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Casualties and Victim Assistance
Gender- and age-sensitive assistance and non-discrimination
States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions commit to adequately providing age- and gender-sensitive
assistance to cluster munition victims. 70 Yet both age- and gender-sensitive assistance remain the least reported aspects
of the convention’s victim assistance provisions. Almost all reported efforts were limited to disaggregating data on
casualties, rather than the needs indicated by assessments and any services provided to address them. For most States
Parties and signatories, little information was available about the availability of age- and gender-sensitive assistance.
In 2011 and the first half of 2012, few activities were reported that were designed to increase services appropriate to
the needs of women, men, girls, and boys. In Afghanistan, programs sought to provide female medical practitioners and
therapists for women. In Lebanon, affirmative action efforts by NGOs prioritized the inclusion of women and children in
their programs. 71 In Uganda, a signatory state, gender-appropriate services still are not available to all survivors at health
centers and it was difficult for children to access services when needed. 72
According to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, States Parties cannot discriminate against or among cluster
munition victims, or between cluster munition victims and those who have suffered from other causes. In signatory Iraq,
the Kurdistan regional government and victim assistance service providers in that region indicated that differences in
treatment were based only on survivors’ needs. Montenegro reported the same. However, the obligation for States Parties
to provide assistance without discrimination between persons with disabilities remains largely unaddressed.
For most countries where discrimination was reported, it was due to preferential treatment for veterans, or against
particular gender, age, or regional groups, rather than differences in treatment based on the cause of disability or the type
of weapon that caused injury. For example, disabled war veterans are often given a privileged status above that of civilian
war survivors and other persons with disabilities. Few plans or efforts were reported to address this in the provision of
services to civilians and military survivors.
70
Children require specific and more frequent assistance than adults. Women and girls often need specific services depending on their personal
and cultural circumstances. Women face multiple forms of discrimination, both as survivors themselves or as those who survive the loss of
family members, often the husband and head of household.
71
Response to Monitor questionnaire from Khaled Yamout, MRE/MVA Program Coordinator, NPA, 17 June 2012.
72
Interview with Herbert Baryayebwa, Commissioner for Disability and Elderly, Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development
(MGLSD), in Geneva, 17 April 2012; and response to Monitor questionnaire by Margaret Orech, Director, Uganda Landmine Survivors
Association, 4 May 2012.
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