Action points based on findings

·         Increase opportunities for mine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) survivors to be involved in the planning and coordination of victim assistance.

·         Ensure that initial steps to dedicate government resources for physical rehabilitation are sustained and increased in future years to ensure the availability of these services throughout the country.

·         Support the effective implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), ratified in May 2014, including through the rapid establishment of the national council for persons with disabilities.

Victim assistance commitments

The Republic of Angola is responsible for a significant number of landmine survivors, cluster munition victims, and survivors of other ERW who are in need. Angola has made commitments to provide victim assistance through the Mine Ban Treaty.

Casualties Overview

Details and trends

In 2013, the Monitor identified 71 mine and ERW casualties in Angola.[1] The vast majority of casualties (93%, 64 of 69) were civilians; there were also three casualties among security forces and two deminer casualties.[2]

Many of the casualties identified lacked demographic details, such as sex and age, making it difficult to determine with certainty the demographic characteristics of 2013 casualties.[3] However, among those civilian casualties for which the age was known, half were children (19 of 38). All of the child casualties for which the sex was known were boys.[4] The adult casualties included five women, all from different incidents with antipersonnel mines and two victim-activated explosive devices of unknown type.[5]

There was a total of 24 incidents reported in 2013, occurring in 12 of Angola’s 18 provinces. This is similar in distribution to the geographic spread of casualties reported in 2011, when there were incidents in 14 provinces. However, in 2012 casualties were reported in just four provinces, representing a significant anomaly compared with other recent data. That together with the difference in casualties recorded could indicate a lack of casualty reporting from some provinces in 2012.[6]

The 71 mine/ERW casualties identified in 2013 were more than double the 34 mine/ERW casualties identified in 2012. However, it was similar to the total of 89 casualties reported in 2011.[7] Given the lack of a reliable collection mechanism for casualty data and the fluctuating annual casualty totals, it is not possible to accurately determine trends over time. However, in evaluating its Strategic Mine Action Plan 2006–2011, the Inter-Sectoral Commission on Demining and Humanitarian Assistance (CNIDAH) found that there had been a decline in the overall number of mine/ERW incidents recorded annually during the five-year period, but that the decline was not linear and did not reach the plan’s goal of reducing the number of incidents to “almost zero.”[8]

The total number of mine/ERW casualties in Angola is unknown, though estimates range from 23,000[9] to 80,000.[10] No details were available to substantiate these figures. By the end of 2013, 6,048 survivors had been registered in the provinces of Cabinda, Cunene, Huambo, Huila, Malanje, Namibe, and Zaire as part of the national mine/ERW victim survey.[11] Between 2000 and 2013, the Monitor identified 2,928 mine/ERW casualties, including 966 people killed, 1,814 injured, and 148 for which the outcome was unknown.[12] Between 2006 and 2011, CNIDAH registered 433 mine/ERW casualties, including 77 people killed and 356 injured.[13]

Cluster munition casualties

As of December 2013, the national victim survey had identified at least 354 cluster munition survivors, all in the province of Huambo.[14] This is the first available data from Angola with confirmed casualties from cluster munitions. Huambo is the only province of the seven surveyed through the end of 2013 where cluster munition victims have been identified.[15] The survey questionnaire developed in 2011 offered just three options as the cause of disability: “a mine,” “an accident,” or “unknown” with no option to report on cluster submunitions as the cause.[16] It was not reported if the questionnaire had been revised for use in Huambo province.

Victim Assistance

The total number of survivors in Angola is unknown, but there are many thousands. As of December 2013, 6,048 survivors had been identified in the first seven (of 18) provinces surveyed as part of the national victim survey.[17]

Victim assistance since 1999[18]

In 1999, Angola was still in the midst of a series of armed conflicts that did not end until 2002. These conflicts contributed to the destruction or deterioration of infrastructure such as health centers, hospitals, and roads. While several international organizations provided basic services such as emergency medical care and physical rehabilitation, overall care was grossly inadequate throughout the country.

In 2002, it was estimated that fewer than 30% of Angolans had access to any healthcare services, with lower percentages in rural areas where most survivors lived. With the stabilization of the security situation, the government and international community began investing in rebuilding the healthcare system and other basic infrastructure, increasing access to basic medical facilities. A government project, begun in 2012, facilitated emergency medical transport to hospitals in collaboration with the police and the fire department.

In 2005, international organizations began closing their programs and transferring management of healthcare facilities and rehabilitation centers to the government. The departure of Handicap International (HI) by the end of 2011 completed the withdrawal of international organizations that had been providing support for victim assistance. Already by 2008, all 11 physical rehabilitation centers were managed by the Ministry of Health. However, by 2009 production of prosthetics in all centers had declined due to a lack of materials and unpaid staff salaries. This decline continued until mid-2013 when the national mine action center began efforts to improve the quality of services in five provinces, funded by the Ministry of Health’s National Rehabilitation Program.

A limited number of economic inclusion projects have been available to survivors over the period, either through international organizations, national and local organizations of persons with disabilities, or government agencies such as the Ministry of Assistance and Social Reintegration (MINARS) and the national mine action center (CNIDAH), which began coordinating and facilitating victim assistance in 2001. These projects have fallen far short of the overall need.

International organizations supported the development of local survivor networks and disabled persons’ organizations (DPOs). However, these groups were hamstrung by lack of funding and the distances between them that prevented collaboration among the groups. Through the Comprehensive National Victim Assistance Action Plan 2007–2011, CNIDAH aimed to support the development of a national survivor network, but no progress was made toward this objective within the timeframe of the plan due to insufficient funding and organizational problems.

Victim assistance in 2013

The Presidential Physical Rehabilitation Program was launched to improve the availability of physical rehabilitation services through the provision of materials to rehabilitation centers and by improving the national referral system. Steps were also taken to improve emergency response times following mine/ERW incidents. The national mine/ERW survivor survey continued with nearly half of the country completed; CNIDAH recognized the need to increase financial resources to survey activities in order to complete the remaining provinces within the planned time period.

Assessing victim assistance needs

As of the end of 2013, mine/ERW survivors with disabilities in seven of Angola’s 18 provinces had been surveyed as part of the National Victim Survey and Needs Assessment. The survey was launched in October 2010 with the purpose of identifying and registering mine and cluster munition survivors with disabilities, to understand their living situation, and to determine how to promote their socio-economic inclusion.[19]

After having been suspended in 2012 due to funding constraints and to avoid the potential confusion of those surveyed with the national election registration process, it resumed in 2013. By the end of 2013, the survey was completed in Cabinda, Cunene, Huambo, Huila, Malanje, Namibe, and Zaire and a total of 6,048 survivors with a disability had been registered in these seven provinces which cover an estimated 40% of Angola’s land area.[20] As of the end of 2013, CNIDAH and MINARS found the results of the ongoing survey and needs assessment to be beneficial for planning and determining priorities to assist the target population.[21] In provinces where the survey was conducted, local CNIDAH offices were trained to assist with the data collection and serve as focal points for ongoing casualty data collection.[22]

Poor conditions of the roads and heavy rains created challenges for survey implementers to access rural and remote areas, where most survivors live. A lack of funding to keep the survey working consistently also led to long interruptions in data collection. CNIDAH determined that, consequently, the survey had completed fewer than two provinces per year on average between 2008 and 2013, well behind the original timeline for completion. Therefore, in order that surveys could be carried out in the remaining provinces simultaneously and speed up completion, CNIDAH recommended that more funds be dedicated to the project.[23]

CNIDAH also reported progress in the development of accident surveillance mechanisms working with provincial hospitals, communal and municipal administrations, traditional leaders, and operators working in the field.[24]

Victim assistance coordination[25]

CNIDAH’s victim assistance coordination efforts in 2013 were focused on the ongoing implementation of the National Victim Survey, raising awareness of the rights of persons with disabilities, revitalizing physical rehabilitation centers throughout the country, and contributing to the development of the CNIDAH National Strategic Mine Action Plan 2013–2017 and the concurrent PNIAVM for 2013–2017.[26] By April 2013, the PNIAVM 2013–2017 was “successfully completed and the assistance sector now has an updated plan in accordance with CNIDAH Strategic Plan.”[27] As of June 2014, official approval of the plan was pending but the plan was already in use by CNIDAH and its partners.[28]

To monitor the implementation of the PNIAVM, in 2013, CNIDAH held national meetings of the Sub-Commission for Assistance and Reintegration. The meetings provided opportunities for focal points from relevant government ministries, service providers, and representatives of DPOs to share information about ongoing activities.[29] Provincial mine action workshops in Huambo and Malange also included discussions on victim assistance.[30]

CNIDAH also held meetings with the Cuban Embassy in Angola and a Cuban agency to explore possibilities for cooperation to assist Angola’s mine/ERW victims.

In 2013, Angola also developed the National Plan of Integrated Action on Disability 2013–2017 as part of Angola’s national development plan “Angola 2025.” The disability plan includes the objective of establishing a national council for persons with disabilities, designed to raise the profile of disability issues within the executive branch of the government and to improve coordination on disability issues among all government ministries.[31]

In 2013, Angola provided an update on victim assistance activities in a statement at the Thirteenth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Geneva in December 2013 and through Form J of the Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report.[32] Angola also reported on victim assistance activities and relevant advances in the area of disability laws, policies, and programs at the Third Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty in Maputo in June 2014.[33]

Inclusion and participation in victim assistance

Survivor associations and DPOs participated in national and provincial coordination meetings convened by CNIDAH as part of the Sub-Committee for Social Support and Reintegration. CNIDAH reported that landmine victims were involved in the coordination of the mine/ERW victim survey and in awareness-raising activities.[34] However, local participation, particularly by survivors and other persons with disabilities, appeared to be severely lacking in the implementation of the mine/ERW victim survey.[35] In 2013, no organizations working with survivors or with people with disabilities were involved in the survey; just one local NGO assisted in the data collection.[36]

Associations of victims of armed conflict and organizations of persons with disabilities were involved in the implementation of vocational training and income-generating projects, the distribution of mobility devices and in providing transportation and referrals so that mine/ERW victims could access other services.[37]

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities[38]

Emergency and ongoing medical care

In recent years, the government increased its expenditure on the national healthcare system, increasing the number of health centers in rural areas, improving accessibility to health services, and increasing the availability of medicine. While it was likely that this would have improved basic healthcare services for mine/ERW survivors along with the rest of the population, there was no information available on the impact of these changes.[39]

In 2013 and into 2014, the government announced progress in reconstructing roads to aid in the emergency evacuation of mine/ERW survivors and others in need of emergency medical care; it also announced the construction of health facilities, the decentralization of specialized services, and an increase in highly trained medical professionals.[40]

Physical rehabilitation

Following several years of declining prosthetics production in Angola’s 11 rehabilitation centers, in May 2013 a new physical rehabilitation project was initiated to improve the quality of services in five provinces, funded by the National Rehabilitation Program. Referred to as the Presidential Plan for Physical Rehabilitation, project activities include re-establishing physical therapy units in hospitals to meet basic needs, referral systems to the rehabilitation centers for more complex cases, as well as training for orthopedic technicians and the provision of new equipment for manufacturing of orthopedic devices.[41] In the first phase of the project, three rehabilitation centers in Negage, Viana, and Bié received materials for the production of prosthetics and orthotics.[42] In addition, basic physiotherapy and rehabilitation services were introduced in several referral hospitals.[43]

Various associations of persons disabled by armed conflict and DPOs also distributed different mobility devices, such as wheelchairs, crutches, and other aids, from which mine/ERW survivors and other persons with disabilities benefited.[44]

Psychological support

No advances where identified in the availability of psychological support in 2013. In 2012, CNIDAH recruited a psychologist who coordinated meetings with partner organizations to develop a strategic plan to establish services.[45] As in previous years, some DPOs and survivor associations provided peer support services.[46] The ongoing national victim survey did not include any questions regarding access to, or need for, psychological support.[47]

Economic and social inclusion

Few changes were identified in the availability or access to economic inclusion activities in 2013. Government policies were revised to make it easier to establish small businesses.[48]

Angola’s National Institute for Employment and Vocational Training (INEFOP) included mine/ERW survivors in training courses in the provinces of Moxico and Kuanza Norte. MINARS continued to support some income-generating opportunities for mine/ERW survivors, among other persons with disabilities, including the establishment of transportation cooperatives in Lunda Norte and Kuanza Norte. Associations of armed conflict victims and organizations for persons with disabilities also supported access to training courses and income-generating projects for a small number of mine/ERW survivors.[49]

Angola’s “Work and Education Program” has a dual purpose to promote the inclusion of persons with disabilities in small development cooperatives and to advance community development. The program has employed thousands of persons with disabilities since 2010 but no information was available on how many mine/ERW survivors have been included.[50]

In Bie province, there were increased opportunities for mine/ERW survivors in sporting activities adapted for persons with disabilities.[51]

Laws and policies

In 2013, the Protection Law for Persons with Disabilities (2012) lacked enforcement and discrimination against persons with disabilities remained prevalent.[52] As of June 2014, legislation on physical accessibility had been drafted and was awaiting approval to become law.[53]

Angola ratified the CRPD on 19 May 2014.