Summary action points

·         Improve the availability of physical rehabilitation and psychosocial services significantly; increase resources to establish these services.

·         Identify sustainable resources for assistance as a key priority; since most funding ended, many NGOs that provide victim assistance depend on irregular international funding channeled through the mine action sector.

·         Ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD); legislation was passed nationally in July 2013.

Victim assistance commitments

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is responsible for a significant number of survivors of landmines, cluster munition victims, and survivors of other explosive remnants of war (ERW) who are in need. DRC has made commitments to provide victim assistance through the Mine Ban Treaty and has obligations to cluster munition victims as a signatory to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Casualties

Casualties Overview

The UN Mine Action Coordination Center (UNMACC) in DRC reported 12 mine/ERW and submunition casualties in DRC for 2013.[1] In addition, the Monitor identified an additional incident where nine children were victims of a mine which exploded when they threw a rock at it, causing the death of one and injuring the others.[2] As in previous years, children constituted the majority of casualties, with more than 90% of casualties being minors. All casualties were reported as being civilians, including one woman. This represented an increase from the 13 casualties recorded by UNMACC for 2012.[3]

It has been reported that available casualty data significantly underrepresents the true number of people killed and injured due to the absence of a national data collection system for mine/ERW casualties and the fact that parts of the country remain inaccessible due to a lack of infrastructure and security constraints.[4]

UNMACC reported 2,516 mine/ERW casualties between 1964 and the end of 2013, with 1,063 people killed, 1,447 injured, and six cases in which it was unknown if the casualties survived.[5] Of all casualties, 1,627 were male and about a quarter (601) were female.[6] Children represented 43% (1,083) of the total casualties. Casualties were identified in all of DRC’s 11 provinces, although more than half of all casualties occurred in just three provinces: South Kivu (23%), Equateur (21%), and North Kivu (18%). In 2013, most casualties (18) took place in the province of North Kivu. Landmines caused 67% of casualties for which the explosive-device type was known.[7]

Cluster munition casualties

Cluster munition remnants caused 207 casualties in DRC through the end of 2013 (which accounts for 16% of all casualties for which the explosive-device type was known).[8]

Victim Assistance

By the end of 2013, UNMACC had recorded 1,447 mine/ERW survivors in DRC.[9]

Victim assistance since 1999

Since 1999, most people with disabilities in DRC have remained unable to access services. Due to conflict, poverty, and mass displacement, the many needs of persons with disabilities were not met. Access to services ranged from limited to non-existent and was further hampered by long distances, inaccessible terrain, and cost. Most services have been provided by NGOs. Conflict increased demands on services at the same time that some NGOs also faced funding difficulties.

Through to the end of 2013, the physical rehabilitation sector was under-resourced and the few functioning centers remained dependent on international support. Social workers within the healthcare system had received some basic training. Opportunities for psychological assistance were limited to ad hoc NGO projects.

Victim assistance in 2013

An upsurge of violence and conflict in DRC, especially in the provinces of North and South Kivu,[10] as well as reduced international funding provided through UNMACC[11] led to a decrease in services and geographical coverage in 2013.[12] However, new projects were implemented, in particular in the field of economic inclusion, physical rehabilitation, and psychological support through peers. Increased advocacy on the CRPD led to its ratification in July 2013.[13] Psychological support and care remained among the biggest challenges in mine/ERW victim assistance in DRC in 2013.[14]

As in previous years, the size of the country, combined with the lack of transportation and infrastructure, armed violence, and the financial cost of obtaining assistance all made it difficult for survivors to access the limited number of services, which were available only in major cities.[15]

Assessing victim assistance needs

No new victim assistance needs assessments were conducted in 2013.[16] Victim assistance stakeholders largely worked from the results of the 2011 victim identification and needs assessment campaigns conducted as part of the implementation of the National Strategic Plan for Assistance for Mine/ERW Victims and other Persons with Disabilities: November 2010–October 2011 (Plan Stratégique National d’Assistance aux Victimes des Mines/REG et autres Personnes en Situation de Handicap: Novembre 2010–Octobre 2011, PSNAVH).[17] Close to 500 mine/ERW survivors were identified among 1,000 persons with disabilities surveyed, identifying needs in healthcare, physical rehabilitation, and economic inclusion.[18] Also, in March–May 2010 national and international NGOs—including the Congolese Campaign to Ban Landmines and Cluster Munitions (CCBL) and the National Association of Landmine Survivors and Advocacy for Victims (Association Nationale de Survivants de Mines et de Défense des Interêts des Victimes, ANASDIV)—carried out a national needs assessments of mine/ERW survivors in cooperation with UNMACC.[19]

In 2013, however, UNMACC and NGOs tried to update these findings on an ad hoc basis during the course of conducting their normal activities.[20]

Victim assistance coordination in 2013[21]

In 2013, the Working Group on Victim Assistance (Groupe de Travail sur l’Assistance aux Victimes), which had been created in 2011 and was chaired by the Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs of the Ministry of Social Affairs,[22] was dissolved.[23] The role of coordination and planning was assumed by the sub-cluster on Disabilities, which falls under the Health Cluster (led by the World Health Organization, WHO).[24] Meetings were organized monthly but they did not address victim assistance specifically.[25] The sub-cluster is chaired by the NGO Christian Blind Mission (CBM) and the National Community Rehabilitation Programme (Programme National de Réhabilitation à Base Communautaire, PNRBC). It gathers the Ministry of Social Affairs, represented by the Directorate for Coordination of rehabilitation activities for persons with disabilities (Direction de Coordination des Activités de Réadaptation des Persones Handicapées, DICOREPHA) and international organizations such as UNMACC, the ICRC, and Handicap International (HI).[26] NGOs and survivor organizations are also invited to participate.[27] Throughout 2013, the sub-cluster on disabilities coordinated advocacy efforts toward the adoption of the CRPD.

In October 2013, following advocacy from the CCBL, terms of references were drafted for a “monthly meeting on victim assistance and mine risk education” (“réunions mensuelles d’assistance aux victimes et d’éducation aux risques de mines”) which should replace the meetings of the Working Group on Victim Assistance.[28] As of December 2013, no meetings under these new terms of references had been organized.[29]

The National Strategic Mine Action Plan for the period 2012–2016 includes a chapter on victim assistance that draws on the PSNAVH.[30] Five strategic objectives have been set on victim assistance: (1) improved information and data management on survivors and their needs; (2) strengthened physical rehabilitation nationally; (3) development of psychological support in accordance with victims’ needs; (4) ensuring access to socio-economic and professional rehabilitation; and (5) strengthening coordination mechanisms on victim rehabilitation.[31]

Funding remained a key challenge throughout 2013 to ensure the implementation of the victim assistance section of the National Mine Action Plan.[32] In 2013, UNMACC had to reduce the number of projects implemented by national victim assistance NGOs that it funded to concentrate particularly on the eastern part of DRC when international contributions came to an end. Because many such NGOs depended almost entirely on funds raised by UNMACC, there was a significant decrease in the number of service providers.[33]

DRC 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.[34] As of 1 June 2014, DRC had not submitted its Article 7 reports for the years 2012 and 2013. Victim assistance was reported only briefly, with no detail or data, in Form H of DRC’s voluntary Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 report for 2011.[35]

Inclusion and participation in victim assistance

In 2013, mine/ERW survivors and their representative organizations, as well as disabled persons’ organizations (DPOs), were included in efforts towards the implementation of Mine Action Plan 2012–2016, and in meetings of the sub-cluster on Disabilities.[36] In 2013, survivors were included in economic inclusion services, as well as in advocacy activities and peer support programs through NGOs.[37] One survivor was working as a technician in the Kelembe Lembe rehabilitation center in Kinshasa.[38]

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities in 2013[39]

Emergency and continuing medical care had limited support through government medical structures and there was a lack of accessible healthcare across DRC.[40]

The long distances to services, high financial costs of attaining them, and increased insecurity remained the greatest obstacles to accessing physical rehabilitation in 2013.[41] The PSNAVH estimated that just 20% of the population in need of physical rehabilitation services was able to access them.[42] In the entire country, there were only six rehabilitation centers operating effectively. Even these lacked sufficient materials to produce enough prosthetics to meet existing needs. Trained orthopedic technicians were needed, especially in mine-affected areas.[43] In 2013, the ICRC continued to work in conjunction with three rehabilitation centers.[44] However, at the end of 2013, it withdrew its support to the rehabilitation center in Kinshasa as the sustainability of activities could not be guaranteed.[45]

As in previous years, the ICRC did not provide direct support to centers in the country, except for some donations of equipment and tools, but instead covered the treatment costs of people directly affected by the conflict. After identifying and assessing patients, the ICRC referred them to centers with which it had cooperation agreements.[46] The number of prostheses produced with ICRC support in 2013 stabilized compared to 2012 but still constituted a decrease compared to previous years.[47] In 2013, mine/ERW survivors only received 10% of all prosthetic devices produced with the assistance of the ICRC[48] which is a decrease compared to 16% in 2012.[49]

The CNOPHAVM, a coalition of national NGOs which includes the CCBL, the ANASDIV, the Congolese Association of the liberation and development of disabled mothers (l’Association Congolaise pour la Libération et le Développement de la Maman Handicapée, ACOLDEMHA), the Congolese medico-social expert center for persons with disabilities (Centre Congolais d’Expertise Médico-Social pour Personnes Vivant avec Handicap, CCEMS-PVH), and Parousia, developed psychological and peer support programs in the provinces of South Kivu, North Kivu, Kinshasa, and South Congo.[50] In 2013, the ICRC also provided psychological support to people suffering from conflict-related trauma in the provinces of North and South Kivu and Province Orientale.[51] In 2011, the PSNAVH had highlighted that little or no psychological support or social inclusion initiatives were available to survivors.[52] Psychological support remained an area where the largest needs and gaps existed in 2013.[53]

In 2013, national NGOs continued to implement projects offering economic inclusion services to mine/ERW survivors.[54] UNMACC funded a number of NGO projects to provide small grants to survivors for income-generating activities. Through these projects, 153 beneficiaries were trained in small-scale business management and in specific agricultural techniques where appropriate. Animals, seeds for crops, and other equipment, including for hairdressing, were also provided.[55]

The 2006 constitution prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities, stipulates that all citizens regardless of their abilities have access to public services (including education), and provides that persons with disabilities are afforded specific protections by the government. However, the legislation was not effectively enforced and persons with disabilities often found it difficult to obtain employment, education, or government services. Legislation did not mandate access to buildings or government services for persons with disabilities.[56] A legislative proposal for a new law on protecting persons with disabilities and promoting their rights was drafted in 2012 with the involvement of NGOs. By December 2013, the draft was pending adoption by the parliament.[57]

In 2013, a series of advocacy activities and events were conducted in collaboration with UNMACC, ICRC, HI, the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Ministry of Health, and several national NGOs including DPOs to raise awareness on the ratification of the CRPD and the adoption of the new disability law.[58] These activities resulted in the national ratification of the CRPD on 7 July 2013 and published on in the national gazette on 1 August 2013.[59]

As of 6 June 2014, the DRC’s ratification had not yet been registered with the UN.