Aug. 8 marked the 10th anniversary of Typhoon Morakot, which brought torrential rain and disastrous flooding to southern and central Taiwan. The anniversary is a reminder that, as well as feeling sympathy for the disaster victims, people should learn from the experience how to better detect and resolve problems and how to cope with unforeseeable risks.
Even though a decade has passed, it is hard to forget how the disaster victims, wading through mud, rebuilt their homes and communities one step at a time.
Looking back, a lasting impression is the fear written on the faces of women and children. Many people lost their lives, many more lost family members and many lost hope, but in the midst of despair, the Taiwanese virtues of warmth, kindness and generosity were not lost.
The Morakot disaster can be seen as nature’s response to people’s treatment of it and reminds them to regard nature with due respect and awe.
During reconstruction, aside from rebuilding physical structures, another problem was how to provide women and children with safe places where they could go on with their lives.
The UN’s Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement states that national authorities should provide protection and assistance to people who have been internally displaced by natural or human-made disasters, and that they must take into account any special needs such individuals might have.
The Paris Agreement on climate action also states that parties to the agreement should respect, promote and consider the rights of children and people in vulnerable situations, as well as gender equality, empowerment of women and intergenerational equity.
Why do women and children require special protection and assistance in a disaster? In many parts of the world, women often lack economic, social and political power.
Statistics show that women have a lower labor participation rate and lower salaries than men, and they have less than one-third participation in decisionmaking in grassroots social organizations.
In addition, women are often primary caretakers and bear the brunt of responsibility for their families. Consequently, when disaster strikes or they suddenly lose their normal source of economic support, their ability to survive can be limited, and they might face greater threats to their lives.
Helping women in the flood-stricken areas to get back on their feet economically, by means of the Empowering Employment Program, was one of the government’s foremost tasks, and it has become the model response with regard to other disasters that have taken place.
In the immediate aftermath of Morakot, the government established the August 8 Temporary Work Plan to provisionally set disaster victims’ minds at rest and safeguard their livelihoods.
In response to the victims’ needs, the authorities ran various employment training courses, from cloth bag weaving in Aboriginal villages to the Taiwan Indigen Women Style brand, which established itself internationally.
These measures were all achieved through cooperation between the government, local communities and private businesses, and facilitated the consolidation of local resources and continuity of people’s livelihoods.
A young Aboriginal woman who was a disaster victim took part in the recruitment test for employment advisers in Aboriginal areas, thus going from help-seeker to help-giver.
Some entrepreneurs who started out with help from the Workforce Development Agency’s Phoenix Micro Start-up Loan Program went to flood-stricken areas to provide companionship for children who had lost their parents and livelihoods, so that adults in the community could rebuild their homes and fields with peace of mind.
Climate change is leading to food shortages, poverty, trauma and difficulties in providing healthcare and education. Being relatively disadvantaged in many parts of the world, women and children are all the more vulnerable to these impacts.
For example, they might be threatened by violence, suffer increased health risks and bear heavier burdens of family care.
To improve the position of women and children in disasters, people should take into account the following recommendations regarding social governance and dialogue.
First, people must increase women’s participation in making decisions about disaster governance and recovery in community organizations.
The UN’s sustainable development goals state the importance of empowering and including women and local communities in the management of climate change.
Community disaster prevention and rescue in Taiwan still mostly revolves around the number of people attending public information activities — which is a shallow measure — while little importance is placed on women’s participation in governance and decisionmaking.
Their perspectives should be taken into account in government policies responding to climate change, all the way from the central government down to local initiatives.
Second, people need better planning for handling personal safety in shelters.
This should include women’s needs for healthcare, medical treatment and hygiene, and making sure that women take part in safety planning for relocation to protect them from sexual harassment or sexual assault.
Third, innovation is called for in helping women to find employment in their localities, thus reinforcing their economic power.
The Multiple Employment Promotion Program has been up and running for many years, so now is a good time to review the program and make progressive policy adjustments.
This should involve reintegrating on-site employment resources, skills training and combining these things with community disaster gender governance.
Fourth, more should be done to eliminate child poverty and improve the employability of young people in disaster zones. During typhoon reconstruction, people do not want to see disadvantaged families becoming even more disadvantaged because of the disaster.
How to eliminate child poverty and promote the employment empowerment of teenagers and young people who have missed school and lost the support of their families is a key long-term issue.
Typhoons eventually pass, and people must continue protecting women and children and using policy instruments to fully equip them when faced with natural disasters.
Jennifer Wang is chairperson of the Sunshine Education and Culture Association and a former minister of labor affairs.
Translated by Julian Clegg
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