditions. This insight is crucial for developing targeted policy responses, ensuring aid reaches the most vulnerable and support long-term recovery and effective rebuilding

However, disasters can severely disrupt CRVS systems. Damaged infrastructure, mass population displacement and restricted access to registration services make it harder for affected individuals to maintain or restore legal identity documents—precisely when they need them most.

Without these records, displaced individuals may struggle to access humanitarian aid, healthcare or even reunite with family members. To prevent this, CRVS systems must be resilient. Digitalization of CRVS systems help facilitate the continuous recording of vital events even during crises. This supports faster and more inclusive recovery for the affected populations.

Linking CRVS systems for inclusive disaster and displacement response

Integrating CRVS systems with disaster response mechanisms enable authorities to support displaced populations more effectively, ensure access to aid and maintain legal identity especially in protracted situations. A resilient CRVS system strengthens both immediate crisis response, and long-term preparedness and recovery.

Key opportunities for linking CRVS systems with disaster and displacement data include:

• Improving data accuracy by harmonizing CRVS records with census and disaster response databases,
• Ensuring inclusion of hard-to-reach groups, such as refugees and displaced populations outside formal camps who may be overlooked,
• Tracking displacement over time to better understand its duration and long-term effects,
• Informing policy and planning by aligning CRVS with national and regional displacement statistics and the humanitarian-development nexus.

Governments and partners should proactively strengthen CRVS systems by integrating them with early warning and displacement monitoring tools and by formally recognizing disaster-induced displacement. This shift from reactive crisis management to inclusive preparedness ensures no one is left behind.

Resilience in the context of CRVS

During the Third Ministerial Conference on CRVS in Asia and the Pacific, participants identified key actions to ensure inclusive and resilient systems as a foundation for legal identity for all. The conference culminated in the adoption of the Ministerial Declaration on a Decade of Action for Inclusive and Resilient CRVS, reaffirming countries’ commitment to strengthening CRVS systems and ensuring their continuity during crises.

Resilient CRVS systems safeguard identity, dignity and access to services when disasters strike. By ensuring vital events are recorded even in crises, countries can protect the most vulnerable and accelerate recovery efforts.

As climate-related disasters become more frequent and severe, it is more important than ever for governments and partners to invest in CRVS systems that can withstand any emergency. Because in times of crisis, resilience begins with being counted—and being counted begins with strong, inclusive CRVS systems.

For more information on disaster-related statistics and CRVS:

• Disaster-related Statistics and Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Systems, working paper on the nexus between disaster-related statistics and civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS)
• Building resilient civil registration and vital statistics systems

Lepakorn Phisainontarith, Programme is Management Assistant, ESCAP; Hamish Patten is Consultant, ESCAP

IPS UN Bureau

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