Action points based on findings

• Widely disseminate, fund, and implement the recently adopted National Victim Assistance Plan among all government departments and ministries as well as among provincial and local governments.
• Prioritize rehabilitation and economic inclusion assistance for the most vulnerable among the survivor population, based on physical, psychological, and socioeconomic needs.
• Respond to the specific needs of women victims—the largest demographic group of victims as the members of affected families and communities—who continue to cope with financial, social, and emotional loss.

Victim assistance commitments

The Republic of Mozambique 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. Mozambique has made commitments to provide victim assistance through the Mine Ban Treaty and has victim assistance obligations under the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Mozambique ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 30 January 2012.

Casualties

Casualties Overview

In 2014, the National Demining Institute (Instituto Nacional de Desminagem, IND) reported eight mine/ERW casualties in Mozambique. All were injured. Half of all casualties (four) were children, including two girls. One other civilian casualty was a woman. Three casualties were deminers.[1] In 2013 there were six casualties among deminers, making up more than half of the (11) casualties that year and representing a significant increase compared with recent preceding years. All deminers were injured by antipersonnel mines in three separate incidents.[2] The total number of mine/ERW casualties in Mozambique is unknown, but there were at least 2,466 through the end of 2014. The most extensive collection of casualty data to date remains the nationwide Landmine Impact Survey (LIS), completed in 2001; it recorded 2,145 mine/ERW casualties but did not provide a breakdown of those killed and injured.[3] An additional 283 casualties (107 killed; 173 injured; three unknown) were identified between 2002 and 2014.[4]

Cluster munition casualties

There were known to be casualties from incidents involving cluster munition remnants, although these were not distinguished from ERW in the data and would require a survey to identify them.[5] Cluster munition casualties have been reported among non-state armed group members from Zimbabwe (when it was formerly Rhodesia) on the territory of Mozambique during cluster munition bombing.[6]

Victim Assistance

The total number of mine/ERW survivors in Mozambique is not known. Between 2009 and 2012, 1,502 survivors were identified through needs assessments carried out in three provinces (Maputo, Inhambane, and Sofala).[7] Based on the finding of the 2009 national survey on disability, that 6.8% of all disabilities in the country were caused by mines and other conflict related causes, the Ministry of Women and Social Action (Ministério da Mulher e da Acção Social, MMAS, renamed and reorganized in January 2015 as the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Action, Ministério do Género, Criança e Acção Social—MGCAS) projected that there were 10,900 mine/ERW survivors in Mozambique.[8]

Victim assistance since 1999[9]

Since monitoring began in 1999, most mine/ERW survivors in Mozambique have lacked access to victim assistance services of all kinds. The majority of survivors live far from where services are located and lack affordable transportation. There is also insufficient knowledge among survivors about the limited services that are available in provincial capitals. Thirty years of armed conflict damaged or destroyed some 40% of Mozambique’s medical facilities; the rebuilding of facilities, particularly outside of major urban centers, has been slow. Since 2005, there have been some improvements in the availability of medical care in rural areas and six rehabilitation centers were renovated.

By 2009, all medical and rehabilitation centers were managed by the government, many of which had previously been managed by international organizations and the Mozambique Red Cross. Five of Mozambique’s 10 rehabilitation centers offered accommodation but demand sometimes exceeded availability. However, even after the government assumed responsibility for the management of rehabilitation centers, they have remained dependent on international financial assistance for prosthetic materials. Production of prostheses in all centers was suspended in 2012 as a result of a decline in international funding for these materials, and did not resume until 2014. The supply of rehabilitation services has also been limited due to a lack of trained technicians. The launching of a national training course for prosthetic and orthotic technicians in 2009, the first of its kind in the country, was expected to improve the quality of services.

Throughout the period, survivors have had almost no access to economic and social inclusion programs or psychological assistance. International and national NGOs, including the national Network for Mine Victims (Rede para Assistência às Vítimas de Minas, RAVIM), have reached a limited number of survivors to assist them in accessing services or provide basic economic relief or support for income-generating projects.

The IND, the Ministry of Health (Ministerio de Saude, MISAU), and the MGCAS (formerly the MMAS) officially shared responsibility for the coordination of victim assistance. However, for most of the period, Mozambique has lacked a coordination mechanism and a victim assistance plan. Since 2004, Mozambique has identified victim assistance as the weakest component of its mine action program

In 2015, Handicap International (HI) described the situation of victim assistance in Mozambique as “truly unenviable.” [10] HI noted that orthopedic services did not meet standards and that the quality and availability of mobility aids was increasingly poor, while wait times for assistive devices were getting longer. There were far too few centers offering care management.[11]

In 2014, a lack of both availability and access prevented survivors from getting the rehabilitation services that they needed. Even after the production of new prosthetic devices resumed as materials became available long waitlists remained for survivors seeking new and replacement prostheses. As in previous years rehabilitation centers remained out of reach for survivors living in rural areas, due to poor infrastructure and a lack of transportation. There was some small increase in work training and livelihoods. In November 2015, Mozambique adopted a national plan for victim assistance, which was developed as a complementary component of the National Disability Plan 2012–2019.

Mozambique identified two main challenges to the implementation of victim assistance activities. These were: 1) insufficient financial and qualified human resources and weak coordination of activities between the relevant sectors; and 2) a lack of information about the activities that each sector undertakes.[12] From the time of the Third Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty in Maputo in mid-2014, HI was proactively working to raise funds for victim assistance, but noted a lack of success and that donors seemed to lose interest in victim assistance as a result of the completion of the work of demining in Mozambique.[13]

Assessing victim assistance needs

In 2014, RAVIM continued to conduct mapping of mine/ERW survivors and persons with disabilities in partnership with HI in Sofala province covering three districts: Dondo, Nhamatanda and Chibabava. In the first part of 2014, RAVIM surveyed a sample of landmine survivors in five districts in the province of Gaza.[14]

RAVIM and HI completed a survey on the living conditions, capacities, and needs of 300 mine/ERW survivors and approximately the same number of other community members, including family members of survivors, in 12 districts within the provinces of Sofala and Inhambane in June 2013.[15]

Results from surveys in all three provinces informed the development of a national plan for victim assistance and were used in the ongoing planning of assistance programs.[16] No other survey or needs assessment was made in 2014.[17]

Victim assistance coordination in 2014[18]

The National Disability Council held three high-level coordination meetings in 2014 as well as at least seven meetings of its technical committee.[19]

The National Disability Plan 2012–2019 was not closely monitored by the National Disability Council or disabled persons organizations (DPOs). During the development of the subsequent Action Plan for Victim Assistance it was found that that the National Disability Plan was not concrete and was missing indicators. It also required resources to be allocated for its implementation. Consequently it was not monitored on a regular basis and required more organized and systematic implementation. Therefore, a consultative process to improve the National Policy to promote and improve the right of persons with disability was launched and two meetings were held in 2014: one organized by FAMOD and one organized by the MGCAS, with a view to future annual monitoring and evaluation of the Action Plan for Victim Assistance once approved.[20]

In November 2015, following three years of unrelenting effort by RAVIM and Handicap International, and with the involvement of the MGCAS, the National Council of Disabilities Area and several other NGOs, the Council of Ministers of Mozambique approved the Action Plan for Victim Assistance 2016–2019, The plan has three main objectives:

• To promote the equal rights, full participation and empowerment of mine/ERW victims;
• To ensure the principle of equal opportunity for mine/ERW victims; and
• To monitor and coordinate all activities implemented on behalf of mine/ERW victims.

The plan’s strategic priorities are social assistance; access to healthcare, physical rehabilitation and psycho-social support; socio-economic reintegration through vocational training and access to income-generating opportunities; and the promotion of the rights of victims and other persons with disabilities.[21] Adoption pf the plan was delayed due to elections and subsequent changes in ministerial structures in 2015.[22]

Mozambique’s National Development Strategy (2015-2035) includes references to persons with disabilities.[23]

Mozambique provided casualty data in its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report for calendar year 2014.[24] It also provided information on victim assistance in its Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 report for the same period.[25]

Inclusion and participation in victim assistance

Mine/ERW survivors were represented in the coordination of disability and victim assistance issues through RAVIM’s participation in meetings of the National Disability Council.[26]

It has been found that fewer than 25% of survivors were members of a survivor network or DPO and that the percentage was much lower among civilian survivors than veteran survivors.[27]

In 2014, survivors continued to participate in the assessment of survivors’ needs through RAVIM.[28] RAVIM also worked with HI in urban centers implementing an information and referral service designed to identify persons with disabilities, including survivors, and accompanying them in accessing needed assistance.[29]

No survivors were included in the delegation of Mozambique at the Third Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty in Maputo in June 2014, or other international meetings of the Mine Ban Treaty and Convention on Cluster Munition in July 2015.

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities[30]

Emergency and continuing medical care

There was at least one medical doctor (general practitioner) in each country of each district due to efforts made to increase the availability of medical care. However, these doctors’ posts were not always accompanied by the necessary equipment to satisfactorily respond to the specific needs of persons with disabilities, including survivors. Many poor people live in rural areas and do not have the financial resources to reach existing services. In 2014, RAVIM facilitated four survivors for orthopedic corrective surgery in the capital Maputo City. The treatment provided was free.[31]

Overall the physical rehabilitation sector was not considered as a priority by Mozambique, consequently the amount of funding and opportunities for further development was reduced.

Physical rehabilitation including prosthetics

After a period of stagnation in Mozambique’s rehabilitation centers due to lack of raw materials, the production of prostheses resumed in 2014. There was, however, higher demand and long wait lists for prostheses and related services. Survivors in rural areas continued to face disadvantages and barriers to accessing rehabilitation. Tricycles and privately imported wheelchairs also were prohibitively expensive. The MGCAS, through INAS (National Institute of Social Assistance) could not cover the minimum rehabilitation needs throughout the country.

DPOs and NGOs played an important the role in filling gaps and supplementing state-mandated services.[32]

Economic and social inclusion and psychological support

The availability of economic inclusion services, including training, loans and microcredit remained far below the level needed.[33] The National Institute of Employment and Vocational Training (Instituto Nacional de Emprego e Formação Profissional , INEFP) promoted training that was inclusive of persons with disabilities, but this often led to disappointment because the labor market could not absorb the number of trainees. In 2014, RAVIM and HI began with follow-up in order to provide micro-credit and training to the most vulnerable survivors identified in the 2013 survey. Resources were also insufficient to reach all survivors who were found to need assistance.[34]

The HI victim assistance project identified more than 1,200 persons with disabilities (including 176 mine/ERW survivors) and provided referrals or personalized support for livelihood opportunities; including vocational training, access to credit, and inclusion in existing local businesses. The project operated in three districts of Sofala, one of the most mine-affected provinces.[35] A significant proportion of beneficiaries required additional personalized social support, which were provided by the project. The HI program developed a full and comprehensive proposal to replicate and expand the pilot victim assistance project in Mozambique.[36]

Psychological support, including counseling and peer support, remained an important area of need because many mine/ERW survivors reported experiencing trauma long after the incident.

Most survivors did not have access to psychological support. RAVIM provided peer to peer support with the assistance of partner organizations. Due to inadequate resources RAVIM was not able to cover the entire country.[37] There was limited psychological support, included in health care responses and by the department of social action in their strategies for all vulnerable groups.[38]

HI ran various different social inclusion projects that provided information, referrals and personalized social support for all persons with disabilities including but not exclusively focused on mine survivors.[39]

Social inclusion continued to pose a major challenge and persons with disabilities remained among the poorest of marginalized groups in society. However, there were some positive improvements in the field of inclusive sports due to the activities of the national sports association of persons with disability, the sport federation for disabled person and the Paralympic committee. These bodies were run by persons with disabilities. Mozambique also funded the participation of athletes with disabilities to take part in national and international tournaments. [40]

The practices of many credit institutions made it difficult for loans to be issued to persons with disabilities due to their requirements of permanent employment for applicants.
Some credit institutions demonstrated discrimination against persons with disabilities.
RAVIM and other DPOs offered income generation programs as an alternative to credit loans.[41]

Laws and policies

Legislation guaranteed the rights and equal opportunities of persons with disabilities. However, the government lacked the resources to implement the law and discrimination remained common. The law required the physical accessibility of public buildings for persons with disabilities but progress in ensuring access to public buildings was “very slow.” [42]

Persons with disabilities were generally not employed in the public service despite the existence of a ministerial decree regulating their admission to state institutions, which was in practice almost never implemented.[43] Educational opportunities for children with disabilities were extremely limited due to a lack of teacher training on how to address their needs and due to physically inaccessible school buildings.[44]