Zambia
Casualties and Victim Assistance
Victim assistance commitments
The Republic of Zambia is responsible for landmine survivors and survivors of other explosive remnants of war (ERW). Zambia has made commitments to provide victim assistance through the Mine Ban Treaty, and is also a State Party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
Zambia ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on 1 February 2010.
Casualties
In 2014, the Zambia Mine Action Centre (ZMAC) recorded one person killed by ERW, in Kabanda Township, Mwinilunga.[1]
Prior to the casualty in 2014, the last ERW casualty in Zambia was reported in 2009.[2] Casualties continued in 2015, with three people injured after tampering with ERW (a hand grenade) in Lukulu District, Western Province in April.[3]
As of May 2015, no cluster munition victims had been identified in Zambia, pending the completion of a survey.[4]
The total number of casualties in Zambia is not known. In 2007 a needs assessment survey by the then-named Zambia Anti-Personnel Mine Action Centre identified 152 casualties in 122 communities, of which 46 had died.[5] A 2009 survey conducted by Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), identified 46 casualties, of which 26 had died.[6] The two surveys employed differing methodologies and the 2009 survey only included mine/ERW survivors living in mine-affected areas.[7] In 2010, the Zambia Foundation for Landmine Survivors (ZAFLAS) and partner organizations undertook a survey of the needs of survivors in the southern provinces that also recorded information on other persons with disabilities living in the survey areas. The survey covered 34 affected villages in Kalomo and Sinazongwe and included 11 persons killed, 27 survivors, and 34 other persons with disabilities.[8]
Victim Assistance
There were at least 112 mine/ERW survivors in Zambia at the end of 2014.[9]
There was a need to improve disability data and statistics; the lack of data and information on disability and disability-related indicators at the national level was reported to contribute to the invisibility of persons with disabilities in official statistics. This created a major obstacle to inclusive development planning and implementation.[10]
In 2015, Zambian initiated a National Disability Survey. The survey will collect information on all disabled persons in an effort to systematically and interpretively fulfill the rights of persons with disabilities. The government planned to disaggregate information on survivors of landmines, cluster munitions and other ERW from the survey for use by ZMAC and other relevant ministries and institutions.[11]
Zambia has designated ZMAC as the victim assistance focal point.[12] Zambia designated funds in ZMAC’s 2014–2015 and 2015–2016 budgets to carry out a survey of landmine and cluster munition victims leaving near suspected hazardous areas.[13]
The Ministry of Education, Science and Vocational Training as well as and the Ministry of Community Development, Mother and Child Health have responsibility for ensuring the welfare of persons with disabilities more generally.[14]
ZAFLAS is the only survivor association in Zambia.[15] A survey by a research team of ZAFLAS and partners in the southern provinces in 2010 identified a number of challenges to progress in developing a national response to improve quality of life of mine survivors and other persons with disabilities.[16]
Zambia continued to assist mine/ERW survivors with the provision of prosthetic limbs and other mobility and assistive devices. In May 2015 the Zambian president visited mine/ERW survivors in Kaleni, Ikeleng’i District of Northwestern Province. Subsequently the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other relevant ministries began the process of devising a comprehensive and sustainable plan for victim assistance.[17] During the visit by the head of state, assurances were made that victims will be assisted to undertake sustainable income-generating activities and be provided with prosthetic devices.[18]
The Zambia Agency for Persons with Disabilities (ZAPD), a government agency, included persons with disabilities on its board.[19] Zambian law prohibits discrimination in general, but there is no law that specifically prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to healthcare, the provision of other state services, or in other areas. Persons with disabilities faced significant societal discrimination in employment and education. The government did not mandate accessibility to public buildings and services for persons with disabilities. Schools and hospitals and other public buildings rarely had facilities to accommodate persons with disabilities.[20]
[1] Email from Dyriss Kabwita Simasiku, Assistant Director, Zambia Mine Action Centre (ZMAC), 25 June 2015.
[2] Emails from Sheila Mweemba, Director, ZMAC, 28 May 2009, and 13 May 2010; ZMAC, “ZMAC Director’s Report on Operations, 1 July–31 December 2008”; “Serious injuries and death as a group of men try to extract mineral from bomb,” Afrik.com, 27 September 2008; “Suspected landmine [explodes], injures three in Katete,” Lusaka Times, 25 September 2008. Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor identified three casualties in 2005, none in 2006, 19 in 2007, 11 in 2008, and one in 2009. See Landmine Monitor Reports 2006–2009.
[3] Email from Dyriss Kabwita Simasiku, Assistant Director, ZMAC, 25 June 2015.
[4] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form H, 31 May 2015.
[5]Email from Ngosa Kaloto-Lesa, Child Protection Specialist, UNICEF, 22 July 2008; and Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), “Landmine and other ERW Survey in Zambia, Final Report,” 30 September 2009, p. 20. Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form J, 17 April 2008 states that the survey identified 110 survivors but this information has been contradicted by more recent data.
[6] NPA, “Landmine and other ERW Survey in Zambia, Final Report,” 30 September 2009, p. 20.
[7] Ibid.; and email from Sheila Mweemba, ZMAC, 13 May 2010.
[8] ZAFLAS, “Casualty Data Collection Project-Phase 2, Southern Province, Report August-September 2010.”.
[9] This figure includes the 106 survivors identified by the 2007 ZMAC survey, plus survivors reported in 2008 and 2009. Email from Ngosa Kaloto-Lesa, UNICEF, 22 July 2008; NPA, “Landmine and other ERW Survey in Zambia, Final Report,” 30 September 2009, p. 20; “Serious injuries and death as a group of men try to extract mineral from bomb,” Afrik.com, 27 September 2008; “Suspected landmine [explodes], injures three in Katete,” Lusaka Times, 25 September 2008; ZMAC, “ZMAC Director’s Report on Operations, 1 July–31 December 2008,”; and email from Sheila Mweemba, ZMAC, 13 May 2010.
[10] “First Lady speaks for disabled,” Zambia Daily Mail, 4 December 2015.
[11] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form H, 31 May 2015.
[12] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form H, 30 April 2014.
[13] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form H, 30 April 2014; Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form H, 31 May 2015. and
[14] US Department of State, “2014 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Zambia,” Washington, DC, 25 June 2015.
[15] Email from Yona Phiri, ZAFLAS, 4 March 2013.
[16] ZAFLAS, “Casualty Data Collection Project-Phase 2, Southern Province, Report August-September 2010.”
[17] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form H, 31 May 2015.
[18] “Landmine victims, Survivors Attract President Lungu’s Courtesy,” Daily Mail Zambia, 27 May 2015.
[19] ZAPD, “Composition of the Agency Board,” undated.
[20] US Department of State, “2014 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Zambia,” Washington, DC, 25 June 2015.