Evidence of health system resilience in Myanmar during Cyclone Nargis: a qualitative analysis

ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to improve the understanding of the characteristics of health system resilience in Myanmar’s response to Cyclone Nargis and to explore ways to improve resilience at the system level.Design and settingThis is an explanatory qualitative study exploring the institutional capacity of resilience in Myanmar’s health system. Analysis proceeded using a data-driven thematic analysis closely following the framework method. This process enabled comparisons and contrasts of key emergent themes between the participants, which later generated key results describing the foundational assets, barriers and opportunities for achieving resilience in Myanmar.ParticipantsThe study comprised of 12 in-depth interviews conducted with representatives from international organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). The inclusion criteria to recruiting the participants were that they had directly been a part of the Cyclone Nargis response at the time. There was a balanced distribution of participants across UN, bilateral and NGOs, and most of them were either Myanmar citizens or expatriates with extensive working experience based in Myanmar.ResultsKey findings elucidate the characteristics of resilience that have been salient or absent in Myanmar’s response to Cyclone Nargis. Strong social capital and motivation propelled by its deep-rooted culture and religion served as Myanmar’s greatest assets that filled major gaps in the system. Meanwhile, its postcolonial and military legacy posed barriers towards investing in building its long-term foundations towards resilience.ConclusionsThis study revealed that resilience in the health system can be built through strategic investments towards building the foundations of resilience to better prepare for future shocks. In the case of Myanmar, social capital and motivation, which surfaced as its foundational assets, can be channelled into opportunities that can help achieve its long-term health goals, accelerating its journey towards resilience in the health system.

Extreme waves induced by cyclone Nargis at Myanmar coast: numerical modeling versus satellite observations

The deltaic coast of Myanmar was severely hit by tropical cyclone Nargis in May 2008. In the present study, a top-down numerical simulation approach using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) and Simulating WAves Nearshore (SWAN) models was conducted to study the meteorological and offshore wave characteristics of cyclone Nargis near the coast of Myanmar. The WRF simulation results agree well with the observed data from the India Meteorological Department. SWAN simulation results were compared with the WaveWatch 3 model by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and validated against available measurement data from satellites. The model results show relatively good agreement, and hindcast with satellites data (significant wave height only) shows a correlation coefficient value of 0.89. The SWAN and satellite comparisons also show better fit for high wave conditions. The resulted maximum significant wave height of 7.3 m by SWAN is considerably higher in energy than the seasonal waves normally prevalent at Myanmar’s deltaic coast. The possibility of high energy waves due to cyclones should be considered during the design and operation of coastal and offshore projects in the area, particularly given the risks that climate change can intensify cyclones in the future. Since Myanmar lacks a dense network of in-situ observational stations, the methodology used in the current study presents the potential application of various numerical techniques and satellite data to estimate extreme wave conditions near the Myanmar coast.

Assessment of paddy fields’ damage caused by Cyclone Nargis using MODIS time-series images (2004–2013)

The Ayeyarwady Delta in the Bay of Bengal, the rice bowl of Myanmar, depends on natural conditions, especially rainfall. During the dry season, the delta’s coastal zone experiences saline water intrusion due to its low-lying topography. On May 2, 2008, Cyclone Nargis made landfall and crossed Ayeyarwady Region and Yangon City, affecting more than 50 townships and causing massive destruction of personal property and natural ecosystems. There is no doubt that Nargis caused an unprecedented large-scale disaster, but there is no objective method to quantify crop yield and salinity damage in the delta post-Nargis. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to clarify the changes in vegetation in paddy fields in the Ayeyarwady Delta using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer data pre- and post-Nargis and determine whether this method can be applied to measure crop and salinity damage. The study used daily composite data at a 250-m resolution (MOD09GQ, collection 6) from 2004 to 2013 and calculated NDVI and salinity indices smoothed by locally weighted regression (Lowess). Based on the results of our studies, NDVI peak value in 2008 was lower by 19% compared to 2007 data, and that the NDVI peak values declined for three straight years since May 2008 when Nargis struck. However, salinity damage evaluation pre- and post-Nargis (using the salinity index equation) showed that soil electrical conductivity did not tend to move up in the post-Nargis dry season (2009), indicating that the decrease in NDVI values was not due to salinity damage.

Responsible Provision in HADR, Conflict Management and Human Rights

This chapter examines how the logic of responsible provision has been applied to three areas of intraregional cooperation – HADR, conflict management and human rights. The section on HADR cooperation looks at how, in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, crucial pieces of the regional architecture for HADR – the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AADMER), the AHA Centre for disaster management, the ASEAN Militaries Ready Group (AMRG) on HADR, the ADMM and ADMM-Plus, as well as national-level assets like the Singapore-based Regional HADR Coordination Centre (RHCC) – have been put in place. The chapter also looks at how Southeast Asia’s response to the threat of terrorism has evolved not only in terms of the militarisation of national and regional counterterrorism strategies, but on a normative note, the growing acceptance of conflict management – previously eschewed because of the region’s fidelity to noninterference – in response to the changing tactics of the militants and terrorists themselves. Finally, the chapter examines how the region has addressed the human rights challenge, at best only in a half-hearted fashion.

Towards a ‘Responsibility to Provide’ (R2Provide) in Southeast Asia

This chapter introduces the responsibility to provide (R2Provide) and furnishes a sense of the diplomatic, normative and political conditions from which the notion emerged. The policy and academic debate sparked by Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar in 2008 and the post-crisis reconstruction effort helped shape the terms and references of the evolving sense of collective responsibility among Southeast Asian countries. What emerged was not surprising given the region’s enduring deference to the non-interference norm. Contrary to the R2P’s assumption that prospective targets of intervention bear the onus to justify to their prospective interveners why they do not deserve to be intervened against, the R2Provide places the onus instead on prospective recipients of assistance to invite or request their prospective helpers to exercise their responsibility to provide. That said, guided by Levinas’ ethics, the book goes on to contend that both recipient and provider equally share the obligation and responsibility to furnish succour, safety and security to affected populations: the recipient through her grant of consent and invitation, on one hand, the provider through her contributions of aid, assistance and the like on the other.