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Casualties and Victim Assistance
• In Lebanon, quality physical rehabilitation was provided despite a decrease in funding that resulted in fewer
actual services. 53
• In Montenegro, the government’s recognition of cluster munition victims has allowed them to register for
national insurance, increasing their ability to receive medical care and physical rehabilitation. 54
• In Mozambique, availability of information on services for survivors increased with the development of new
support services through the cooperation of an international NGO and the national survivor organization. 55
• Although no specific progress was reported in Sierra Leone, it has ongoing services for persons with disabilities,
including survivors and victims of war. 56
The Monitor unfortunately identified a range of implementation inadequacies and resource challenges in the provision
of victim assistance by States Parties in 2011 and the first half of 2012.
Decreased funding reduced the availability of victim assistance services in Albania, BiH and Lebanon, where service
providers struggled to make the most of limited resources and to identify new sources of funding. The cost of some
medical services increased in Lebanon, affecting the affordability for mine/ERW victims. During the same period, the
government raised awareness about the right for persons with disabilities to receive free medical attention, though some
survivors reported being rejected despite being eligible. Increased awareness about the availability of free medical
and rehabilitation services in Mozambique, without any corresponding increase in number of medical professionals or
medical and rehabilitative supplies available, lengthened waiting lists for care. In Lebanon and Montenegro, ineffective
implementation or regulation of national insurance systems led to survivors and other persons with disabilities being
refused medical care to which they were entitled.
Physical rehabilitation was generally more available and received greater focus and resources as compared to the
other core victim assistance services, such as economic inclusion and psychological support. In Albania, prosthetics
centers faced a lack of funding, although the rehabilitation sector was strengthened through training. In BiH and Croatia,
no change or improvement was reported and the quality of prosthetic devices was variable. The number of survivors
receiving physical rehabilitation services in Lebanon decreased due to reduced international funding; some organizations
postponed physical rehabilitation projects planned for 2011 until 2012 due to their involvement in Lebanon’s hosting of
the convention’s Second Meeting of States Parties, in September 2011.
Psychosocial support remained one of the most neglected areas of victim assistance; States Parties supporting such
services reported little or no progress. In Afghanistan and BiH, funding decreased for peer-to-peer support provided by
NGOs.
Economic inclusion services were lacking; the services that did exist were generally provided by NGOs. State quotas
for the employment of persons with disabilities were often reported but never fulfilled, as in Croatia and Lebanon.
Regulations requiring physical accessibility for persons with disabilities were not adequately enforced in any State
Party.
Many ongoing victim assistance challenges were faced in Guinea-Bissau, which for years had no victim assistance
program due to poverty and lack of infrastructure, and in Sierra Leone, which has many victims of conflict (including
amputees) but which has limited rehabilitation services. 57
Signatories to the convention continued to face numerous victim assistance challenges. In Angola and Uganda,
availability of physical rehabilitation and other victim assistance services continued to decrease as international
organizations closed their programs. No significant changes were identified in Chad, where a lack of resources and
infrastructure has interfered with the provision of adequate services. 58 In DRC, new targeted funding for victim assistance
has increased the availability of, and access to, medical and physical rehabilitation services, though the programs remain
limited. 59 Iraq is decreasing its dependence on the ICRC for emergency medical care supplies, and access to physical
rehabilitation increased as a new rehabilitation center opened; three more are under construction. 60 In Colombia, the
availability of rehabilitation services decreased in 2011 following a decline in international funding for victim assistance. 61
Countries with cluster munition victims that have not joined the convention (Cambodia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Georgia,
Serbia, Sudan, Tajikistan, and Vietnam) generally achieved less progress and faced greater challenges in providing victim
assistance. In Libya, the 2011 conflict disrupted the delivery of victim assistance, but by the end of the year national
53
Response to Monitor questionnaire from Habbouba Aoun, Coordinator, Landmines Resource Center in Lebanon (LMRC), 8 March 2012; and
Response to Monitor questionnaire from Khaled Yamout, NPA, 17 June 2012.
54
Statement of Montenegro, Convention on Cluster Munitions Working Group on Victim Assistance, Geneva, 16 April 2012.
55
Response to Monitor questionnaire by Luis Silvestre Wamusse, RAVIM, 7 June 2012; interview with Macario Dubalelane, Head of
Department for Persons with Disabilities, MMAS, in Geneva, 21 May 2012.
56
HI, “Where we work – Africa: Sierra Leone, A nation of amputees” (undated but 2012). http://bit.ly/MXGGwi.
57
HI, “Where we work – Africa: Sierra Leone, A nation of amputees” (undated but 2012). http://bit.ly/MXGGwi; Statement of Guinea-Bissau,
Mine Ban Treaty, Eleventh Meeting of States Parties, Phnom Penh, 29 November 2011.
58
ICRC, Physical Rehabilitation Programme, “Annual Report 2010,” May 2011, Geneva, p. 25.
59
Response to Monitor questionnaire by Louis Ibonge Numbi, Victim Assistance Focal Point, Ministry of Social Affairs, Kinshasa, 25 May
2012.
60
ICRC, “Annual Report 2011,” Geneva, May 2012, pp. 379-383.
61
Response to Monitor questionnaire by Johana Huertas, National Mine Action Coordinator, Handicap International, 30 March 2012.
59