SESSION 5.2: CASE STUDIES EXCERCISE (Tools for integrating protection needs)
CASE STUDY: DROUGHT1
Bako is a country of about 300,000 sq km with a population of 4.8 million people. The main
island is dominated by a rugged spinal mountain range rising to 3,000 meters on which the
majority of the population of 3 million people lives. The rest of the population of Bako is
concentrated on the fertile coastal plains. 40% of the population is under 15 years old.
Bako is home to 700 different ethnic groups who speak different languages and practice
different traditions. The majority of Bako’s ethnic groups are patrilineal. Polygamy and the
payment of dowries are both common. Violence against women is widespread and women
generally have inferior economic, cultural and social status. Inter-tribal violence, which often
includes attacks on women, continues to be a serious issue in many parts of Bako. Crime,
particularly in urban areas is very high. Prison conditions are poor and excessive use of police
force is cited as a common complaint.
30% of the population practices either some form of traditional belief system or a combination
of traditional beliefs and some form of Christianity. However, the majority of the population is
Christian. Traditionally, inhabitants of villages shared uniform traditional and religious beliefs.
Inter-marriage has changed this and in some villages there are now several different religions
practiced and various cultures and traditions are followed.
Bako has the third highest maternal mortality rate in the world. Only 40 % of the population
has access to safe drinking water. There is a generalized HIV epidemic in Bako, and malaria, TB
and STIs are also major health problems.
1
Developed in 2008 by UNDP-Pacific, OHCHR-Pacific, and OCHA-Pacific. Note that these are fictitious but based on
a combination of real events that occurred in the Pacific in the last 10-15 years.
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Promoting and Protecting Rights in Natural Disasters:
Workshop Modules and Facilitator’s Guide
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85% of the population engages in subsistence farming. Mining of gold and copper by
multinational companies are the leading industries in Bako. Two of the 3 mines in Bako are
found in the mountainous areas of the main island. Corruption is described as endemic.
In December 2010, it was reported that almost no rain had fallen in Bako since the beginning of
the same year. The worst affected regions had been the mainland provinces of Olsem, Strait
and Nomo, in which also the main towns of the island are located. Almost the entire population
still relies on open sources, especially wells and streams, for water supply. Only communities in
the immediate surroundings of the three mines had access to water catchment tanks. Fires had
devastated extensive areas of grassland, forest, plantations and farmland and the haze had at
times restricted aviation. To compound the problem, in the mountainous areas above 2,000
meters, a prolonged series of nightly frosts were reported, which in combination with the
drought had destroyed cash crops and staple food. In the worst affected areas the entire crop
had been destroyed.
Because of the drought, approximately 80% of Bako’s total population is now reliant on
unfamiliar water sources, usually the larger (and also more polluted) rivers. Community health
care and education have been affected, with health centres, aid posts and many rural schools
closed due to lack of water. Fires have devastated large areas and the main hospitals in Olsem
and Nomo had been partially destroyed as a result of a bushfire. The hospital in Strait reports
overcrowding.
Overall, some 500,000 people now have very limited access to food and restricted access to
safe water. Health consequences of this are becoming more apparent, with increasing
incidences of eye infections, skin disease and diarrhea, and strong anecdotal evidence of deaths
amongst those who would not normally be considered vulnerable.
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Promoting and Protecting Rights in Natural Disasters:
Workshop Modules and Facilitator’s Guide
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As the drought continues, the number of people in need of food aid grows with each passing
month. Even if widespread heavy rain would fall soon, and subsistence farmers were able to
plant seedlings, the first crops would not be ready for consumption for another four months.
However, most seedlings in the mountainous areas have been consumed, and if rain comes,
large quantities of seed materials will be needed in the affected areas. If no rain falls the
country will enter the next dry season (May to October), and food aid for increasing numbers
will be needed throughout the next year. Migration from the rural to the urban areas is already
perceptible.
The drought is damaging not only subsistence farming but also the production of cash crops
such as coffee. More significantly for the national economy, two of the mines have had to close
as the level of water has dropped in the rivers on which they depend for supplies and the
transport of ore. There are three main hydro-electric catchment-areas in Bako and all are less
than half full. The main highway is useable but there are significant safety issues associated
with traveling on the highway.
It has been reported that many women have been assaulted, attacked and in some cases raped
by the roadside as they carried water/food back to their families. Inter-tribal fighting has
increased. Two children were found dead by the roadside last month. The already high levels of
maternal mortality have increased, as have rates if infant mortality. There are reports that
increasing numbers of women and girls are engaged in sex work, including transactional sex for
food for themselves and their families.
Because of internal parliamentary problems between the various political parties the
parliament failed to pass a bill to create designated funds for drought relief efforts. The
governors from the three provinces belong to three different ethnic groups as well as different
political parties. The provincial responses have focused on the highest populated areas where
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Workshop Modules and Facilitator’s Guide
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the three governors have their political stronghold. Government services, including health
services, are partially functioning in the three most affected mountainous provinces.
The villages themselves have started selling limited assets and are buying canned foods and
rice. Availability of coconuts has decreased as people substitute drinking water with coconuts
and other plants. There has also been some assistance from the donor community,
international organizations, and NGOs. Coordination between donors, international
organizations and the government proofed difficult. Because of coordination issues and
logistical challenges most relief goods were stockpiled in the capital of Bako, with only few
resources going directly to the affected areas. A logistical supply center for the distribution of
food and water has been developed in Olsem, but efforts of aid workers have been hampered
by transportation difficulties. Several truckloads of rice and other food staples have been
hijacked while traveling on the main highway to the most affected mountainous areas.
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Promoting and Protecting Rights in Natural Disasters:
Workshop Modules and Facilitator’s Guide
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December 2010