Casualties

Casualties in 2009

The Tajikistan Mine Action Center (TMAC) reported nine mine/explosive remnants of war (ERW) casualties in six incidents for 2009. All casualties were adults, including one woman. No casualties from cluster munition remnants were reported.[1] Two casualties were military personnel, including a military deminer injured by an antipersonnel mine in a demining accident in June 2009. This represented a decrease from 13 casualties in eight incidents in 2008.[2]

TMAC had information on 804 casualties (356 people killed and 448 injured) between 1992 and the end of 2009. However, the total number of mine/ERW casualties in Tajikistan remains unknown and is thought to be much higher.[3]

Cluster munition remnants were reported to have caused 54 casualties. Most incidents occurred in the Rasht valley area. The exact timeline of incidents is not known and the number of casualties was thought to be significantly under-reported.[4]

Victim Assistance

The total number of known survivors in Tajikistan is 448.[5] TMAC continued efforts to collect reliable relevant data on survivors and their needs in cooperation with partners. The results of the assessment survey conducted in 2008 were used for planning and prioritizing of victim assistance activities in 2009. By the end of 2009, TMAC reported a need for further assessment as well as monitoring and evaluation. [6]

Victim assistance coordination[7]

The TMAC-led Victim Assistance Coordination Group (Coordination Group) met quarterly in 2009 to address challenges and coordinate implementation of services and data collection in accordance with the Victim Assistance Plan of Action.[8] Several members of the Coordination Group also had responsibility for protecting the rights of persons with disabilities in Tajikistan more generally.[9]

Mine/ERW and cluster munition survivors and representatives from the National Union of Disabled People participated in victim assistance coordination and training meetings.[10]

Tajikistan provided updated information on all aspects of changes to victim assistance in Form J of its Article 7 reporting for 2009.[11]

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities in 2009[12]

Achievements in improving accessibility and effectiveness of most services were reported for 2009.[13]

A training center established under the Committee of Emergency Situations, in cooperation with the MoH, trained doctors and healthcare workers in emergency situations and first-aid techniques in 2009.[14] In January 2009, management of the National Orthopedic Center (NOC) in Dushanbe transferred from the ICRC to national management by the Ministry of Labor, Social Protection and Population (MLSPP), and began receiving support from the ICRC Special Fund for the Disabled (SFD). [15] As in the previous year, the NOC had a waiting list for prostheses due to a lack of specialists working in the center in 2009.[16] However, a strategy to reduce premature departures of trained prosthetics staff resulted in one qualified technician rejoining the center in 2009.[17] Additionally, rehabilitation specialists, including technicians, had refresher training in Kabul, Afghanistan through a TMAC project.[18] The NOC’s three satellite workshops in Khorugh, Khujand, and Kulob did not improve in capacity or condition in 2009.[19]

TMAC’s cooperation with UNDP’s Community Programme led to the inclusion of mine/ERW survivors in the program’s criteria, and assistance being provided to over 100 mine/ERW survivors throughout Tajikistan in 2009. [20]

To address the lack of knowledge among service providers, guidelines on psychosocial support for landmine survivors were distributed by TMAC in 2009. A study of the mental health and quality of life of landmine survivors was also published to improve practical knowledge of the issues. [21]

Legislation in Tajikistan prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities, but these were not adequately enforceable. There was no law mandating access to buildings for persons with disabilities.[22] In 2009, the MLSPP submitted a law for the social protection of the population. It remained under review as of the end of the year.[23]

As of 15 July 2010, Tajikistan had not signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.