The double burden of disease and the cyclone disrupted education and reinforced the vulnerabilities faced by children and women, says the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction Study.
The double burden of disease and the cyclone disrupted education and reinforced the vulnerabilities faced by children and women, says the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction Study.
A study on the effect of COVID-19 Funded by the UNDRR (United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction) across five geographies, including the Indian Sundarbans, has reported that the pandemic and the measures to contain it have not only had a wide-ranging impact across society, but have also strengthened existing vulnerabilities. has done.
Title of report Understanding and managing cascading and systemic risks: Lessons from ‘COVID-19’ Presents recently published cross-cutting findings from five case studies around the world.
with a multi-threat perspective Indian Sundarbans, Study looks at fragile situation in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar; Challenges on all fronts at the national level in Indonesia; a densely populated urban setting in Guayaquil, Ecuador; and rural-urban and national-international interrelationships in the maritime sector, Togo.
In the Sundarbans, people had to deal with the double burden of COVID-19 and Cyclone Amphan, The first months of the outbreak of COVID-19 from March to May coincide with one of the most severe tropical cyclones that occurred on May 20, 2020 with sustained wind speeds of 170 km/h, gusting up to 190 km/h Landfall made. and stormy waves up to five meters. It caused $13 billion in damage, making it the costliest cyclone ever recorded in the North Indian Ocean (State IAG, 2020).
“The impact of the two threats simultaneously manifested in the economic crisis across sectors, actors and scales, as reported in workshops, media and publications. A significant part of the population in the region is dependent on natural resources for livelihood (fishermen, crab gatherers, honey gatherers, beekeepers, agronomists, etc.). Due to the COVID-19 containment measures, restrictions were placed on access to these natural resources, which were itself directly affected by the cyclone,” states the study.
The research suggested that the closure of schools as a preventive measure for COVID-19 led to disruption of education. “While existing poverty was a barrier for families to access paying devices to access online education, unstable internet connectivity in remote areas was another obstacle. When these constraints were combined with additional economic distress caused by the pandemic and cyclone, the disruption in education became apparent (Save the Children, 2020),” the study reported.
The publication noted that the incidents of forced marriages among underage girls increased during the lockdown period and after the cyclone, and in addition to the economic crisis and disruption in education, many families gave up their children, especially young boys. engaged as child labor.
The pandemic is affecting not only children but also women. Many women had to work in the fields in addition to their other existing workloads; To do work that would otherwise be done by hired workers.
“Similarly widespread impacts on women’s sanitation and safety were reported as limited access to sanitation services by residents, resulting in infrastructural damage and flooding, forcing some women to resort to open defecation which was further complicated by the movement restrictions imposed due to COVID-19. The study reported.
Researchers have pointed out that the twin blows of the COVID-19 pandemic and Amphan resulted in a short-term loss of income that increased child marriage and human trafficking, which could have long-term effects.
Sumana Banerjee, School of Oceanographic Studies, Jadavpur University, who contributed to the research, pointed out that cyclones are common to the Indian Sundarbans, but cyclone Amphan’s co-occurrence within pandemic restrictions reshaped the understanding of risk. “Despite not being severely affected by the COVID-19 disease between March and May 2020, the Indian Sundarbans suffered widespread impacts in various regions due to its interconnectedness and its existing vulnerabilities, combined with the effects of the cyclone. But happened. About the impact and prevalence in all areas. Ms Banerjee added.
The research states that the main broad impact in the near and long term in the region is due to the economic crisis caused by the lockdown.
“The COVID-19-induced lockdown disproportionately affected the poor families in the region. One study showed that 88 percent of poor households had an average weekly local income and 63 percent of the average weekly remittance income was lost due to COVID-19 (Gupta et al., 2020). This not only increased poverty, but pushed some people back into it. The loss of income due to loss of employment forced people to reduce the portion of food and consume less food items, thereby affecting their food security (Gupta et al., 2020),” the report said.
Michael Hagenlocher, lead author of the report and senior scientist at UNU-EHS (United Nations University – Environment and Human Security), the report reminds us of the importance of better understanding the interrelationships in societies and the vulnerabilities within them.
“Prior to the pandemic, there was not much awareness that threats such as floods, droughts or regional disease outbreaks could impact societies globally. Only when COVID-19 begins to spread and impact our daily lives, is the true extent of interdependence in our highly interconnected world fully visible within and impacting society as a whole ,” said Mr Hagenlocher.