Research Type: Case study

As of the end of 2023, some 14 million Ukrainians had fled their homes since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022—5.1 million internally and 6.2 million throughout Europe. This represents the largest human displacement crisis in the world today. While there is no silver lining to a crisis of this scale and depth, this paper attempts to understand one factor that is contributing to Ukraine’s resilience in a time of war and supporting enormous numbers of displaced individuals in their efforts to resume normal life: citizens’ ability to easily access their identity certificates, education credentials, health care records, and financial support through the government’s online citizen portal.

As governments build out identity, payment, civil registration, and other foundational layers of digital public infrastructure, civil society organizations, privacy advocates, and others are understandably raising concerns over surveillance and privacy.