Summary action points based on 2013 findings

·         Victim Assistance coordination was ineffective, while survivor identification and needs assessment continues to be much needed.

·         Increased services are needed in all areas of victim assistance, particularly physical rehabilitation and employment.

·         There is an acute need for improved facilities and professional capacity in the rehabilitation sector. Government investment and support to rehabilitation and emergency care is also needed to ensure sustainability.

·         The ICRC reported allocation of funding from the European Union (EU) to strengthen the existing center in N’Djamena. Although limited, donor funding is making an impact that could be significantly increased through such cooperation.

Victim assistance commitments

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

Casualties

Casualties overview

The Monitor recorded nine mine/ERW casualties in Chad.[1] However, given the lack of national data collection and reporting systems, it is probable that there were a larger number of new casualties that were unreported. Similarly, data reported for previous years was inconsistent and not indicative of trends: 15 casualties were reported in 2012, 34 in 2011, and 28 in 2010.[2] In early 2014, one single incident killed five civilians and injured an additional 15 when their cars drove into an unmarked minefield in northern Chad.[3] In addition, for the first half of 2014 the National Demining Center (Centre National de Déminage, CND) reported a significant increase in casualties with 43 new victims.[4]

At least 2,889 mine/ERW casualties had been identified by the end of 2013: 1,155 people were killed, another 1,535 injured, and 198 unknown.[5]

The number of casualties caused by cluster munition remnants or the use of cluster munitions in Chad remained unknown due to a lack of detailed and comprehensive data collection.[6]

Victim Assistance

The total number of mine/ERW survivors in Chad is not known, though there were thought to be more than 1,607.[7] Between 1998 and 2013, the CND estimated that there were at least 2,834 survivors and family members of people killed by mines/ERW registered in Chad but recognized that this data was not complete.[8]

Victim assistance since 1999

Services for mine/ERW survivors in Chad have been hampered by intermittent internal conflict and cross-border conflicts, as well as serious under-funding. Data on mine/ERW casualties is not adequate for use; information on the needs of survivors was not available. Most services were provided by the ICRC. An overall need to establish services and capacities outside the capital N’Djamena remained, especially in remote and affected areas such as the northern part of the country.

As of 2013, to access most services many survivors still needed to be transferred to N’Djamena, where the existing facilities were; however, the facilities were few and inadequate in view of the needs. Rehabilitation was limited to just two centers and those services were not free of charge unless covered by the ICRC, which also continued to provide a referral system and local staff training. There was a persistent lack of physiotherapists and trained service providers; none worked in mine-affected areas. Psychosocial support, vocational training, and economic reintegration opportunities for survivors and persons with disabilities were extremely limited; the situation was exacerbated by widespread societal discrimination against them. Legislation addressing persons with disabilities was not adequately enforced. Government attention to victim assistance increased through 2010 and 2011 with the development of the National Action Plan on Victim Assistance, which was adopted in May 2012. However, few initiatives were undertaken in 2013 to implement this action plan[9] despite the adoption of an implementation strategy for the action plan during the year.[10]

There were no significant changes in the accessibility, availability, or quality of victim assistance services in Chad in 2013.

Assessing victim assistance needs

In 2013, no survivor needs assessments were made in Chad. The CND country-wide mapping study of all mine/ERW survivors announced in 2011 as part of the implementation of the newly adopted National Action Plan on Victim Assistance was never reported to have been completed as planned; a census of mine victims and assessment of their needs was identified as a priority of the implementation strategy of the action plan adopted in 2013.[11]

Victim assistance coordination[12]

This first National Plan of Action on Victim Assistance was adopted in May 2012, to be implemented from 2012–2014.[13] Because of lack of resources for its implementation, little progress had been made towards achieving the objectives set out in the action plan and consequently in 2013 it was decided to extend the timeframe of the plan to 2017.[14]

The plan recognizes the principle of non-discrimination between mine/ERW victims and other victims and persons with disabilities.[15] The plan of action identifies five key objectives:

1.      Contact each survivor through organizations of mine/ERW victims and disabled persons’ organizations (DPOs) and assess their needs and the best way to respond.

2.      Identify and reinforce community networks (including DPOs).

3.      Map and improve victim assistance activities.

4.      Develop a network of actors within the communities to provide psychological support and provide information on available services to victims.

5.      Identify and train all service providers in affected regions on victim assistance and improve accessibility to services in all parts of the country.[16]

The objectives of the National Plan of Action on Victim Assistance have also been included in the Strategic Mine Action Plan 2013–2017.[17] In 2013, Chad developed and adopted an implementation strategy for the action plan which includes the following objectives:

1.      Launch a national victims’ survey immediately.

2.      Promote the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and its implementation.

3.      Improve access to primary care, rehabilitation services, and psychological support after an incident and in the longer term.

4.      Encourage and support inclusive development of mine/ERW victims and persons with disabilities.

5.      Promote the rights of victims and persons with disabilities among families, communities, and governmental ministries in order to eradicate discriminatory practices.

6.      Ensure coordination among actors, including a follow-up and update of the National Plan of Action on Victim Assistance with the participation of all relevant stakeholders.

7.      Mobilize national and international resources in order to implement the National Plan of Action on Victim Assistance.[18]

No victim assistance coordination meetings were reported having been organized by the CND in 2013.[19] In May 2013, the Ministry of Public Health signed a decree creating a working group to specifically address physical rehabilitation needs in Chad entitled Network of Rehabilitation Actors in Chad (Réseau des acteurs de la rehabilitation au Tchad).[20] It started working in July 2013.[21] Members of this network include representatives of the CND, representatives of the Ministry of Public Health and of the Ministry of Social Welfare, Family and National Solidarity (Ministry of Social Welfare) , international organizations such as UNICEF, the ICRC, the two rehabilitation centers, and specialists, as well as mine survivors and other DPOs.[22]

Implementation of the draft rehabilitation action plan had been delayed due to the ongoing problems with victim assistance, including financial difficulties, the distance of rehabilitation centers from affected areas, and a lack of international technical assistance. However, in 2013 funding from the European Commission was designated to the Kabalaye Physical Rehabilitation Center (Centre d’Appareillage et de Rééducation de Kabalaye, CARK) for a three-year project.[23]

Ministry of Social Welfare is responsible for protecting the rights of people with disabilities, including access to rehabilitation services.[24]

Chad provided updates on progress and challenges for victim assistance at the Thirteenth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Geneva in December 2013.[25] In January 2013, Chad submitted its first Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report since 2010. Form J provided an overview of casualties of mines/ERW over the years 2010 to 2012 and recognized that little had been done in the past on victim assistance due to lack of funding.[26]

Inclusion and participation in victim assistance

In 2013, the ICRC reported working closely with survivor associations, especially in affected areas, to gather information and enhance referrals to rehabilitation centers.[27] Survivors did not participate in international meetings of the Mine Ban Treaty or Convention on Cluster Munitions as part of their country’s delegation.

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities[28]

Emergency and continuing medical care

During 2013, there was relative stability with the end of armed conflict that had been ongoing since 2010. In response, the ICRC scaled back its emergency activities to focus mainly on providing surgical care in the east and treatment to amputees throughout the country.[29] The Abéché hospital maintained its emergency, surgical, and physiotherapy capacities with regular financial and material support as well as training from the ICRC, including through an ICRC surgical team that had been at the hospital since 2009. Amputees received good quality post-surgical care from two ICRC-trained and financed physiotherapists. However, in November 2013 the ICRC ended its support to the hospital and found that as a result the independent long-term functioning of the hospital could not be guaranteed despite its measures to transfer supervision to the national authorities.[30]

Physical rehabilitation, including prosthetics

Access to rehabilitation remained difficult for most of those in need in 2013. Rehabilitation services were only available in six of the 23 regions in Chad. Access to rehabilitation was hampered by the lack of financial support from the social system to cover the cost of rehabilitation treatment, the lack of facilities and professionals, and the burden of the cost of transport (when it was available).[31] There was no direct involvement by the government in physical rehabilitation and patients had to pay for services.[32]

In 2013, the ICRC continued to support the two functioning centers, CARK in N’Djamena and MNDP in Moundou, where 4,501 persons with disabilities, including mine/ERW survivors, were treated. Mine/ERW survivors received more than 20% of the prosthetic and orthotic devices made from ICRC-supplied components at the two rehabilitation centers.[33] Staff training also enhanced the quality of services.[34]

The ICRC continued to provide financial and logistical assistance to survivors for increasing access to rehabilitation services by allowing survivors living in remote areas, especially from the northern part of the country, to come to N’Djamena’s rehabilitation centers. The ICRC paid for transportation to the capital and for physical rehabilitation costs including prostheses and physiotherapy services.[35] Following the demolition of the AEHPT-run accommodation center in August 2010 which had been used by the ICRC for patients coming from outside the capital,[36] only a limited number of beneficiaries with particular difficulties, especially children and those without any family members in N’Djamena, were provided with accommodation and food during their rehabilitation.[37] Throughout 2013, the ICRC advocated for the ministries for health and social affairs to increase their investment in physical rehabilitation services to ensure that the CARK becomes less dependent on ICRC involvement in the future. It also conducted activities to identify additional international partners.[38]

Laws and policies

The law protects the rights and prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities. However, while the government made efforts to enforce it in N’Djamena, it was unable to do so throughout the country. No legislation or programs exist to ensure access to buildings for persons with disabilities.[39]

Chad signed the CRPD in September 2012.[40] On 26 March 2013, Chad ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[41]