Summary findings

·         More adept health personnel are needed, particularly in remote areas; emergency medical response time and follow-up care both required improvements.

·         Victim assistance activities remained limited but a framework agreement was signed with the UN making possible the renewal of some activities and projects.

·         The national community-based rehabilitation (CBR) network and the government revolving fund for loans and microcredit opportunities from the national disabled veterans association provided most of the remaining support for survivors, other persons with disabilities, and war victims.

Victim assistance commitments

The State of Eritrea is responsible for a significant number of landmine survivors, cluster munition victims, and survivors of other explosive remnants of war (ERW) who are in need. Eritrea has made commitments to provide victim assistance through the Mine Ban Treaty.

Casualties

Casualties Overview

In 2013, the total number of casualties was not available. .

The total known number of mine/ERW casualties in Eritrea is 5,299 mine/ERW casualties (2,522 killed; 2,777 injured).[1] The EDA recorded 802 casualties (206 killed, 596 injured) between 2000 and the end of 2012, including 365 from 2005–2011 (86 killed, 279 injured).[2] The Eritrea Landmine Impact Survey (LIS) remains the most extensive source of cumulative casualty data, identifying 4,934 mine/ERW casualties up to June 2004 (2,436 killed, 2,498 injured).[3] Previous estimates of tens of thousands of mine casualties in Eritrea in total remain unconfirmed.[4] However, the LIS data collection was limited to communities that reported mine contamination.[5] Therefore, it is likely that the LIS does not record veterans injured and killed by mines from urban localities.

At least 163 casualties during cluster munition strikes in Eritrea have been reported. Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that there were about 160 casualties (approximately 50 killed and 110 injured) during the use of cluster munitions in 1990.[6] At least three casualties during the use of cluster munitions in 2000 were also reported.[7] In addition, incomplete casualty data indicated that at least nine casualties from cluster munitions remnants were reported in Eritrea after the year 2000.[8] The EDA did not provide information on whether there had been casualties caused by cluster munition remnants in 2013.

Victim Assistance

At least 2,791 mine/ERW survivors have been reported in Eritrea.[9]

Victim assistance since 1999

The Ministry of Labor and Human Welfare (MoLHW) had the central role in coordinating assistance for persons with disabilities, including mine/ERW survivors, and started developing a national data collection system on persons with disabilities in 2002. Basic physical rehabilitation, psychosocial services, and economic reintegration have been provided through a national CBR network, which the MoLHW started in 1995 and gradually expanded by 2008 to include the areas most affected by mines/ERW. The CBR network reached full national coverage by 2009, three years earlier than scheduled. NGO and ICRC programs and support for victim assistance and disabled persons began to lessen in 2003 and decreased significantly between 2005 and 2009.

As requested by the Eritrean government in 2011, international and national NGOs and UN agencies reduced or concluded their activities in the country.[10] The UNDP mine action program closed in July 2011, followed by the conclusion of UNICEF support to victim assistance at the end of 2011.[11] This left the state health system and CBR network as the providers of victim assistance, together with the national disabled veterans association.

Victim assistance in 2013

In 2013, victim assistance activities were limited compared to previous years following the end of international support in 2011. The UN representative signed a Strategic Partnership Cooperation Framework (SPCF) with the government of Eritrea in 2013, opening the way to the Ministry of National Development to sign Country Programme Action Plans (CPAP) for the period 2013–2016 with UNICEF, UNDP, and UN Population Fund (UNFPA) in March 2013.[12] However, the development of comprehensive and effective victim assistance remained slow and difficult.

In 2013, the Eritrean National Mine Action authority only received limited UN support, principally on mine risk education (MRE) from UNICEF and on demining from UNDP. As a result, the mine action capacity in Eritrea remained significantly weakened.[13] The UNDP mine action capacity-building program, which had been restarted in 2007, came to an end in June 2011. Mine action was not among the UNDP’s newly defined CPAPsigned in 2013 and no victim assistance activities were undertaken with UNDP support during the year.[14] Following an intense lobbying effort, the UNICEF continued its partnership with the Eritrean National Mine Action authority to protect the lives of children endangered by mine/ERW. During 2013, UNICEF collaborated with the Ministry of Education (school-based MRE/risk reduction activities), MoLHW (community-based MRE/risk reduction activities/victim support), and the Ministry of Health (child injuries, violence, and disabilities prevention/victim support).[15]

Services for persons with disabilities, including disabled veterans, continued to be provided through the Ministry of Health, the MoLHW, and the disabled veterans organization. Eritrea reported that it was difficult to provide support for survivors in remote areas and hard to reach areas.[16]

Assessing victim assistance needs

No progress in needs assessment was reported in 2013.[17] In early 2011, plans to relocate MoLHW premises had stalled the finalization of the national database of persons with disabilities, started under the 2002 Survey of People with Disabilities in Eritrea.[18] The database was intended to provide the basis of all future planning and development for all people with disabilities in Eritrea, including mine survivors.[19] In 2010, the EDA and the Ministry of Health, supported by UNICEF, had agreed to work towards data sharing through the national database being established by MoLHW.[20]

Victim assistance coordination[21]

The MoLHW is responsible for the coordination of services for all people with disabilities, including mine survivors.[22] There has not been a National Landmine Victim Assistance Project Annual Work Plan since 2010. In 2011, Eritrea reported that it has a short-term national mine action strategic plan which includes an objective to establish a victim support system that will provide effective assistance to the large group of existing victims and serve new requirements. The system was to be completed over five years.[23] In consultation with other relevant sectors, the MoLHW coordinated a revision process for the National Policy on Disability and its implementation strategy for 2012 to 2016.[24] Eritrea reported that intersectoral coordination and partnerships for victim assistance required further strengthening.[25] Inadequate victim assistance coordination and a lack of needs assessment were reported among the main challenges and limitations for victim assistance in Eritrea.[26]

The National Health Policy and the Health Sector Strategic Development Plan for 2012 to 2016 recognize rehabilitative care as one of the four pillars of healthcare.[27]

In 2013, the International Day for Persons Living with Disabilities was celebrated across the six administrative regions of Eritrea under the theme “Ensuring the rights of children is the responsibility of the whole society.” Many government and NGO representatives participated in these events and over 20,000 children, including children living with disabilities, also took part in the festivities.[28]

Inclusion and participation

It was not reported specifically how mine/ERW survivors were included in planning and coordination or implementation of victim assistance of services, however the Eritrean National War-Disabled Veterans Association (ENWVA) implemented numerous assistance projects.

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities[29]

Restrictions were imposed on the operations of foreign and international agencies in Eritrea. The ICRC endeavored to regain the authorities’ acceptance of its humanitarian mandate and activities so that it might continue providing assistance to vulnerable civilians, particularly those affected by conflict. However, the ICRC reported that there were difficulties in implementing most of its planned activities because of the lack of visas and travel permits for expatriate staff and constraints in importing materials into the country. In addition, the organization “could not work as it wished with the ’Red Cross Society of Eritrea,’ which had received government instructions in 2012 not to accept support from international organizations.” Despite these restrictions, the ICRC carried out operations in areas where it had access and focused on assisting people in border regions most affected by past armed conflict.[30]

There was a shortage of skilled health personnel, particularly in remote areas. First aid response for landmine victims needed to be made faster and the continuation of medical treatment after the discharge of victims from health facilities required further strengthening.[31] To respond to this need, UNICEF integrated first-aid emergency services to its community-based MRE activities. MRE facilitators, community volunteers, and teachers received first aid training in 2013. To further strengthen the link between the community-based MRE activities and the provision of first aid for mine and ERW causalities, 1,000 first aid kits were distributed during the year. In remote and war-impacted areas where infrastructure is extremely poor, the distribution of these first aid kits significantly improved access to emergency treatment which contributed to a reduction in the number of deaths occurring during transportation of victims of health facilities.[32]

The government dedicated substantial resources to support and train thousands of men and women with physical disabilities resulting from war and conflict.[33] The CBR program of the MoLHW operated in “virtually all” of the 57 sub-regions of Eritrea.[34] As part of the CBR program, a revolving loan fund for persons with disabilities was established in all sub-regions. On average, over 1,000 families of landmine casualties and other persons with disabilities benefitted from the revolving fund every year.[35] The MoLHW managed three prosthetic centers that provided prostheses for free or sold them to persons with disabilities at a nominal price.[36]

ENWVA also provided employment and economic inclusion opportunities, including specific services for female war veterans with disabilities. In 2013, the economic inclusion program was extended to the Molqi sub-zone; however, representatives of the Goluj sub-zone and government ministries called upon the central government to enhance efforts through income and livelihood interventions for war-disabled veterans through ENWVA.[37] In mid-2013, ENWVA held a conference in Asmara to assess its microcredit and savings scheme, to share experiences, as well as to encourage its members living in rural areas to effectively utilize the scheme.[38]

Access to education remained a challenge for survivors. Psychological support for survivors needed to be further  strengthened.[39]

Legislation in Eritrea prohibited discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment, education, or in the provision of other state services. The government did not effectively enforce these prohibitions, although it did implement programs to assist persons with disabilities. There were no laws mandating access to public or private buildings, information, and communication for persons with disabilities. However, an increasing number of buildings provided such access or employed guards who offered assistance as needed.[40]

As of 1 November 2014, Eritrea had not signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).