Summary action points based on findings

• Finish the survey of mine/ERW survivors to determine the extent of need in the country and modify the National Integrated Plan for Victim Assistance accordingly.
• Ensure that initial steps to dedicate government resources for physical rehabilitation are sustained and increased in future years to ensure the availability of these services throughout the country.
• Support the effective implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), ratified in May 2014, including through the rapid establishment of the national council for persons with disabilities.

Victim assistance commitments

The Republic of Angola is responsible for a significant number of landmine survivors, cluster munition victims, and survivors of other explosive remnants of war (ERW) who are in need. Angola has made commitments to provide victim assistance through the Mine Ban Treaty.

Casualties

Casualties Overview

Details and trends

In 2014, the Monitor identified 11 mine/ERW casualties in Angola.[1] All but one of the casualties were civilians; the other was a deminer injured during clearance operations.[2]

Six of the casualties were adult men, three were boys, and two were adult women; no girls were injured or killed among the casualties reported. The casualties occurred in seven separate incidents, the three boys were all injured in one incident; three adult men were injured in a single incident when they tampered with a piece of ERW attempting to extract red mercury.

The 11 mine/ERW casualties identified in 2014 represent the lowest recorded number of landmine and ERW casualties since the Monitor began recording in 1999. However, the actual number of persons killed or injured by landmines and ERW in 2014 is almost certainly much higher than the reported figures. The seven reported incidents in 2014 occurred in just three of Angola’s 18 provinces. This is similar in distribution to the geographic spread of casualties reported in 2012 when casualties were reported in just four provinces. In 2013, casualties were reported in 12 provinces; in 2011, casualties were reported in 14 provinces. The inconsistency of reporting demonstrates a significant gap in data collection in Angola, which makes ascertaining the extent of the need near impossible. Even in provinces where casualties were reported, many more landmine accidents were believed to have occurred, especially in rural areas or in areas far from the international mine action operators’ work areas.[3]

Given the lack of a reliable collection mechanism for casualty data and the fluctuating annual casualty totals, it is not possible to accurately determine trends over time. However, in evaluating its Strategic Mine Action Plan 2006–2011, the Inter-Sectoral Commission on Demining and Humanitarian Assistance (CNIDAH) found that there had been a decline in the overall number of mine/ERW incidents recorded annually during the five-year period, but also that the decline was not linear and did not reach the plan’s goal of reducing the number of incidents to “almost zero.”[4]

The total number of mine/ERW casualties in Angola is unknown, though estimates range from 23,000[5] to 80,000.[6] No details were available to substantiate these figures. By the end of 2014, 9,165 survivors had been registered in the provinces of Benguela, Cabinda, Cunene, Huambo, Huila, Malanje, Namibe, Uige, and Zaire as part of the national mine/ERW victim survey.[7] In 2014, the survey identified 1,218 survivors in Benguela Province and 1,526 survivors in Uige Province. Between 2000 and 2014, the Monitor identified 2,939 mine/ERW casualties, including 970 people killed, 1,821 injured, and 148 for which the outcome was unknown.[8] Between 2006 and 2011, CNIDAH registered 433 mine/ERW casualties, including 77 people killed and 356 injured.[9]

Cluster munition casualties

As of December 2014, the national victim survey had identified at least 354 cluster munition survivors, all in the province of Huambo.[10] This is the first available data from Angola with confirmed casualties from cluster munitions. Huambo is the only province of the seven surveyed through the end of 2014 where cluster munition victims have been identified.[11] The survey questionnaire developed in 2011 offered just three options as the cause of disability: “a mine,” “an accident,” or “unknown” with no option to report on cluster submunitions as the cause.[12] It was not reported if the questionnaire had been revised for use in Huambo province.

Victim Assistance

The total number of survivors in Angola is unknown, but there are many thousands. As of December 2014, 9,165 survivors had been identified in the first nine (of 18) provinces surveyed as part of the national victim survey.[13] Angola and CNIDAH have requested support through UNMAS’s annual Portfolio of Mine Action Project to conduct the survey of survivors in the remaining nine provinces, which are some of the most mine-affected.

Victim assistance since 1999[14]

In 1999, Angola was still in the midst of a series of armed conflicts that did not end until 2002. These conflicts contributed to the destruction or deterioration of infrastructure such as health centers, hospitals, and roads. While several international organizations provided basic services such as emergency medical care and physical rehabilitation, overall care was grossly inadequate throughout the country.

In 2002, it was estimated that fewer than 30% of Angolans had access to any healthcare services, with lower percentages in rural areas where most survivors lived. With the stabilization of the security situation, the government and international community began investing in rebuilding the healthcare system and other basic infrastructure, increasing access to basic medical facilities. A government project, begun in 2012, facilitated emergency medical transport to hospitals in collaboration with the police and the fire department.

In 2005, international organizations began closing their programs and transferring management of healthcare facilities and rehabilitation centers to the government. The departure of Handicap International (HI) by the end of 2011 completed the withdrawal of international organizations that had been providing support for victim assistance. Already by 2008, all 11 physical rehabilitation centers were managed by the Ministry of Health. However, by 2009 production of prosthetics in all centers had declined due to a lack of materials and unpaid staff salaries. This decline continued until mid-2013 when the national mine action center began efforts to improve the quality of services in five provinces, funded by the Ministry of Health’s National Rehabilitation Program. Those efforts continued in 2014 with the construction or expansion of rehabilitation facilities and orthopedic clinics in seven provinces and plans to do so in several more.

A limited number of economic inclusion projects have been available to survivors over the period, either through international organizations, national and local organizations of persons with disabilities, or government agencies such as the Ministry of Assistance and Social Reintegration (MINARS) and the national mine action center (CNIDAH), which began coordinating and facilitating victim assistance in 2001. These projects have fallen far short of the overall need.

International organizations supported the development of local survivor networks and disabled persons’ organizations (DPOs). However, these groups were hamstrung by lack of funding and the distances between them that prevented collaboration among the groups. Through the Comprehensive National Victim Assistance Action Plan 2007–2011, CNIDAH aimed to support the development of a national survivor network, but no progress was made toward this objective within the timeframe of the plan due to insufficient funding and organizational problems. Angola’s victim assistance program is defined by the National Integrated Plan for Mine Victim Assistance 2013–2017, which CNIDAH is implementing.

Victim assistance in 2014

The Presidential Physical Rehabilitation Program continues to improve the availability of physical rehabilitation services through the renovation of existing rehabilitation facilities and construction of new facilities. Economic reintegration opportunities were expanded, although still limited. The national mine/ERW survivor survey continued, with half of the country completed; CNIDAH recognized the need to increase financial resources to survey activities in order to complete the remaining provinces within the planned time period.

Assessing victim assistance needs

As of the end of 2014, mine/ERW survivors with disabilities in nine of Angola’s 18 provinces had been surveyed as part of the national survivor survey. The survey was launched in October 2010 with the purpose of identifying and registering mine and cluster munition survivors with disabilities, to understand their living situation, and to determine how to promote their socio-economic inclusion.[15]

After having been suspended in 2012 due to funding constraints and to avoid the potential confusion of those surveyed with the national election registration process, it resumed in 2013. By the end of 2014, the survey was completed in Benguela, Cabinda, Cunene, Huambo, Huila, Malanje, Namibe, Uige, and Zaire and a total of 9,165 survivors with a disability had been registered in these nine provinces, containing an estimated 50% of Angola’s total population.[16] As of the end of 2014, CNIDAH and MINARS found the results of the ongoing survey and needs assessment to be beneficial for planning and determining priorities to assist the target population.[17] In provinces where the survey was conducted, local CNIDAH offices were trained to assist with the data collection and serve as focal points for ongoing casualty data collection.[18]

The poor condition of the roads and heavy rains created challenges for survey implementers to access rural and remote areas, where most survivors live. A lack of funding to keep the survey working consistently also led to long interruptions in data collection. CNIDAH determined that, consequently, the survey had completed fewer than two provinces per year on average between 2008 and 2014, well behind the original timeline for completion. Therefore, in order that surveys could be carried out in the remaining provinces simultaneously and speed up completion, CNIDAH recommended that more funds be dedicated to the project.[19]

Victim assistance coordination[20]

CNIDAH’s victim assistance coordination efforts in 2014 were focused on the ongoing implementation of the National Victim Survey, strengthening coordination of victim assistance programming, raising awareness of the rights of landmine victims and advocacy for those rights, ensuring access to rehabilitation services, economic reintegration of survivors, and increasing capacity of those responsible for fulfilling these goals.[21] By April 2013, the PNIAVM 2013–2017 was “successfully completed and the assistance sector now has an updated plan in accordance with CNIDAH Strategic Plan.”[22] As part of its 2014 Action Plan, CNIDAH began to implement the PNIAVM.[23]

To monitor the implementation of the PNIAVM, in 2014, CNIDAH held four thematic meetings. The meetings provided opportunities for focal points from relevant government ministries, service providers, and representatives of DPOs to share information about ongoing activities in the areas of emergency medical assistance, physical rehabilitation, economic reintegration, psychological support, and the relevant laws and policies. CNIDAH members also met with nine partner organizations to review their programs and monitor the impact on the beneficiaries.[24]

In 2013, Angola developed the National Plan of Integrated Action on Disability 2013–2017 as part of Angola’s national development plan “Angola 2025.” The disability plan includes the objective of establishing a national council for persons with disabilities, designed to raise the profile of disability issues within the executive branch of the government and to improve coordination on disability issues among all government ministries.[25]

In 2014 Angola reported on victim assistance activities and relevant advances in the area of disability laws, policies, and programs at the Third Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty in Maputo in June.[26]

Inclusion and participation in victim assistance

Disabled persons’ organizations represent four of the eight organizations compiling data for the landmine victim survey. Landmine victims are included in “coordination of awareness activities” and through the NGO the Angolan Federation of Associations of People with Disabilities (FAPED), survivors have been able to meet with line ministries relevant to disability. The Angola National Disability Association (ANDA) attended the 7^th Conference on Human Rights.[27]

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities[28]

Emergency and ongoing medical care

In recent years, the government increased its expenditure on the national healthcare system, increasing the number of health centers in rural areas, improving accessibility to health services, and increasing the availability of medicine. While it was likely that this would have improved basic healthcare services for mine/ERW survivors along with the rest of the population, there was no information available on the impact of these changes.[29]

In 2013 and into 2014, the government announced progress in reconstructing roads to aid in the emergency evacuation of mine/ERW survivors and others in need of emergency medical care; it also announced the construction of health facilities, the decentralization of specialized services, and an increase in highly trained medical professionals.[30]

Physical rehabilitation

Following several years of declining prosthetics production in Angola’s 11 rehabilitation centers, in May 2013 a new physical rehabilitation project was initiated to improve the quality of services in five provinces, funded by the National Rehabilitation Program. Referred to as the Presidential Plan for Physical Rehabilitation, project activities include re-establishing physical therapy units in hospitals to meet basic needs, referral systems to the rehabilitation centers for more complex cases, as well as training for orthopedic technicians and the provision of new equipment for manufacturing of orthopedic devices.[31] In 2014, the Vouga hospital in Cunhiga, Bie Province began offering rehabilitation services and a rehabilitation center reopened in Kuando Kubango Province capable of providing comprehensive rehabilitation services. Eleven other rehabilitation and physical therapy units are in various stages of development, from planning to construction. These new units will join the existing 11 physical therapy centers already in operation in Angola.

In addition to the public sector facilities, several civil society organizations including AACVDA, IACV, the Evangelical Baptist Church of Angola, and the Lwini Foundation provided mobility devices and access to healthcare for landmine survivors and persons with disabilities.

Psychological support

No advances where identified in the availability of psychological support in 2014. In 2012, CNIDAH recruited a psychologist who coordinated meetings with partner organizations to develop a strategic plan to establish services.[32] The need for psychological support was recognized by the Institute of Vulnerable Child Support and the Evangelical Baptist Church who, in 2015, sought funds for psychological support as part of a comprehensive package of victim assistance services in Huambo and Uige Provinces, respectively.[33] The ongoing national victim survey did not include any questions regarding access to, or need for, psychological support.[34]

Economic and social inclusion

Few changes were identified in the availability or access to economic inclusion activities in 2014. Government policies were revised to make it easier to establish small businesses.[35]

In 2014, CNIDAH collaborated with a private bank and a business “incubator” to provide support to survivors pursuing employment. The national survey of landmine survivors has included information about vocational training needs to facilitate economic re-integration. About 33,000 survivors have received vocational training and employment support from CNIDAH and its partners, with plumbing being the profession of choice for 90% of the participants. Shoemaking is a far distant second choice.[36]

The Lwini Foundation has also provided limited support to survivors pursuing vocational training, including costs for housing and food, enabling survivors to take longer, more rigorous courses.[37]

The Angolan Paralympic Committee was active in promoting sports for persons with disabilities and survivors. Thirteen provinces participated in two adapted athletics competitions, the Mato-Cut National Championship and the Savoyo-Athletics Cup. Angolan coaches and players in adapted athletics and wheelchair basketball received technical support and guidance from the Brazilian Paralympic Committee and Brazilian coaches.[38]

Laws and policies

In 2013, the Protection Law for Persons with Disabilities (2012) lacked enforcement and discrimination against persons with disabilities remained prevalent.[39] Legislation on physical accessibility has been drafted and is awaiting approval to become law.[40]

Angola ratified the CRPD on 19 May 2014.