Action points based on findings

·         Prioritize rehabilitation and economic inclusion assistance for the most vulnerable among the survivor population, based on degree of physical, psychological, and socio-economic need.

·         Respond to the specific needs of women victims, the largest demographic group of victims as the members of affected families and communities, who continue to cope with financial, social, and emotional loss.

·         Widely disseminate the recently developed National Victim Assistance Plan among all government departments and ministries as well as among provincial and local governments.

Victim assistance commitments

The Republic of Mozambique 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. Mozambique 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

In 2013, the National Demining Institute (Instituto Nacional de Desminagem, IND) reported 11 mine/ERW casualties in Mozambique.[1] More than half of the casualties (six) were deminers, a significant increase compared with recent years. All deminers were injured by antipersonnel mines in three separate incidents. For each incident, investigations were carried out by both the demining operators and by the IND. No common factor was found to have caused the three incidents—they occurred in two different provinces with three different demining operators. Therefore, it was concluded that the increase in the number of demining casualties was related to the increased intensity of demining activities throughout the country.[2]

Three of the five other casualties were children, one was killed and two injured in a single ERW incident in Maputo province. A woman was killed in Cabo Delgado province by an unknown type of explosive device.[3] The 11 casualties identified in 2013 represented a significant increase from the three casualties reported in 2012, though this total was similar to other annual casualty totals in recent years (nine identified in 2011 and 36 in 2010).[4]

The total number of mine/ERW casualties in Mozambique is unknown, but there were at least 2,458 through the end of 2013. The most extensive collection of casualty data to date remains the nationwide Landmine Impact Survey (LIS), completed in 2001; it recorded 2,145 mine/ERW casualties but did not provide a breakdown of those killed and injured.[5] An additional 313 casualties (83 killed; 227 injured; three unknown) were identified between 2002 and 2013.[6]

Cluster munition casualties

There were known to be casualties from incidents involving cluster munition remnants, though these were not distinguished from ERW in the data and would require a survey to identify them.[7]

Victim Assistance

The total number of mine/ERW survivors in Mozambique is not known. Between 2009 and 2012, 1,502 survivors were identified through needs assessments carried out in three provinces (Maputo, Inhambane, and Sofala).[8] Based on the finding of the 2009 national survey on disability, that 6.8% of all disabilities in the country were caused by mines and other conflict related causes, the Ministry of Women and Social Action (Ministério da Mulher e da Acção Social, MMAS) projected that there were 10,900 mine/ERW survivors in Mozambique.[9] The Monitor has recorded at least 231 new survivors throughout the country in annual casualty recording since 1999.[10]

Victim assistance since 1999[11]

Since monitoring began in 1999, most mine/ERW survivors in Mozambique have lacked access to victim assistance services of all kinds. The majority of survivors live far from where services are located and lack affordable transportation. There is also insufficient knowledge among survivors about the limited services that are available in provincial capitals. Thirty years of armed conflict damaged or destroyed some 40% of Mozambique’s medical facilities; the rebuilding of facilities, particularly outside of major urban centers, has been slow. Since 2005, there have been some improvements in the availability of medical care in rural areas and six rehabilitation centers were renovated.

By 2009, all medical and rehabilitation centers were managed by the government, many of which had previously been managed by international organizations and the Mozambique Red Cross. Five of Mozambique’s 10 rehabilitation centers offered accommodation but demand sometimes exceeded availability. However, even after the government assumed responsibility for the management of rehabilitation centers, they have remained dependent on international financial assistance for prosthetic materials. Production of prostheses in all centers was suspended in 2012 as a result of a decline in international funding for these materials, and this suspension continued into 2013. The supply of rehabilitation services has also been limited due to a lack of trained technicians. The launching of a national training course for prosthetists and orthotists in 2009, the first of its kind in the country, was expected to improve the quality of services.

Throughout the period, survivors have had almost no access to economic and social inclusion programs or psychological assistance. International and national NGOs, including the national Network for Mine Victims (Rede para Assistência às Vítimas de Minas, RAVIM), have reached a limited number of survivors to assist them in accessing services or provide basic economic relief or support for income-generating projects.

The IND, the Ministry of Health (Ministerio de Saude, MISAU), and the MMAS officially shared responsibility for the coordination of victim assistance. However, for most of the period, Mozambique has lacked a coordination mechanism and a victim assistance plan. Since 2004, Mozambique has identified victim assistance as the weakest component of its mine action program.

Victim assistance in 2013

In 2013, both availability and access prevented survivors from receiving needed rehabilitation services. While the production of new prosthetic devices resumed, survivors seeking new devices faced long waitlists. As in previous years, for survivors living in rural areas, rehabilitation centers remained out of reach due to poor infrastructure and a lack of transportation. No changes were registered in other areas of victim assistance, such as socio-economic inclusion and psychological support. In 2013, Mozambique developed a national plan for victim assistance, as a component of the National Disability Plan 2012–2019.

Assessing victim assistance needs

In June 2013, RAVIM and Handicap International (HI) completed a survey of 300 mine/ERW survivors and approximately the same number of other community members, including family members of survivors, in 12 districts within the provinces of Sofala and Inhambane.[12] The survey assessed the living conditions, capacities, and needs of a representative sample of survivors of landmines and other ERW, as well as other persons living in the same communities.[13] Data was collected through interviews, questionnaires, and focal groups with mine/ERW survivors, service providers, and local community leaders.[14] In the first part of 2014, RAVIM surveyed a sample of landmine survivors in five districts in the province of Gaza.[15]

Results of the surveys in Sofala and Inhambane were published in October 2013 and were presented to stakeholders at international and national levels, including to the national disability council.[16] Results from surveys in all three provinces informed the development of a national plan for victim assistance and were used in the ongoing planning of assistance programs.[17]

Victim assistance coordination in 2013[18]

The National Disability Council held two high-level coordination meetings in 2013 as well as at least six meetings of its technical committee. The main activities of these meetings were the drafting and approval of Mozambique’s initial report to the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on the implementation of the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and sharing the results of the mine/ERW survivor assessment in Sofala and Inhambane.[19] Following the presentation of the assessment results, the council approved the development of the national plan for victim assistance.[20]

The council also monitored the implementation of the National Disability Plan 2012–2019. The greatest progress in 2013 was seen in increased awareness of the rights of persons with disabilities and in promoting physical accessibility for all new buildings. Representatives from eight government ministries, disabled persons’ organizations (DPOs), and RAVIM participated in the monitoring of the plan. The UNDP provided some funding for the plan’s implementation but funding was insufficient to fully implement the plan.[21]

In 2013 and the first half of 2014, Mozambique drafted a national victim assistance plan with three main objectives:

·         To promote the equal rights, full participation and empowerment of mine/ERW victims;

·         To ensure the principle of equal opportunity for mine/ERW victims; and

·         To monitor and coordinate all activities implemented on behalf of mine/ERW victims.

The plan’s strategic priorities are social assistance; access to healthcare, physical rehabilitation and psycho-social support; socio-economic reintegration through vocational training and access to income-generating opportunities; and the promotion of the rights of victims and other persons with disabilities.[22] The plan was pending approval in 2014.[23]

Mozambique announced the development of the national victim assistance plan at the Third Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty in Maputo in June 2014.[24] Mozambique provided casualty data in its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report for calendar year 2013.[25] As of 1 July 2014, Mozambique’s most recent Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 report was for calendar year 2012, in which it named the victim assistance focal point, provided an update on the approval of its National Disability Plan 2012–2019, and indicated the need for international financial and technical assistance to aid in the implementation of that plan.[26]

Mozambique did not provide updates on victim assistance at the Fourth Meeting of States Parties to the Cluster Munition Convention in September 2013 or at the Thirteenth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in December 2013.

Inclusion and participation in victim assistance

Mine/ERW survivors were represented in the coordination of disability and victim assistance issues through RAVIM’s participation in meetings of the national disability council.[27] However, it was found that fewer than 25% of survivors were members of a survivor network or DPO and the percentage was much lower among civilian survivors than veteran survivors.[28]

In 2013, survivors participated in the assessment of survivors’ needs through RAVIM.[29] RAVIM also worked with HI in urban centers implementing an information and referral service (Serviço de Informação, Orientação e Acompanhamento Social, SIOAS) designed to identify persons with disabilities, including survivors, and accompanying them in accessing needed assistance.[30]

No survivors were included in the delegation of Mozambique at the Third Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty in Maputo in June 2014, or other international meetings of the Mine Ban Treaty and Convention on Cluster Munition in 2013 to July 2014.

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities[31]

Emergency and continuing medical care

The 2013 survivor assessment found that most survivors had access to basic healthcare services, due to the wide availability of local health posts. However, it also found that half of all healthcare workers in local health posts who were surveyed, indicated that they were not trained to work with persons with disabilities and while most health centers had ramps, not all consulting rooms or toilets were accessible for persons with disabilities.[32]

Many survivors reported the inability to access specialized care due to the distance of these services from where they lived. As compared with other members of their community, there was a much greater need (40% more) for specialized care among survivors.[33]

Physical rehabilitation including prosthetics

In 2013, production of prosthetic devices resumed,[34] following the significant decline in production in 2012 throughout Mozambique’s rehabilitation centers due to lack of raw materials.[35] However, the waitlist of people waiting to receive new prosthetic devices was longer than in previous years as rehabilitation centers worked through the backlog from 2012.[36]

Among survivors assessed in 2013, nearly half could not move around independently due to their disability, requiring assistance from others or, among 11% of respondents, requiring them to stay at home. More than half of all survivors with assistive devices (a prosthetic, crutches, or a wheelchair) stated that they could not use the device because of its low quality or because it was no longer in working condition.[37] Nearly all respondents indicated that rehabilitation services were too far away for them to reach them, due to the lack of transportation and poor condition of roads.[38]

Economic and social inclusion and psychological support

No change was identified in the availability of economic inclusion opportunities for survivors.[39] As in previous years, MMAS continued to provide food subsidies and other basic social assistance to persons with disabilities.[40] However, there was no information on how many, if any, of these beneficiaries were mine/ERW survivors, and the 2013 survey of survivors found that the majority of survivors did not receive any benefits or economic inclusion assistance.[41] In 2014, RAVIM and HI began to follow up with the most vulnerable survivors identified in the 2013 survey in order to provide micro-credit and training. Resources were also insufficient to reach all survivors who were found to need assistance. The teams faced obstacles in reaching some survivors due to armed violence in two of the districts surveyed.[42]

Psychological support and social inclusion programs remained entirely absent with no changes reported.[43] Less than 20% of survivors assessed in 2013 had received any psychological support and few recognized the need for this assistance despite reporting many symptoms of trauma.[44] Through the SIOAS, members of RAVIM and other DPOs provided peer support.[45]

Laws and policies

Legislation guaranteed the rights and equal opportunities of persons with disabilities. However, the government lacked the resources to implement the law and discrimination remained common.[46] Fewer than 10% of survivors surveyed in 2013 were aware of their rights and the international and national legal mechanisms to promote and protect these rights.[47]

The law required the physical accessibility of public buildings for persons with disabilities but progress in ensuring access to public buildings was “very slow.”[48] Some accessibility adaptations did not meet generally accepted standards, rendering them unusable for wheelchair users.[49] Public transportation in Maputo was free for persons with disabilities;[50] however, public transportation was extremely limited and there were no accessible buses.[51]

The evaluation of the National Disability Plan 2006–2010 found that many programs for persons with disabilities sought to promote the inclusion of women with disabilities but that, despite these efforts, women with disabilities still suffered greater discrimination than men with disabilities, with more living in poverty and experiencing lower employment rates.[52] There were no age-appropriate services available for child survivors.[53] Educational opportunities for children with disabilities were extremely limited, due to a lack of teacher training on how to address their needs and due to inaccessible school buildings.[54]

Mozambique ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 30 January 2012.