Casualties Overview

In 2011, 32 casualties were reported by the Senegalese National Mine Action Center (Centre National d’Action Antimines au Sénégal, CNAMS).[1] This represents a significant increase from the four casualties in 2010 and two reported in 2009. This rise in the annual casualty rate is explained by the increase in mine casualties among combatants (23 of the 32 casualties). Nearly all casualties in 2011 occurred in the north of Casamance, near the border with Gambia. In 2011, violent conflict intensified in this region between the Senegalese State and the rebel group Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (Mouvement des Forces Démocratiques de Casamance, MFDC).[2] Fluctuations in the security situation in Casamance have resulted in variable annual mine casualty rates in Senegal over the last several years.[3]

There were also nine civilian casualties reported in 2011, including four women. There were no casualties among children identified during the year.

At least 800 casualties (171 killed; 616 injured; 13 unknown) were reported between 1988 and the end of 2011.[4] This included 566 civilian casualties and 221 military casualties.[5] Since 2005, all reported casualties have been caused by mines.[6]

Victim Assistance

Senegal is known to have survivors of landmines and other types of explosive remnants of war (ERW). It has made a commitment to provide victim assistance as a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty.

By the end of 2011, there were at least 616 mine/ERW survivors in Senegal, which included 428 civilian survivors and 188 military survivors.

Victim assistance since 1999[7]

Most mine/ERW survivors in Senegal live in the Casamance natural region, where services are much more limited than elsewhere in the country. Senegal has reported on several occasions that it is committed to victim assistance, but at the same time has acknowledged that needs were not being met due to a lack of resources. CNAMS relied on international and national NGOs, including the Senegalese Association of Mine Victims (Association Sénégalaise des Victimes des Mines, ASVM), to implement activities. Years of conflict and continued intermittent violence devastated infrastructure and prevented access to services.

Through to 2011, emergency medical care was limited and response times depended on the location of the incident; the army provided assistance. Follow-up medical care was only available in the two regional hospitals, which had sufficient capacity but had equipment that only worked intermittently and shortages of supplies. These two hospitals and their satellite centers also provided physical rehabilitation. Neither follow-up medical care nor physical rehabilitation was free of charge for survivors, making services unaffordable for most.[8] In addition to shortages of supplies and materials, there were reports of long waiting lists. Psychosocial support has been provided by the Kenia Psychiatric Center (Centre Psychiatrique de Kénia) and ASVM with the support of the CNAMS. Only one medical center and one psychiatrist provided psychological support to mine survivors and other persons with disabilities for all regions of Casamance, but in practice these services were only accessible to survivors living in the south due to the center’s distance from the northern regions and the lack of transportation.[9] Throughout the period, economic reintegration and education opportunities for survivors were inadequate because there were few NGO activities and because survivors had difficulties accessing broader programs for all vulnerable groups. Military survivors received separate services, which were mostly free of charge and better, but still had gaps.[10]

Assessing victim assistance needs

No assessments of survivor’s needs were carried out in 2011. During the year, the Ad Hoc Victim Assistance Committee, chaired by CNAMS, continued to use the data on survivors needs that was collected in October 2009 in the implementation of the National Victim Assistance Action Plan 2010–2014 (Plan d’Action National pour l’Assistance aux Victimes des mines, PANAV). In 2011, at least one NGO reported that CNAMS did not take into account information collected through this needs assessment in addressing the rehabilitation needs of survivors.[11]

Victim assistance coordination in 2011[12]

In 2011, just one meeting of the national Ad Hoc Victim Assistance Committee was held, in December, as compared with monthly meetings in 2010.[13] National victim assistance coordination was seen to be ineffective during the year, due to a lack of clarity on the roles and responsibilities of its participants.[14] At least one NGO saw a decline in the regularity and inclusivity of victim assistance coordination meetings held by CNAMS since the adoption of PANAV in 2010.[15]

A new victim assistance coordination mechanism, the Regional Development Committee, was established for the Ziguinchor region and held several meetings during the year. The committee includes international organizations and national NGOs working in victim assistance.[16] NGOs that provided victim assistance services, such as Handicap International (HI), the ASVM and UNICEF continued to also meet bilaterally to discuss progress and challenges in implementing victim assistance projects.[17]

Senegal’s PANAV included a mechanism for monitoring and evaluating progress in its implementation, though no reports had been made available that compared victim assistance progress against PANAV through the end of 2011.[18] PANAV included a projected budget which was updated and presented at the Mine Ban Treaty in Geneva in May 2012.[19] Senegal invited international assistance to support its implementation, but maintained that any amount not covered through international support remained the responsibility of the state.[20]

Senegal provided updates on mine casualties and on progress and challenges for victim assistance at the Mine Ban Treaty Intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in May 2012, as well as through Form I of its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report.[21] It did not provide an update at the Eleventh Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Phnom Penh in December 2011.

Inclusion and participation in victim assistance

Mine/ERW survivors were involved through ASVM and international organizations in the design of victim assistance programming.[22] Survivor did not participate in any national victim assistance coordination meetings in 2011 though they were included in the Ziguinchor regional coordination mechanism.[23]

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities[24]

In 2011, there was increased availability of victim assistance services focused especially on improving social inclusion of children affected by mines/ERW.[25] The escalation of violence in the northern part of the Casamance region decreased access to all victim assistance services for survivors in this geographic area, as transportation was limited.[26] This decrease in access was offset somewhat as some service providers shifted the focus of their activities towards the northern part of Casamance where an increase of new victims was reported.[27] Overly bureaucratic procedures, the centralization of victim assistance services in the regional capital, and the fact that assistance was not affordable prevented many survivors from accessing services, particularly physical rehabilitation.[28]

In 2011, the ICRC continued to provide supplies for medical emergencies to the Ziguinchor Regional Hospital.[29]

In 2011, the government, through CNAMS, increased funding for materials for prosthetics. However, the materials provided were not appropriate to the needs of mine survivors as determined through the 2009 victim needs assessment.[30] The ICRC Special Fund for the Disabled (SFD) continued to provide materials for the production of prosthetics and orthotics, as well as equipment, to the Ziguinchor Regional Hospital, Orthopedic Department (CRAO) and increased efforts to improve the technical knowledge of rehabilitation technicians through a regional exchange program.[31] The ICRC SFD also supported CRAO in providing assistance to children, including mine/ERW survivors.[32]

The Kenia Psychiatric Center continued providing psychological support to mine survivors in 2011. Services were available both on site at the hospital and through outreach visits facilitated by CNAMS. However, the center lacked sufficient funding to provide transportation for the large number of survivors in need of services. Group therapy sessions were introduced for mine/ERW victims.[33]

New economic inclusion opportunities were available to survivors in 2011. ASVM, with the support of the ICRC, began supporting income generating initiatives for mine survivors.[34] Through a collaboration between ASVM and the Casamance Rural Development Support Project (PADERCA), mine/ERW survivors in the town of Diattacounda received support to establish a cooperative farm.[35] The Academic Center for Educational and Professional Orientation (Centre Académique de l’Orientation Scolaire et Professionnelle, CAOSP) of Ziguinchor began providing mine/ERW victims with educational and career advice specifically targeted and adapted to their needs.[36] The CNAMS economic inclusion program ended when funds provided as loans were not repaid and no new funding was available for additional loans.[37]

A new project on social inclusion of children affected by mines/ERW was established by HI, UNICEF and ASVM in 2011 to provide educational kits and improve their access to education.[38]

Senegalese law prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, and the provision of other state services. Government enforcement was somewhat effective in 2011. The law also mandated accessibility for persons with disabilities; however, this law lacked implementation and there was a lack of infrastructure to assist them.[39]

Senegal ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 7 September 2010. Through to the end of 2011, national implementation mechanisms had not yet been approved.[40]