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Casualties and Victim Assistance
National plans
The Vientiane Action Plan reiterates the Convention on Cluster Munitions obligation to adapt or develop a comprehensive
national plan of action, including time frames and budget to carry out victim assistance activities, but no specific time
limit was set for this to be achieved.
Among the States Parties, Afghanistan’s victim assistance plan ended in 2011 and had not yet been renewed or replaced
as of mid-2012. 32 Lebanon developed a basic strategy for victim assistance in 2011. A complex victim assistance plan
was still under development in Lao PDR (as it has been since 2008), but the plan and related policy papers had not been
completed by mid-2012. BiH adopted a ten-year victim assistance plan in 2009, but it has not been adapted to address
its new obligations under the Convention on Cluster Munitions and the objectives are not measurable. 33 Albania 34 and
Croatia 35 have victim assistance plans in place, which have been revised to take into account the Convention on Cluster
Munitions. Mozambique’s national plan for persons with disabilities explicitly includes cluster munition victims; as of
mid-2012, the plan had been completed but not yet approved. 36
All victim assistance plans lacked dedicated funding, although plans for BiH, Croatia, Lao PDR, Lebanon and
Mozambique included budgets or estimated costs. No victim assistance plan has been developed by Guinea-Bissau,
Montenegro, or Sierra Leone.
Among signatories, Angola’s existing plan ended in 2011. 37 A victim assistance plan for Chad was approved in May
2012. 38 Colombia lacked a national victim assistance plan, but legislation passed in June 2011 dedicating significant
government resources for conflict victims was expected to improve access to victim assistance. 39 The DRC developed
a new plan in 2011. 40 Iraq has developed some national action points instead of a victim assistance plan. 41 Uganda was
working from a victim assistance plan that was comprehensively revised in 2010. 42
Reporting and monitoring
Under Article 7 of the convention, States Parties are required to submit reports on the status and progress of implementation
of all victim assistance. 43 In their Article 7 reports, Lao PDR reported on international funding to victim assistance NGOs,
while Lebanon reported on victim assistance activities that were supported with national funds and those for which
international assistance was needed. Mozambique reported on progress to develop the second National Plan of Action
on Disability, which includes cluster munition victims, and indicated the need for national and international funds for
its implementation. Albania, BiH, and Croatia also included victim assistance reporting in the appropriate form of their
transparency reports.
Several States Parties with few casualties have yet to submit their Article 7 reports (Guinea-Bissau, Montenegro, and
Sierra Leone), while Afghanistan’s initial report is due by 28 August 2012. The DRC submitted a voluntary Article 7
reporting for 2011, but included only brief information on victim assistance.
Role of survivors
Cluster munition victims were key in the development and adoption of the Convention on Cluster Munitions and the
convention calls on States Parties to “closely consult with and actively involve cluster munition victims and their
representative organisations” to fulfill victim assistance obligations. The Vientiane Action Plan states that States Parties
must actively involve cluster munitions victims and their representative organizations in the work of the convention,
32
Response to Monitor questionnaire by Suraya Paikan, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled
(MoLSAMD), Kabul, 9 April 2012.
33
See, BHMAC, “Victim Assistance Sub-Strategy in BiH: 2009–2019,” (“Podstrategija za pomoć žrtvama mina u Bosni i Hercegovini: 2009–
2019”), Sarajevo, (undated but 2010).
34
Statement of Albania, Mine Ban Treaty Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-economic Reintegration, Geneva, 23 May 2012.
35
Croatia, Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form H, 10 April 2012; and Statement of Croatia, Convention on Cluster
Munitions Intersessional Meeting, Working Group on Victim Assistance, Geneva, 16 April 2012.
36
Email from Macario Dubalelane, Head of Department for Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Women and Social Action (Ministério da
Mulher e da Acção Social, MMAS), 24 June 2012.
37
CNIDAH, “Draft relatório do workshop de avaliação do pniavm 2007 – 2011, (“Draft Report of the Workshop to Evaulate the PNIAVM
2007-2011”), Luanda, 13 April 2012.
38
Statement of Chad, Mine Ban Treaty Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socioeconomic Reintegration, Geneva, 23 May 2012
39
Regulations to implement the law were approved in December 2011 and it had not yet had an impact on the lives of survivors as of April 2012.
Responses to Monitor questionnaire by Johana Huertas, National Mine Action Coordinator, Handicap International (HI), 30 March 2012; and
by Sonia Matilde Eljach Polo, Director, Multilateral Policy Issues, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 19 April 2012; and Statement of Colombia,
Mine Ban Treaty Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-economic Reintegration, Geneva, 22 June 2011.
40
Statement of DRC, Mine Ban Treaty Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-economic Reintegration, Geneva, 22 June 2011;
and interview with Jean Marie Kiadi Ntoto, UN Mine Action Coordination Center (UNMACC), Kinshasa, 17 April 2011.
41
Interviews with Maythem Obead, Head of Community Liaison Department, Directorate of Mine Action (DMA); Bakshan Asaad, Head of
Rehabilitation Department, Kurdistan Ministry of Health; and Soran Majeed, Mine Victim Assistance Officer, GDMA for Iraqi Kurdistan, in
Geneva, 21 May 2012
42
Statement of Uganda, Mine Ban Treaty Eleventh Meeting of States Parties, Phnom Penh, 29 November 2011.
43
Victim assistance reporting under the Convention on Cluster Munitions is obligatory, unlike the Mine Ban Treaty’s voluntary reporting on
victim assistance.
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