Key developments
since March 1999: Mozambique hosted the First Meeting of States Parties in
May 1999. It served as co-chair of the SCE on Mine Clearance. Mozambique
introduced UNGA Resolution 54/54B, which was adopted in December 1999. In April
2000, work began on a national Level One Impact Survey. About five square
kilometers of land was cleared in 1999, bringing the overall total to 194 square
kilometers. Despite fears that the February and March 2000 floods would result
in an increase in mine casualties, the number of mine casualties continued to
decline, falling from 133 casualties in 1998 to 60 casualties in 1999.
Mine Ban Policy
Mozambique signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December
1999 and ratified on 25 August 1998. Mozambique is not known to have enacted
domestic implementation legislation. Mozambique has yet to submit its Article 7
transparency measures report, which was due by 27 August
1999.[1]
Mozambique hosted the First Meeting of States Parties (FMSP), which took
place in Maputo from 3-7 May 1999 and was attended by 108 governments in
addition to international and non-governmental
organizations.[2] The FMSP was
opened by Mozambican President Joaquim Alberto Chissano who stated, “The
choice of Mozambique bears testimony to our country’s commitment to
fulfill the goals of the Convention—a commitment dating back to the
process that culminated in the signing of the Convention in
Ottawa.”[3] Foreign
Minister Leonardo Simão was elected President of the FMSP and Carlos dos
Santos, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Mozambique to the United
Nations in New York, was Secretary-General of the meeting. Nobel Peace Laureate
and ICBL Ambassador Jody Williams addressed the opening plenary and formally
presented the Landmine Monitor Report 1999 to the President and assembled
delegates. Farida Gulamo of the Mozambican Campaign Against Landmines also
addressed the opening plenary. From 8-9 May 1999 the International Campaign to
Ban Landmines held its Second General Meeting in Maputo directly after the
FMSP.[4]
Mozambique has been very active in the intersessional program of work
conducted by the Standing Committees of Experts. It co-chairs the committee on
mine clearance and representatives have participated in all standing committee
of experts meetings in 1999 and 2000.
Mozambique introduced and secured 109 co-sponsors on the 1999 UN General
Assembly Resolution 54/54B calling for the universalization and implementation
of the Mine Ban Treaty. The resolution was adopted by the UNGA on 1 December
1999 by a vote of 139 to 1, with 20 abstentions. In a statement at the UN, the
Mozambican Permanent Representative “hoped that growing awareness and
action on the issue of anti-personnel mines at various levels would result in
concrete actions and would relieve the suffering of innocent children, women and
the elderly around the
world.”[5]
Mozambique is not a party to the 1980 Convention on Conventional Weapons and
is not a member of the Conference on Disarmament.
Production, Transfer, Stockpiling and Destruction
Mozambique is not known to have ever produced or
exported antipersonnel mines. It has imported AP mines from a number of
sources.[6]
Details regarding mine stockpiles in Mozambique have not yet been made
public. This information will become available with Mozambique’s Article 7
report. It is unknown if Mozambique requires assistance in the destruction of
its stocks. In a joint operation in May 2000, South African and Mozambican
police destroyed an arms cache in Mozambique, which included twenty-three
mines.[7] A Christian Council of
Mozambique initiative in Maputo, Gaza, Inhambane, and Zambezia provinces had
destroyed 60,000 weapons including landmines by July
2000.[8]
Landmine Problem
Minefields have been located in all provinces of
Mozambique, but the most heavily mined regions are found along the border with
Zimbabwe in the west of Manica province, in the center of the country in
Zambezia and Tete provinces, and in the south in Maputo and Inhambane provinces.
Few maps and records were kept of the mines laid during Mozambique’s
decades-long civil war, which ended in 1992. Mines were used by both the
Frelimo government and the Renamo rebels around areas including military
headquarters, towns and villages, sources of water and power, pylon lines and
dams, as well as on roads, tracks and paths and alongside bridges and railway
lines.[9] Many of the mines in
Mozambique were laid around bridges and culverts, to protect bridges from being
attacked by people intent on blowing them
up.[10] Since the war, many of
these, including the bridges on N1, the main road up the country, have simply
been demarcated as mined areas, and/or cleared when the roads were repaired. On
smaller upcountry grade roads, the culverts and bridges were similarly mined and
even fewer of these have been cleared.
The National Demining Institute (IND) has recorded a nationwide total of
1,759 mined areas.[11]
Impact of Flooding
The floods that inundated the coastal lagoons and floodplains of Gaza,
Maputo, and Inhambane provinces in February and March 2000 caused major
international concern. The major area of flooding in Gaza and Maputo provinces
fell in the Accelerated Demining Program’s (ADP) core area of operation,
while the flooding in the Save River (between Inhambane and Sofala/Manica) is in
the Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) and Handicap International (HI) working
area. By mid-March, ADP had used satellite images (taken on 28 February and 1-4
March) to produce hardcopy maps at 1:400,000
scale.[12] These maps show the
extent of the flooding as an overlay on existing National Demining Institute and
ADP data. The maps were distributed to relief agencies via the Emergency Mine
Action Committee (EMAC) and UN Development Program (UNDP) to use in operations
in and around the flooded area.
The flooded areas largely comprised low-lying agricultural land previously
under formal irrigation. The area is highly populated, with market towns such
as Macarretane, Chokwe, Chibuto, and Xia-Xai.
The maps show that less than a dozen recorded mined or potentially mined
sites were inundated. This is a small figure in proportion to the national
figure of 1,759 mined sites, or 380 in Maputo and Gaza
combined.[13] However some
significant minefields were flooded.
The major problem was not mines in the flooded area, but the movement of
internally displaced people (IDPs) away from the floods and into areas to the
southeast just inside Maputo province and over the Mazimechopes river. The
flooding quickly displaced up to 200,000 people, mostly
farmers.[14] By comparison to the
floodplains in Gaza, Maputo Province contains a relatively high concentration of
small minefields, and in the rural north of the province few of these are
formally marked.
The main aim of the EMAC was to provide data and coordinate mine awareness
activities for all the agencies working with IDPs. In the first week of April
2000 there was one mine accident involving an ADP deminer working in the
emergency zone.[15]But as of 12
April 2000, no other injuries or deaths were recorded by IND in or around the
flood zone. The flooding claimed between 640 and 700
lives.[16]
Concern remains that some mines placed on or around riverbanks and bridges
may have been moved by the floodwaters or buried in silt. On the basis of
mapped information there appears to be little likelihood of this, and the
problem remains small compared to the risks run by IDPs now trying to
re-establish lives in proximity to minefields. The mines did not impact on the
relief efforts but since some relief centers were in the proximity of
minefields, the floods changed priorities for mine
clearance.[17]
In response to the flooding, the Rome meeting allocated $7.5 million for mine
action over a period of 18 months. As part of the Rome package, the government
requested $806,200 for IND. This broke down as: $450,000 for Administration and
costs in IND, $50,000 for mapping and imaging, $200,000 for training, $6,200 for
removal/ EOD equipment, and $100,00 for aerial support
services.[18]
Survey and Assessment
The Canadian International Demining Centre (CIDC)
is in the process of executing a National Level One Impact Survey funded by the
government of Canada, through its development wing CIDA. The total budget is
around $1.8 million.[19] This
survey is being executed in a manner generally compliant with international
standards and based upon the protocols and procedures as developed by the Survey
Action Center (SAC).[20] The
implementation of this effort has gone slowly due to uncertainty surrounding the
operation of the CND, adaption of Impact survey protocols and supporting
database to the context of Mozambique, contract and operational management
issues and the April floods.
In order to ensure that the survey is conducted in a manner compliant with
international initiatives and standards related to Impact Surveys, the CIDC has
based much of its working procedures on field protocols developed by the Survey
Action Center. Additionally, the Survey Action Center provides a part-time
Quality Assurance Monitor to the project, who assesses progress in accordance
with UNMAS standards for Certification and reports this progress back through
the SAC to UNMAS. This monitoring and reporting process creates a link between
CIDC and the other ongoing Impact Surveys, giving the team in Mozambique
expanded access to subject matter expertise and lessons learned in the field of
Impact Surveys.
Throughout 1999 the CIDC tried to recruit the survey teams in Mozambique but
had little success. The available pool of skilled staff in Maputo was small and
CIDC did not want to “poach” skilled staff from other existent and
active demining units.[21] In the
end they recruited twenty-five researchers with high school education or above
and ability in at least two languages and ran a thirty-five-day training course
at the ADP facility at Moamba near
Maputo.[22] In March 2000, CIDC
hired a manager on a twelve-month contract. CIDC had experienced problems with
importation taxes and customs, helping to create a six-month hold-up. Then
throughout March and April the CIDC survey reviewed the toponomy of Mozambique,
creating a revised register of over 10,000 place names, and identified around
2000 villages to be surveyed.
The survey did not start work in March in the south due to the flooding and
finally in April 2000 two survey teams were deployed (by ferry) to Nampula to
begin work in the northern four provinces. By mid-May 2000 Nampula was finished
and Cabo Delgado was fifty percent completed but a quarter of the two teams were
sick with malaria and some key members of the survey teams had left due to the
difficult conditions.[23]
In Maputo, the survey moved from its temporary offices to the IND offices in
late April, and began cross-referencing data from IND data and HALO Trust, a
process that will also include data from ADP, Handicap International (HI), World
Vision, and NPA. At the beginning of June the survey received plotting and IT
equipment, four months after the equipment was ordered.
The survey was originally funded for one year, but the Canadian donors have
extended the contract by one year. The project manager intends to produce a
report in late 2000, which outlines the history of the survey and provides
lessons learned.[24]
Coordination of Mine Action
By March 1999 the donor community had seemingly
lost faith in the National Demining Commission (CND) under Osorio
Severiano.[25] The new National
Demining Institute (IND) and its new director from the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, Artur Verissimo, replaced the CND in mid-1999. IND has pushed for
investment in two provincial offices, one in Nampula and one in Chimoio, to
coordinate with HALO and NPA, to act as conduit between Provincial government
and mine action in the provinces, and to collect information for IND in
Maputo.[26]
In early March 2000, the UNDP, ADP and IND organized an Emergency Mine Action
Committee (EMAC) which met with relief agencies and coordinated mine action
related to the flooding. IND took a lead role in convening and chairing
meetings and coordination of activities. Formal meetings were held at least
twice a week to inform relief agencies and coordinate mine awareness activities
for internally displaced people.
Mine Action Funding
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
Cooperation, between 1993 and the end of 1998, funding for demining in
Mozambique exceeded $116 million.
The U.S. has been the largest single donor, having provided over $20 million
to mine action in Mozambique since 1993. The U.S. has provided assistance to
HALO Trust, NPA, POWER, and ADP. It is the sole donor working to support the
military to establish a long-term Mozambican capacity based within the military.
In 1999 the U.S. provided a total of $3 million for mine action programs, and
the U.S. contribution in 2000 is expected to total $4 million. The U.S. intends
to provide dogs for the military via RONCO, make an equipment grant to IND
($140,000), provide funding for HALO Trust, and explore the potential of funding
the clearance of power lines in Sofala (Malovusi to
Hatunda).[27]
Japan is considering funding for clearance of railways and strategic
infrastructure. The outcome of the clearance of Massingir in 1998 ($1 million
from Japan and $1 million from the U.S.) was largely successful: seventeen
formal defensive minefields were cleared (89,634 square meters) of 192 AP mines
and 157 UXO were destroyed. Japan is interested to repeat the initiative on a
different site again using Mechem as contractor. HALO Trust received a small
grant of $83,333 for equipment.
Denmark provided $400,000 via UNDP, which in part went to cover a Chief
Technical Advisor for ADP who arrived in February
2000.[28]
Production of GIS maps at 1:50,000 (by air survey)
CND/ADP/CIDC
99 – 01
5,329,000
3 TCOs to support database in CND / ADP
CND/ADP/CIDC
99 – 01
378,000
HI demining in Inhambane
HI
99-01
956,000
Support for Mine Awareness in the flood zone
Various
00
500,000
Denmark
ADP Demining
ADP
99 – 00
2,000,000
IND institutional support
IND
00
376,000
EU
ADP Demining
ADP
99 – 00
2,900,000
Finland
ADP Demining
ADP
98 – 00
1,600,000
Provision of 2 Sisu-Patria RA140DS flails & 6 TCOs
ADP
99 – 00
2,680,000
HI mine awareness campaign
HI
98 – 99
240,000
Germany
GTZ Integrated Humanitarian Demining for Development IHDD) survey and
demining in Manica and Sofala Provinces.
GTZ Mine-Tech
99 – 00
500,000
Ireland
ADP demining in Inhambane
ADP
98 – 00
1,000,000
Italy
UNOPS project Gorogosa and Manica
?
00
450,000
Japan
ADP demining via UN VTF
ADP
00
600,000
Mozambique
Annual budget of CND
CND
Annual
500,000
Netherlands
HALO Trust demining in Nampula
HALO
00
543,530
HI level 2 survey in Inhambane
HI
00
177,000
NPA Phase III demining and reconstruction
NPA
00
425,130
New Zealand
2 TCOs to ADP
ADP
96 – 00
1,400,000
Norway
NPA demining
NPA
00
2,000,000
IND administrational grant
IND
00
50,000
HI mine awareness support to IND
HI
00
50,000
Sweden
HI demining in Inhambane
HI
99-00
628,000
HI mine awareness support to IND
HI
275,000
Switzerland
HALO demining in Cabo Delgardo
HALO
97 – 00
2,000,000
HI mine awareness support to IND
HI
00
49,000
Mine awareness post-floods
HI
00
67,000
Demining in Matalane and Gorongosa
Afrovita
00
375,000
UK
HALO demining in Zambezia
HALO
98 – 01
3,420,000
UNICEF
Mine awareness post-floods
HI
00
146,000
USA
Mine Dogs for ADP
Ronco
00
450,000
Equipment for 1st Bat. Deminers. 200 sets of kit
FADM
99 – 00
1,150,000
Demining Equipment (response to flooding)
00
2,000,000
The United Nations also contributes, as does the UN Association-USA’s
“Adopt-a-Minefield”
initiative.[30]
Mine Clearance
By 1998, some 189 square kilometers of land had
been cleared in Mozambique.[31]
Data from five of the major mine clearance organizations indicates that a total
of five square kilometers was cleared in 1999. This is far more than the
reported IND figure of two square kilometers. Statistical collection and
analysis for mine clearance operations in 1999 were badly disrupted by the
changeover from CND to IND and departure of the UNDP and UNV support staff.
Although ADP, HALO Trust, and NPA have reported consistently, it is apparent
that many commercial companies have not. The database has not been proactively
maintained, and the following incomplete statistics illustrate the point.
Details on individual organizations involved in mine clearance follows.
1) Accelerated Demining Program
(ADP):[34] ADP reports that it
is fully funded for FY2000, which includes approximately $2 million in new
capital equipment, vehicles, radios, detectors, tools, and protection
equipment.[35] ADP receives
funding from: Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, EU, Finland, Germany,
Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, and the U.S (in kind). A
major problem for ADP is finding funding for core costs, notably Mozambican
salaries. A notable exception to this is Japan, a major contributor to ADP via
the UN Voluntary Trust Fund. Japan has earmarked funds specifically for local
salaries. Finland contributed two Sisu Patria RA 140DS flails and six technical
cooperation officers for a four-year program that began in September 1999. The
technical cooperation officers all have experience in UN Peacekeeping
operations. In 1999, ADP cleared 1,200,000 square meters of land with a staff
of 500 people and a budget of around $4.5 million.
2) Norwegian People’s Aid
(NPA).[36] This
Norwegian-based NGO employs approximately 500 staff in seven demining teams of
between fifty-five and 107 persons. Thirteen mine detection dogs work in a mine
dog section, and there is also a monitoring team and a medical team. NPA hopes
to build up to an operational capacity of approximately 560 staff in 2000. NPA
cleared around 2,200,000 square meters of land in 1999. In the last quarter
(October to December) they cleared 369,414 square meters of land, 7.2 kilometers
of road, 277 AP mines, eighty-three UXO, and 1,615 items of small arms
ammunition. In 1998-99, NPA received $7.8 million in funds from Norway ($4
million), Denmark ($1.5 million), Sweden ($1.3 million), and the Netherlands ($1
million).
3) The HALO Trust:[37]
The British-based NGO HALO is in the process of completing a comprehensive
re-survey of the four northern provinces of Mozambique, and will be publishing a
full report towards the end of 2000. HALO survey teams have re-surveyed all the
known suspect sites, and have interviewed local authorities in every district in
the four provinces. Preliminary results are encouraging and show that a large
proportion of previously reported dangerous areas are in fact safe and mine
free, as evidenced by agricultural activities and housing on the areas and the
total absence of any accidents to humans or livestock.
Currently HALO has 7 manual teams, 3 survey/EOD teams deployed on tasks
prioritized with the provincial and district authorities. During 2000 HALO also
deployed 3 mechanical clearance teams. The mechanical teams equipped with
armoured Volvo front loaders are now working in Zambezia and Nampula, and it is
planned to extend their work into Cabo Delgado and Naissa in 2001.
HALO expects that by 2002 operations in Niassa and Zambezia will be in the
final phase of clearance and HALO is working towards establishing small mobile
multi-disciplined teams that will be able to react on call out to suspect areas
or items.
4) Handicap International (HI): This NGO based in France employs 135
staff in five demining teams, including one specialized in Level 2 technical
survey, in Inhambane province. HI carries out “proximity demining”
which cleared areas of high concern for the local community including
infrastructure, such as schools and wells, and land. HI hopes to add a
supplementary team of sixteen deminers to work in the north of Inhambane
province, where the Save river flooded in February and March 2000, and a mine
detection dogs capacity is also planned. Between 1997 and 2000 HI received
funding from donors including: the European Commission ($1.2 million from
1997-1999); Région Nord pas de Calais ($8,380 in 1998); Sweden ($674,950
from 1998-1999); The Netherlands ($500,000 from 1996-1999 and $177,000 for 2000)
and Canada ($956,000 in 2000-2001).
5) Menschen gegen Minen
(MGM):[38] Germany-based NGO
MgM has prepared a $1.37 million proposal to clear 110 kilometers of railway
Songo to Matambo in Tete, and 235 kilometers of road and the German government
has pledged $600,000 for Phase I budget. Phase I comprises 52 kilometers of
railway bordered by minefields which zig-zag in an uncertain way somewhat
parallel to the railway.
6) Mechem:[39] In 1999,
South African-based commercial clearance company Mechem completed the clearance
of the mined areas around Massingir dam in 100 working days over a total period
approaching six months. This involved clearance of mined areas within a four
kilometer radius of the dam, in which the priorities were the dam itself, the
adjacent airfield, roads and access tracks and inhabited/developed areas. The
three-phase program surveyed 790,000 square meters of suspected mined area and
eventually cleared 89,634 square meters of land with just eighteen deminers,
destroying approximately 190 AP mines and 170 UXO. In 1999, Mechem cleared
790,000 square meters at Masingir.
7) Mine Tech:[40] This
Zimbabwe-based commercial company carried out four or five different projects in
Mozambique in 1999. UNDP/CND (IND) funded its clearance of mined areas to
facilitate the construction of a power line between Xai Xai and Inhambane. Mine
Tech cleared 242,611 square meters under and around the power lines. The German
government entity GTZ funded an Integrated Humanitarian Demining for Development
project in Manica and 25,318 square meters were cleared around three villages.
GTZ funded the clearance of one village minefield with integrated manual and MDD
techniques supported with mechanical bush clearance, and cleared 176,280 square
meters.[41] MOTRACO funded Mine
Tech clearance of 340,000 square meters around electrical pylons between
Infulene to Komatipoort. This project and the UNDP/IND work carry over into
2000. Mine Tech carried out some community mine-awareness work and Level 2
survey work near Gorongosa, both funded by GTZ. In 1999, Mine Tech cleared a
total of 784,209 square meters.
8) RONCO Consulting
Corporation:[42] Through a
U.S. Department of State contract, RONCO is providing six mine detecting dogs
and support to the ADP’s Mine Detection Dog Program, including personnel
training, development of management systems and provision of equipment, supplies
and facilities. This task order will be completed by August 2000.
9) Carlos Gassmann Tecnologias de Vanguarda Aplicadas Lda
(CGTVA):[43] In 1999, this
Portugal-based commercial company received funding from Denmark to carry out
Quality Assurance and some small clearance activities.
10) Emprensa Mocambicana de
Desminagem:[44] In 1999, this
Mozambican commercial company received $600,000 funding from Austria for
demining, training, and awareness in Marromeu, Chibababva, and Buzi, in Sofala
province.
11) Afrovita:[45] In
1999, this Mozambican commercial demining company received $375,000 from
Switzerland to work in Matalane and Gorongosa.
12) Special Clearance Services (SCS):[46] This Zimbabwe-based commercial
mine clearance company has operated in Mozambique since 1996. In 2000 it was
taken over by Armor Holdings Ltd. and relocating to South Africa. It hopes to
win contracts in Mozambique.
13) Lince Lda:[47] This
is subsidiary company of BRZ International and has conducted mine clearance and
verification work for two contracts, at Motraco and at Ressano Garcia. It has
also conducted Quality Assurance work in Beira and Marraquene.
14) Qualitas:[48]
Qualitas is a subsidiary company of BRZ which is “in the process of being
accredited in Mozambique to work on QA contracts for IND.”
15) Necochaminas: This Mozambican demining NGO was established by
former Mozambican Special Armed Forces personnel but it is not known if it has
undertaken any mine clearance operations yet.
16) International Demining: International Demining is managed by South
African businessman Frank Lipko. It is not currently accredited to the IND and
is not engaged in any mine action in Mozambique but it believed to have sought
work there.
17) Africa Deminers: This commercial company was originally called
TNT. Africa Deminers is managed by South African businessman Gabriel Schroeder.
It was contracted in 1999 by a road construction company to clear the new road
from Maputo to Ressano Garcia on the border with South Africa. In late 1999
Africa Deminers is believed to have lost its accreditation with the IND.
18) The Forcas Armadas da Defesa de Mozambique (FADM). Recognizing
that Mozambique needs a long term demining capacity, the United States has been
providing training and equipment to the 1st Battalion of the Mozambican
infantry. In 1999 the U.S. fully equipped 200 deminers. The FADM deminers have
not yet deployed.
Mine Awareness
In 1994, Handicap International took over
coordination of mine awareness throughout Mozambique and created the National
Coordination Program of Education Activities to Prevent Mines and UXO Accidents
(PEPAM). PEPAM is an HI project run in collaboration with the Mozambican Red
Cross and the Ministry of Education, as well as over eighty-six national,
provincial, and local partners.
Phase III of the HI’s Mine Risk Education (MRE) program was completed
in 1999. MRE ran from January 1998 to December 1999 with a budget of $2.5
million from France, Sweden, Norway, Finland, USA, Switzerland, Australia, UNDP,
and UNICEF. MRE targeted at risk rural populations, students, the various mine
clearance agencies and actors involved in mine awareness. MRE also fed
information and feedback into the National Demining Commission, the Ministry of
Education, and the Mozambican Red Cross.
HI started an emergency mine awareness campaign following the February-March
2000 floods. Five mobile teams worked in IDP’s camp in Gaza and Inhambane
province in order to reduce the risk of incidents following displaced mines
along the rivers.
Mozambique is a case study in a project entitled “Assistance to Mine
Affected Communities” by the Peace Research Institute of Oslo (PRIO). The
PRIO study of mine affected communities is funded by the Norwegian Foreign
Ministry.[49]
Landmine Casualties
Despite fears that the February and March 2000
floods would result in an increase in mine casualties, the number of landmine
casualties in Mozambique continues to decline. In 1999 the decline was quite
dramatic, falling from 133 casualties in 1998 to 60 casualties in 1999,
according to IND. In 1999 there were 23 incidents in mine clearance operations
resulting in 23 injured and five
fatalities.[50] In the last
quarter of 1999, one death, that of a deminer in Maputo province, and seven
injuries were recorded.[51]
Data on mine accidents is collected under the PEPAM system housed at the IND,
with technical assistance from HI which collects, verifies and analyses accident
report forms.
Many of the incidents are in Maputo province, which by Mozambican standards
is densely populated. In September 1999 the Mozambican Campaign Against
Landmines called for better demarcation of minefields and suspected mined areas
in the region of Ressano Garcia, which borders South
Africa.[52] The border areas were
heavily mined during the war, and South Africa is an attractive place for
Mozambicans seeking work who cross the border illegally.
Landmine casualties by province for 1998 –
1999[53]
Landmine casualties by province for 1998 –
1999
1999
1998
All victims
(dead and injured)
All victims
(dead and injured)
Incidents
M
W
C
Total
Incidents
M
W
C
Total
Maputo
6
14
0
0
14
18
13
0
8
21
Gaza
3
2
0
1
3
6
2
0
6
8
Inhambane
7
5
1
1
7
5
2
0
5
7
Sofala
7
7
2
6
15
5
10
2
9
21
Manica
2
0
0
3
3
12
9
1
1
11
Tete
5
3
0
3
6
10
9
5
21
35
Zambezia
1
1
0
0
1
10
8
3
2
13
Nampula
3
7
0
1
8
9
4
2
3
9
C.Delgardo
1
1
1
0
2
5
2
3
0
5
Niassa
1
1
0
0
1
3
2
0
1
3
Total
36
41
4
15
60
83
61
16
56
133
Landmine Survivor Assistance
1) Handicap International (HI). HI has
operated in Mozambique since 1986, when, at the request of the government, it
established two orthopedics centers in Inhambane province. By 1992, HI had built
two transit centers where patients could stay while being treated at the
orthopedic centers. In total, six orthopedic centers have been established by
HI in the cities of Vilanculos, Inhambane, Lichinga, Tete, Pemba, and Nampula.
HI has been pursuing a policy of integrating these six centers within the
Ministry of Health. HI has arranged for four of its technicians to attend a
course in Lyons to upgrade to Category I in 2000.
2) POWER. This UK-based NGO arrived in 1995. POWER oversaw the
running of four former ICRC centers and was responsible for the production of
polypropylene orthopedic components at its Maputo orthopedic center. In 1997 the
four POWER centers fitted 703 prostheses representing about 80 per cent of
national production.[54] POWER
estimates that there is a need to produce at least 3,000 prostheses per year.
Current production levels, combining HI and POWER-type limbs, are less than
1,000 per year.[55] Preliminary
analysis of a 1997 survey in Inhambane and Maputo provinces by researchers from
Dalhousie University, Canada, suggests that only 20.7 per cent of amputees were
using a prosthesis without difficulty, while 36.4 per cent of respondents had
not received any rehabilitation treatment at
all.[56]
In late 1998 POWER renegotiated its agreement, withdrawing from direct
involvement in the four centers which now fall under the Ministry of Health.
POWER, however, continues to provide materials for the manufacture of limbs,
both for these four centers and those of HI.
There has been investment in its staff. Two Category II
prosthetists/orthotists are attending a four year course at Strathclyde
University, Glasgow, Scotland to upgrade to Category I. This makes, with the
three sponsored for training by HI in Lyon, five of the twenty-four Mozambican
Category II prosthetists/orthotists being overseas in 2000. There are currently
sixteen in 2000 providing support for the ten centers around the country.
POWER moved offices to the new Associação dos Deficientes
Moçambicanos (ADEMO) center in Maputo in 1999. ADEMO now has 63,000
members. POWER’s objective is to strengthen ADEMO’s management and
financial capacity and to jointly initiate a Council for Action on Disability,
which, it is hoped will eventually replace
POWER.[57]
POWER also hopes to open in 2000 a new ortho-prosthetic center in Chimoio in
Manica province. This will be a private, nonprofit operation managed by the
Council for Action on Disability. POWER is piloting a program to train amputees
to work with donkeys and carts in street cleaning.
3) Jaipur Limb Campaign. This UK-based NGO promotes the use of
appropriate technology in prosthetics provided in developing countries. With
funding from the National Lottery and the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund
and in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and the Mozambican Red Cross
Society (CVM) it opened in 1999 a Jaipur rural orthopedic project at Manjacaze,
Gaza province. This center will fit Jaipur limbs, using staff trained in the
technique in India.
It is government policy to have one ortho-prosthetic center in each of the
ten provinces. The center at Vilanculos in Inhambane is to be closed during 2000
while the opening in 1999 of clinics in Gaza and Manica fulfill this policy.
4) Landmine Survivors Network. This U.S.-based network to support
landmine survivors became registered in Mozambique in May 1999 and officially
began its activities, including conducting interviews of landmine survivors in
Quelimane city, Zambezia
province.[58]
It is the responsibility of the Ministry for Coordination of Social Action
to make patients aware of the availability of prosthetic and orthotic services
and to assist their travel to the centers. The Ministry has available a number
of transit centers, at which patients can stay free of charge while receiving
treatment, but this system is currently not running well-- mostly because of a
lack of resources.[59]
National Disability Laws and Policy
In Mozambique, ex-military personnel with disabilities enjoy special legal
status and state pensions that are not available to the rest of the disabled
population. Rules and regulations recognizing the rights of persons with
disabilities have existed for many years in a range of national legislation
covering the education, labor, financial, transportation, military and health
sectors. However, national disability organizations (which, in 1998, created a
national forum to coordinate advocacy on disability rights), suggest that these
rights and services exist more on paper than in practice.
The national coordinating agency for assistance to persons with disability is
the Ministry of Coordination for Social Action (MICAS). With funding from
Coopération Française, HI established the Institutional Support
Program (PAI) to provide technical assistance to MICAS on disability matters in
1996. Three projects have been supported by PAI including the SIRT program now
operating in all provinces to provide information, referrals and transportation
of disabled persons to health facilities and transit centers. Under a second
PAI initiative, MICAS has proposed the creation of a national disability card,
which is intended to help persons with disabilities access government services.
In 1991, a national disability policy was developed by MICAS, but for
political reasons failed to gain government approval. Through PAI’s third
project, the policy has since been redrafted and it is expected that Parliament
will approve a national disability law establishing fundamental rights and
principles relating to persons with physical and mental disabilities. Part of
the proposed legislation foresees the creation of a National Council on
Disabilities that would act as an advisory body to government and include the
participation of representatives of the disabled
community.[60]
[1] The government of Canada allocated
US$10,000 in order to provide technical assistance to the government of
Mozambique in compiling its first Article 7 Report. The flood emergency
situation at the beginning of 2000 resulted in a major set-back in the
production of the report. However, Canada was informed in May 2000 by an
official of the National Demining Institute that an English version of the
report had been prepared and would be forwarded to the United Nations. Email
from Mines Action Team, DFAIT to Human Rights Watch (Mary Wareham), 21 July
2000. [2] See ICBL, “Report on
Activities: First Meeting of States Parties, Maputo, Mozambique, 3-7 May
1999,” September 1999, 121
pages. [3] Statement by Joaquim Alberto
Chissano, President of Mozambique, at the opening ceremony of the First Meeting
of States Parties, Maputo, 3 May 1999. [4]
See ICBL, “Report on Activities: Second General Meeting of the ICBL,
Maputo, Mozambique, 8-9 May 1999,” September 1999, 40
pages. [5] Statement by Ambassador Carlos
Dos Santos, “Speakers Stress Financial Challenge Posed By Landmines as
Assembly Takes Up Report Of Secretary-General On Assistance In Mine
Action,” Press Release GA/9662, 18 November
1999. [6] For details, see Landmine
Monitor Report 1999, p. 45. [7] South
African Press Association, 25 May
2000. [8] Noticias, 17 July
2000. [9] Landmines produced in the
following countries have been found in Mozambique: USSR, Czechoslovakia, East
Germany, Yugoslavia, China, Italy, Belgium, France, U.K., Portugal, U.S., South
Africa, Rhodesia, Zimbabwe, Brazil, Austria. See Landmine Monitor Report 1999,
p. 45. [10] “Minas E Desminagem em
Mocambique: Actas do seminario sobre o impacto socio-cultural e economico das
minas e da desminagem em Mocambique, organizado pelo Arpac, IDRC e IND,”
February 2000. [11] CND Bulletin No. 8,
March 1999. [12] Southern Mozambique Flood
Affected Area Map, 1:400,000 scale, IND/ADP, Maputo, 16 March
2000. [13] CND Bulletin No. 8, March
1999. [14] Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Press Statement, Maputo, 11 March
2000. [15] Interview Lt. Col. Derek
Baxter, Chief technical Advisor, ADP, Maputo, 13 April
2000. [16] CNN News Bulletins, March
2000. [17] Interview with Nico Bosman,
Program Coordinator, UNOPS, Johannesburg, 6 June
2000. [18] Noticias, 25 April
2000. [19] Interview with Mike Wilson,
Manager, CIDC National Level 1 Survey, Maputo, 12 April
2000. [20] Email from Richard Kidd,
Manager, Survey Action Center, to Landmine Monitor (Mary Wareham, Human Rights
Watch), 27 July 2000. [21] Interview with
Mike Wilson, Manager, CIDC National Level 1 Survey, Maputo, 12 April
2000. [22] Noticias 8 November
1999. [23] Interview with Mike Wilson,
Manager, CIDC National Level 1 Survey, Maputo, 12 April
2000. [24]
Ibid. [25] Email from Alistair Craib,
Consultant to the European Union, April
1999. [26] Interview with Artur Verissimo,
Director, IND, Maputo, 11 April 2000. [27]
U.S. Department of State, “FY 00 NADR Project Status,” p. 3; U.S.
Department of State, “To Walk the Earth in Safety,” April 1999, p.
12. U.S. Department of State, Press Statement: “United States Increases
Humanitarian Demining Assistance to Mozambique,” 10 May
2000. [28] Interview with Lt. Col. Derek
Baxter, Chief technical Advisor, ADP, Maputo, 13 April
2000. [29] All data gathered from
interviews in Mozambique and South Africa in 1999 and 2000. Note: Figures in
italics are estimates or totals for programs lasting over one
year. [30] Email from Lt. Col. Derek
Baxter, CTA, ADP, to Landmine Monitor (Mary Wareham), 1 August
2000. [31] CND data, See Landmine Monitor
Report 1999, p. 48. [32] Note: Figures in
italics are Landmine Monitor
extrapolations. [33] “Desminagem
consome mai de 27 milhoes de dolares/ano,” Noticias, 17 January
2000. [34] Interview Lt. Col. Derek
Baxter, Chief technical Advisor, ADP, Maputo, 13 April
2000. [35] Email from Lt. Col. Derek
Baxter, CTA, ADP, to Landmine Monitor (Mary Wareham), 1 August
2000. [36] NPA 4th Quarter Report, 1999
Mozambique Demining, Maputo. [37] Email
from Alan Macdonald, Africa Desk Officer, HALO Trust to Landmine Monitor (Mary
Wareham, Human Rights Watch), 25 July
2000. [38] Interview with Peter Puggy
Fuyane, Project Director, MgM Mozambique, Maputo, 11th April 2000. Email from
Hendrik Ehlers, Director, MgM, 11 May 2000. See also,
www.mgm.org. [39] Interview with Mike
Thusi, Program Manager, Mechem, Johannesburg, 7 June
2000. [40] Interview with Chris Pearce,
Director, Mine Tech, Johannesburg, 6 June, 2000. Email from Michael Laban,
Project Manager, Mine Tech, 6 June
2000. [41] GTZ stands for Deutsche
Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit Gmb. It is the implementation arm of
German government overseas development
aid. [42] RONCO Newswire, “RONCO
Continues Work On State Department Demining Contract In Mozambique,”
Washington, March 2000. [43] Interview
with Mr Pretorius, Project Manager, CGTVA, Johannesburg 6 June
2000. [44] Information provided to
Landmine Monitor by Alberto Manhique, Coordinator, Mozambican Campaign Against
Landmines. [45] Information provided to
Landmine Monitor by Alberto Manhique, Coordinator, Mozambican Campaign Against
Landmines. [46] Interview with Noel Philp,
Director DSL, London, 20 June 2000. [47]
Interview with Bill Pelser, Director, BRZ, and Julius Krahtz, Operations
Manager, BRZ, Pretoria, 7 June 2000; BRZ International Ltd, “Humanitarian
Mine Clearance Profile,” BRZ302, Doc
Edition:B. [48] Interview with Bill
Pelser, Director, BRZ and Julius Krahtz, Operations Manager, BRZ, Pretoria, 7
June 2000. [49] Ananda S. Milliard,
“Community Impact in Mozambique: The Process of Identifying and Using
Socio-Economic Indicators,” Paper presented at “The Road Forward:
Humanitarian Mine Clearance in Southern Africa,” Conference hosted by
SAAI, Johannesburg, 8 June 2000. See also Ananda S. Millard and Kristian Berg
Harpviken, Assistance to Mine-Affected Communities Project (AMAC), PRIO,
“Use of Socio-Economic Analysis in Planning and Evaluating Mine Action
Programmes: The Case of Mozambique,” Report for the International
Development Research Centre (IDRC) submitted to the Geneva International Centre
for Humanitarian Demining, Oslo, 8 May
2000. [50] Noticias, 17 January
2000. [51] Data provided to Landmine
Monitor by IND, 13 April 2000. [52]
“Campanha Mocambicana quer maior celeridade,” Noticias, 29 September
1999. [53] Data provided to Landmine
Monitor by IND, 13 April 2000. [54] POWER
Mozambique project pamphlet, undated. [55]
Interview with Max Deneu, POWER Country Manager, Maputo, 20 January
1999. [56] Findings reproduced in POWER
Mozambique project pamphlet, undated. [57]
Michael Boddington, “Sustainability of Prothetic and Orthotic Programmes
in the Low-income World: The Case of Mozambique,” Journal of Mine Action,
Fall 1999. [58]
www.landminesurvivors.org [59] Michael
Boddington, “Sustainability of Prothetic and Orthotic Programmes,”
Journal of Mine Action, Fall 1999. [60]
Interview with Pascal Torres, PAI Project Coordinator, MINEC, Maputo, 12 January
1999.
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