Casualties Overview

In 2013 through April 2014, the National Commission for the Collection and control of Illicit Weapons (Commission Nationale Pour la Collecte et le Contrôle des Armes Illicites, CNCCAI) reported 17 mine/ERW casualties in the Republic of Niger.[1] At least 12 of these casualties were male civilians, all caused by antivehicle mines.[2] No further details were available about the remaining five casualties.

In 2012, 40 new mine/ERW casualties were identified. The vast majority of these casualties (32 out of 40) were civilians, including one child. All incidents took place in the north of the country, principally in the region of Bilma, Agadez.[3] While there were no incidents reported in Niger in 2011, in 2010, 12 casualties were identified.[4]

In 2014, CNCCAI reported a total of 400 (108 killed; 287 injured; and five casualties of unknown outcome) mine/ERW casualties in Niger between 2007 and April 2014. [5]

Victim Assistance

As of the end of 2013, the total number of mine/ERW survivors in Niger was at least 287.[6] Most survivors were concentrated in the Agadez region, an area with a total population of just 500,000 people.

CNCCAI is the government focal point for victim assistance, but due to lack of funds its role has been largely limited to advocacy within the government on behalf of survivors. The Ministry of Population and Social Reforms serves as the government focal point on disability issues. In April 2014, it launched a new project supported by the European Union named “Working for a better enjoyment of full human rights for Persons with Disabilities.” The project was to be implemented in four parts of the country for 30 months and aimed to contribute to the full and equal enjoyment of all rights by promoting civic education of persons with disabilities to participate fully in public life. To this end, the government identified priority sectors including education with a strong desire to achieve education for all through the adoption of the sectoral program of education and training 2014–2024.[7]

Niger lacks a specific victim assistance plan, but victim assistance is mentioned in the Anti-Mine Action Plan 2009–2013.[8] While the Ministry of Health does have a National Health Development plan (2011–2015), there was no mention of physical rehabilitation in the plan.[9]

Victim assistance services were severely limited, particularly in the Agadez region, where most survivors are located. Handicap International launched a victim assistance program in 2010 to reduce the impact of mines and explosive remnants of war in the Agadez region in the north of the country, the boundary of the Saharan zone.

In Niger, the ICRC upgraded the physical rehabilitation centre in Niamey Hospital. The provision of services began in August 2012.[10] In September 2013, the ICRC organized a workshop in Niamey attended by some 30 health practitioners from Niger and Mali to familiarize themselves with techniques specific to war surgery. The goal was to expand the capabilities of health services working in a real context with patients with gunshot wounds or maimed by mines who require treatment.[11] In May 2014, the ICRC also directed a training session on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) followed by a regional workshop on the diagnostic and the strategic plan of the West African Federation for the Advancement of Persons with Disabilities (Fédération Ouest Africaine pour la Promotion des Personnes Handicapées, FOAPH).

Niger did not include information on victim assistance in its 2013 Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report. However, in November 2012, Niger submitted its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report for calendar year 2011 which included information on victim assistance in Form J.

Niger ratified the CRPD on 24 June 2008.