State the median age for Country B in the year 2000.

State which country has the greatest projected increase in median age between 2010 and 2040.

Explain one reason why the median age of a population could decrease.

Explain one environmental consequence of one named forced migration.

Named example of forced migration:

Environmental consequence:

Explain one policy designed to prevent human trafficking.

29 (years). Accept 28–29.

Country B

Award [1] for a valid reason for the decrease in median age and [1] for explanation of how it affects the median age.

Valid reasons (dependent on current median age) include:

• In-migration of youthful people/out-migration of elderly people.
• High birth rate/rise in birth rate/fertility rate will increase the proportion of younger population.
• Increased mortality among elderly population/decrease in life expectancy.
• Increase in death rate due to conflict decreases the proportion of independent population.

For example: The arrival of youthful economic migrants [1] means proportionately more younger people, reducing the median age [1].

The example could be internal displacement or refugees. Accept a broad interpretation of “environmental”, to include the built environment and landscape.

Identified and located example of a forced migration [1]. Identified environmental consequence [1]. Further developed explanation [1].

Environmental consequence of migration may include:

• Deforestation
• Soil erosion
• Contamination of water supplies – rivers/groundwater
• Depletion of water resources
• Waste disposal
• Aesthetic damage
• Production of environments that breed disease
• Loss of biodiversity
• Air pollution
• Land degradation.

For example: Northern Cameroon hosts Nigerian refugees who have escaped violence [1] this has caused rapid deforestation [1] as refugees need firewood for cooking [1].

For example: Lebanon has many Syrian refugees escaping war [1] the waste from informal settlements is often dumped in an uncontrolled manner [1] this leads to soil and water pollution [1].

Identification of a valid policy at societal, NGO, national or international level [1]; development with details on how it operated/operates [1] further development which may include why it was introduced or magnitude of the problem [1].

Policies may include:

• Accreditation schemes such as Fair Trade, Global Organic Textile Standard, Ethical Trading initiative decrease demand for cheap clothes that cause trafficking of labour in LICs
• Education of individuals to decrease demand for services provided by trafficked populations – “John Schools” in USA that are aimed at changing attitudes of sex buyers
• National Agency against Trafficking in Persons in Romania educates target groups to increase their awareness
• Travel restrictions – children not travel without parents’/parent’s signature eg Brazil
• Community activities such as vigilance groups in India that detect trafficked population in villages
• Prosecution of individuals/firms that use trafficked labour or groups that organize the trafficking of people by the National Crime Agency in UK
• Government legislation intended to curb trafficking eg Danish Criminal Code, Modern Slavery Act in UK
• Border controls such as border patrols by South African National Defence Force
  on SA’s northern borders
• International co-operation – UN Protocol against trafficking
• Improve the lives of vulnerable groups of people in LICs eg National Referral Mechanism (UK agency) improving women’s accessibility to work in Albania.

For example:

• Cambodia passed legislation in 2008 [1] that criminalizes all forms of trafficking for men, women and children [1]. Fines and prison sentences are applied to those convicted [1].

The majority of candidates were confident with the extraction of data from a line graph and gave a correct answer. There were however a number that were not accurate enough with their use of the axes and gave a figure outside of the acceptable range. Candidates may benefit from practice in graph analysis under timed conditions to improve their efficiency of data extraction.

This question was answered correctly by the vast majority of candidates.

Most candidates referred to birth rate or migration when identifying an appropriate reason for a decrease in median age. Some answers gave a correct reason but failed to explain how it resulted in a lower median age, for example they identified an increase in birth rate but did not outline how this resulted in a population with a higher proportion of younger people. Fewer answers referred to increased mortality of the elderly population but when it did occur it was well understood.

The majority of candidates named forced migration from Syria as their example although a significant number answered using environmental refugees to illustrate involuntary migration. These candidates chose their named example from a variety of areas affected by climatic extremes or sea level change. The best answers concentrated on the impacts of migrants on the destination location with reference to biomes, soils and water. Some candidates did, validly, examine the impacts of migration on the environment of the source area as population densities decreased. However, many candidates misunderstood the question and frequently referred to the environmental conditions that caused migration. It should also be noted that a number of candidates failed to name the forced migration or gave a generic cause such as volcanic eruptions. 

Candidates that did well in this question often produced answers that were based on an identified policy such as border controls in the USA, travel restrictions for children in Brazil, educating vulnerable groups in rural Vietnam or ethical trading initiatives that address trafficking such as Fairtrade. Some answers looked at international co-operation such as the UN Trafficking Protocol. The use of specific policies enabled far more focus when it came to explanatory development, whether this was details of how it operated or why it was introduced. However, there were a significant number of answers that failed to identify a specific policy and gave generic answers that were based vaguely on trafficking.