Analyzing Japan’s Policy Cooperation for Disaster Management: A Case Study of the Green

Mekong Initiatives Towards Cyclone-Prone Coastal Region in Myanmar’s

Ayeyarwady Delta

Abstract

Natural disasters threaten the country with its geographical conditions and climate change
conditions, disrupting livelihoods and the region's sustainable development and human security.
Myanmar’s Ayeyarwady Delta is also highly vulnerable to devastating cyclones and storm surges, so
it needs to be more resilient to disasters. The evidence that Cyclone Nargis hit the Ayeyarwady
Delta region in 2008 was highlighted as a severe disaster with over 130,000 deaths. Besides,
recurrent floods in the region also severely impact agriculture, human security and regional
development. A disaster is a sudden event that results from the convergence of hazardous
conditions and vulnerabilities, leading to significant adverse effects on social well-being and
environmental security. The environment plays a crucial role in disaster risk reduction because it
can be both a disaster trigger and protector for communities, therefore, environmental well-being
is vital for humans as they rely on environmental resources. Thus, this study analyzes disaster
management of the “A Decade towards Green Mekong Initiative Policy” using a qualitative research
method and secondary sources to access resilience levels within the research region from the
environmental dimension. The thematic analysis serves as the analytical tool facilitating the
identification of key themes within the collected data and offering comprehensive insights into the
experiences, challenges, and perspectives of stakeholders involved in disaster management efforts.
The study provides both the effectiveness and the necessary refinement of the policy to enhance
further integration of environmental dimensions into future disaster management and some gaps
while implementing the policy based on their practices. In conclusion, this research underscores
and contributes to shaping international cooperation frameworks of disaster risk reduction to
leverage resources for enhancing environmental resilience in the Ayeyarwady Delta Region and
similar contexts.

Keywords: Green Mekong Initiatives, Disaster Management, Disaster Resilience, Environmental

Security and Myanmar
 1. Introduction

Natural disasters like floods, storms, and earthquakes globally threaten livelihoods and
sustainable development. Climate change exacerbates disaster risks. UN estimated disasters
impacted 4.2 billion people from 2000-2019 (UNDRR, 2021). In 2019-2020, EM-DAT found that
nearly 194 million people were affected, with 26,835 lives lost in 785 disasters (Sen, 2021).
Myanmar is also vulnerable to various hazards, and the Ayeyarwady Delta of the country is
particularly susceptible to devastating cyclones and storm surges, exemplified by Cyclone Nargis in
2008, which caused over 130,000 deaths (Webster, 2008), although it is Myanmar's main paddy-
producing region housing 70% of the country's ponds (WWF, 2018). Disasters occur when
hazardous conditions and vulnerabilities converge, significantly impacting social well-being and
environmental security, making it a national and international concern (Khan, Vasilescu & Khan,
2008).
The environment is crucial in disaster risk reduction and its well-being is essential for
humans who rely on its resources (DEWGA, 2008). Integrating environmental considerations into
disaster risk reduction enhances resilience and mitigates the impacts on both human and natural
systems, underscoring the importance of environmental security for long-term resilience and
ecosystem protection. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) defined disaster
management as “the body of policy and administrative decisions and operational activities which
pertain to the various stages of a disaster at all levels” (USAID, 2011, p. 38). Disaster resilience is a
society's ability to withstand disasters with minimal harm and maintain social, physical, and
psychological stability, returning to pre-disaster conditions (Sen, 2021). It involves reducing
hazards or restoring vulnerabilities to promote community resilience (Graveline & Germain, 2022).
Building resilience in the Ayeyarwady Delta requires a comprehensive, integrated disaster
management approach, involving government agencies, NGOs, and other stakeholders because
effective policies, action plans, and strategies are essential for enhancing disaster resilience and
ensuring successful disaster management (Sen, 2021).
In Myanmar, Japan demonstrated international cooperation by providing emergency relief
supplies and vital aid following Cyclone Nargis (MOFA, 2009c; Ehrenfeld & Aanenson, 2013).
Following the 2008 cyclone, Japan launched the "A Decade toward the Green Mekong" initiative in
2009 to promote regional cooperation on environmental and disaster management issues (MOFA
Japan, 2010). This study analyzes Japan’s policy cooperation aimed at strengthening Myanmar’s
cyclone preparedness under this initiative, focusing on the Ayeyarwady Delta. It assesses the
region's vulnerabilities and evaluates the policy's effectiveness, suggesting refinements to better
integrate environmental dimensions into future disaster management. This research contributes to
shaping international cooperation frameworks for disaster risk reduction and enhancing
environmental resilience in the Ayeyarwady Delta and similar regions.

2. Environmental Security
The environmental security is a link between the well-being of the natural environment and
the security of people, societies and the biosphere (Floyd & Matthew, 2012). In the 1980s,
environmental security gained prominence due to global issues like global warming, and "Our
Common Future" by the World Commission on Environment and Development (1987) introduced
'environmental security' into international debates (Trombetta, 2008), proposing that national
security could depend on environmental security (Floyd & Matthew, 2012).
The Disasters Environmental Working Group for Asia (DEWGA, 2008) noted that early
studies described the environment as dangerous, often using terms like 'environmental hazards' or
'disasters.' However, it is crucial to recognize that disasters also impact the environment when it is
vulnerable to hazards (UNEP, 2011). The Millennium Project study on environmental security
found various definitions but no consensus (Wenning et al., 2007; Glenn, Gordon, & Florescu, 2012).
One definition by the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) describes it as "the state of
protection of vital interests of the individual, society, and natural environment from threats
resulting from natural impacts on the environment" (Glenn, Gordon, & Florescu, 2012, p.17).
Another definition sees environmental security as protecting the local and global biosphere, the
foundation on which humans rely for their enterprise (Trombetta, 2008).
Belluck et al. defined environmental security as actions aimed at protecting human,
material, and natural resources from environmental degradation, spanning global to local scales
(Belluck et al. (2005) as cited in Wenning et al, 2007) and also involve protecting from the natural
disaster impacts such as storms, earthquakes and others (Wenning et al, 2007). The environment is
recognized as having an important role in the disaster risk reduction approach because it can
trigger disasters and also protect communities (UNEP, 2011). Environmental well-being is essential
for human well-being, as natural disasters can degrade the resilience of natural systems to disaster-
related effects (DEWGA, 2008). The significance of environmental security goes beyond concerns
about man-made or natural disasters and also encompasses the issues of environmental
degradation and sustainability (Sobhan, 2012). Environmental degradation significantly increases
disaster vulnerabilities, and thus, integrating environmental considerations into disaster risk
reduction efforts enhances resilience and mitigates disaster impacts on human and natural systems
because environmental security is crucial for long-term resilience and protecting ecosystems.

3. Disaster Management

Disaster management is the method of organization and resources management to cope with
these impacts of disaster for all humanitarian aspects of emergencies through preparedness,
response, and recovery to reduce the disaster impacts (Chondekar, 2018; Sawalha, 2023) and is
defined as the dynamic process by many authors (Sawalha, 2023). The United Nations Development
Program (UNDP) defined disaster management as “the body of policy and administrative decisions
and operational activities which pertain to the various stages of a disaster at all levels” (USAID,
2011, p. 38).
A disaster results from the combination of hazards, vulnerabilities, and insufficient capacity or
risk-reduction measures (Khan, Vasilescu & Khan, 2008). Modh (2010) argued that disasters can
also create opportunities for development by changing society and its characteristics through
housing construction and land reform, making communities more resilient to future impacts and
adopting smarter frameworks based on past disasters (Sawalha, 2023). Therefore, developmental
considerations are crucial for disaster mitigation and preparation (Khan, Vasilescu & Khan, 2008).
However, poor disaster management can exacerbate existing vulnerabilities, negatively affecting
victims, donors, and relief agencies, and increasing future hazard vulnerability (Chondekar, 2018;
Modh, 2010).
Disaster

Response
Preparedness

Before Disaster After Disaster

Mitigation
Rehabilitation
 Figure 2.1 Disaster Management Cycle

Efficient disaster management planning must comprehensively address all activities and
conditions that would occur before, during and after a disaster whereas emergency relief and
rehabilitation are crucial components of this process (IGNOU, 2017). All these stages are
interconnected and activities across these stages can be performed simultaneously but the
important thing is the timely implementation of disaster management to minimize the risks (Bali,
2024).
Tay et al (2022) concluded that there are also some sources of risks through the phases of
the disaster management cycle, that seems to resonate with practising effective disaster
management, such as operational (unanticipated changes ie, product unavailability or lacking
personnel) and infrastructure (information and transportation) risks that should be taken into
account while providing the affected region to rescue. Therefore, to prevent future disaster impacts,
public policies should be adopted following these phases, then they can prevent future tragedies by
disrupting the vicious cycle of cause and effect (IGNOU, 2017).

4. Disaster Resilience

Since before three decades, the concept of ‘resilience’ originated in the ecological field
(Ranjan & Abenayake, 2014) by Holling (1973) (Shao, Soda & Xu, 2016) and has been a significant
concept in the field of disaster risk management and climate change adaptation ( Tiernan et al,
2019) also applied to social systems and human-environmental systems (Rodriguez-Nikl, 2015).
Holling (1973) defines resilience as "a buffer capacity or the ability of a system to absorb
perturbation or the magnitude of the disturbance that can be absorbed before a system changes its
structure by changing the variables" (Holling et al., 1995, cited in Ranjan & Abenayake, 2014, p.89).
Some scholars commonly attribute with words such as robustness, efficiency, redundancy,
adaptability, and transformability (Shao, Soda & Xu, 2016), bouncing back or jumping back (Ranjan
& Abenayake, 2014). Norris et al (2008, as cited in Tiernan et al, 2019) also found that there is no
single definition of resilience but it can be expressed as ‘perturbation’ and ‘recovery’ compared
through various research. Maru (2010) considered that ‘resistance’ and ‘recovery’ are the main
themes of this concept.
Mayunga (2007) assumed that the redundant term of resilience could deplete the
improvement of disaster risk reduction or policy formulation. Maru (2010) observed that “most
applications of the resilience concept on individual or social systems if not explicit have at least
implicit a steady-state (an equilibrium) assumption that the entity has to hold onto or bounce back
to after a perturbation” (p.11), meaning that the resilience involves both the ability of recovery and
to return their stable or desired state after the disturbance. Disaster resilience refers to a society's
ability to endure disasters with minimal harm and return to pre-existing conditions while
maintaining social, physical, and psychological stability (Sen, 2021).
It also encompasses a community's capacity y to respond and recover through an adaptive
process that enables the social system to recognize, change, and learn from disasters (Coetzee,
Niekerk & Raju, 2016). Disaster resilience has a long-standing role in disaster risk management,
encompassing risk reduction, prevention, preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery
(Combaz, 2014). Disaster and environmental studies should prioritize resilience measures for long-
term outcomes. Research on national catastrophe resilience policies is crucial for identifying
effective actions, and intervention strategies can mitigate cumulative risks and enhance resilience
(Wenger, 2017).
 2.3 Policy Analysis
Public policy is a set of guidelines that direct decision-making, establish principles, and outline
future goals pursued by governments and other stakeholders. These guidelines are translated into
action through various administrations, programs, and projects to achieve specific objectives and
address societal challenges (Khan & Khandaker, 2016). Public policy is regarded as a “series or
pattern of government activities or decisions to remedy certain social problems” (Khan &
Khandaker, 2016, p.539). Therefore, implementing public policies must achieve the intended goals
for citizens. Policy implementation is a vital setting of the policymaking process (Khan &
Khandaker, 2016) where various stakeholders and organizations cooperate using techniques and
procedures (Inpin, 2011), however, there is a lack of universally accepted theories that can provide
clear direction and guidance to put policies into practice effectively (Khan & Khandaker, 2016).
In the field of implementation, many researchers agree that the complexity of policy
implementation cannot be fully explained by any single theory (Seraw & Lu, 2020). Scholars
advocate for a multi-theoretical approach, drawing on insights from various perspectives to
provide a more comprehensive understanding of implementation, as seen in the work of Wildavsky
and Pressman, Mazmanian and Sabatier, and Lipsky. Then, a hybrid approach acknowledges that
implementation outcomes are influenced by factors at both central and local levels (Khan &
Khandaker, 2016). Consequently, the third generation of implementation research combines top-
down and bottom-up models, emphasizing their respective strengths and weaknesses (Seraw & Lu,
2020).
Researchers have attempted to synthesize the benefits of various approaches into a single
model (Seraw & Lu, 2020). The top-down and bottom-up approaches highlighted key factors for
implementation failures (Inpin, 2011; Najam, 1995), leading to a strengthened understanding of
complex variables affecting implementation outcomes through modified analytic models (Najam,
1995). In this context, Khan & Khandaker (2016) developed models to guide successful
implementation, aiming to expedite performance by exploring the theoretical aspects of policy
implementation and addressing performance issues (Seraw & Lu, 2020). They advocated a rational
model based on the theory of policy implementation, incorporating third-generation thinking
(Seraw & Lu, 2020). This model assumes that successful policy implementation requires clear goals
and objectives, accurate planning, suitable job assignments, efficient monitoring and evaluation,
and effective operating procedures and techniques to align responsibilities with policy objectives
(Khan & Khandaker, 2016).

Independent Variables Dependent Variable

1. Clarify of policy goals,

targets and objectives
2. Accurate and consistent
planning Implementation
3. Clear and detailed task Positive Impact Performance
assignments
4. Accurate standardization
5. Proper monitoring

Figure.2.2 Rational Model by Khan and Khandaker (2016)

3. Methods

This study employs a qualitative research method which involves gathering nonnumerical
data and identifying patterns or themes to answer research questions, similar to narrative research
(Bui, 2019) and secondary sources are applied to access resilience levels within the research region
from the environmental dimension. The thematic analysis serves as the analytical tool facilitating
the identification of key themes within the collected data and offering comprehensive insights into
the experiences, challenges, and perspectives of stakeholders involved in disaster management
efforts. Data are collected through relevant documents such as the publications of related foreign
governments, books, reports, statistics, public records, and other related documents. These
secondary data may be provided to obtain the facts of both disaster risks of the region, resilience
building process, organizational cooperation, and administration and also to understand Japan's
policy cooperation for disaster management and its effect on the Ayeyarwady Delta region.