Action points based on findings

• Ensure the sustainability of physical rehabilitation and psychosocial support for mine/explosive remnants of war (ERW) victims and other persons with disabilities in the Casamance region.
• Ensure regular and effective coordination on victim assistance with all stakeholders and adopt new victim assistance plan.
• Work on developing economic inclusion projects for mine/ERW victims in the Casamance region.

Victim assistance commitments

The Republic of Senegal is responsible for a significant number of survivors of landmines and ERW who are in need. Senegal has made commitments to provide victim assistance through the Mine Ban Treaty.

Senegal ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on 7 September 2010.

Casualties Overview

In 2015, the Monitor identified two mine casualties in Senegal.[1] All casualties were adult males, including one civilians and one member of the Senegalese military forces. All casualties in 2015 occurred in of the region of Ziguinchor, Casamance.

The two casualties identified for 2015 represented a significant decrease from previous years.[2] This decrease in the number of casualties can be explained by a general decrease in casualties among combatants. In 2011 and 2012, there was an increase in mine casualties among military or security forces, while in 2013, just two of the eight casualties were military, and in 2014, none of the casualties were combatants. Fluctuations in the security situation in Casamance have resulted in variable annual mine casualty rates in Senegal over the last several years.[3] Following an intensification of violence since 2011, violence decreased since 2013, explaining the decline in casualties among combatants over the period.[4] While the number of civilian casualties has remained at similar levels in recent years,[5] 2015 has seen a significant decrease in the overall number of casualties, including civilians.

With reduced support for demining in Senegal[6] and new mines reported having been laid,[7] it is feared that numbers of victims of mine/ERW may increase.[8]

The Monitor identified at least 849 casualties (188 killed; 648 injured; 13 unknown) between 1988 and the end of 2015.[9] This included 592 civilian casualties and 244 military casualties.[10] As of June 2016, the Senegalese National Mine Action Center (Centre national d’action antimines au Sénégal, CNAMS) registered a total of 826 casualties (187 killed; 639 injured) of which 590 were civilians and 236 were military.[11] Since 2005, all reported casualties have been caused by mines.[12] In 2015, both casualties were caused by antipersonnel mines.

Victim Assistance

By the end of 2015, there were at least 648 mine/ERW survivors in Senegal (439 civilian and 209 military survivors).

Victim assistance during the Cartagena Action Plan 2010–2014

Most mine/ERW survivors in Senegal live in the Casamance region where services are much more limited than elsewhere in the country.

Senegal has reported on several occasions that it is committed to victim assistance, but at the same time has acknowledged that needs were not being met due to a lack of resources. The government relied on international and national NGOs, including the Senegalese Association of Mine Victims (Association sénégalaise des victimes de mines, ASVM), Handicap International (HI), and the ICRC to implement activities. Years of conflict and continued intermittent violence devastated infrastructure and prevented access to services.

Psychosocial support had been provided by the Kenya Psychiatric Center (Centre psychiatrique de Kenya) with the support of CNAMS. Financial support from CNAMS to the center to offer their services outside Ziguinchor has not been provided since 2012.[13] The center was the only facility providing psychological support to mine survivors and other persons with disabilities for all regions of Casamance. In 2015, access to these services was supported by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines’ Survivor Network Project (SNP) through ASVM, which provided funding to the Kenya Center and ensured that specialists were able to visit mine/ERW victims in their own communities.[14]

Throughout the period, efforts were made for economic reintegration and education opportunities for survivors, but overall this assistance remained inadequate because there were few programs targeting survivors and they had difficulties accessing broader programs for all vulnerable groups. While different activities and services targeting survivors were implemented every year, the question of sustainability and the long-term social and economic inclusion of victims had yet to be tackled by authorities.[15] In 2015, the “Equality of Chances Card” was introduced to tackle these issues.[16] Military survivors received separate services provided exclusively by the Ministry of Armed Forces, which were mostly free of charge and superior to those offered to civilians, but still had gaps.[17]

Victim assistance in 2015

In 2015, with the improving security situation in Casamance, some internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees returned to their homes, but certain areas remained inaccessible because of mines—some newly laid—and other security concerns.[18]

Throughout 2015, emergency medical care was limited and response times depended on the location of the incident; the army provided assistance. NGOs continued to consider evacuation of injured victims as one of the biggest challenges in accessing appropriate emergency medical care.[19] Follow-up medical care was only available in the two regional hospitals, which had sufficient capacity but had equipment that only worked intermittently and experienced shortages of supplies. These two hospitals and their satellite centers also provided physical rehabilitation. On 30 April 2015, the president of Senegal launched a new initiative called the “Equality of Chances Card” (carte d’égalité des chances) targeting all persons with disabilities, including mine/ERW victims, so that they can receive free healthcare and rehabilitation, as well as improved access to education, vocational training, transports, benefits, and employment.[20]

Assessing victim assistance needs

No needs assessments were conducted in 2015.[21] During 2013, CNAMS, ASVM, and HI conducted various surveys.[22]

Victim assistance coordination[23]

In 2015, no coordination and planning meetings on victim assistance that included all stakeholders were held.[24] The CNAMS held several internal meetings, as well as bilateral meetings with NGOs.[25] In 2015, no meetings of the CRC were reported. The CRC, established in 2011, brings together CNAMS with local and international organizations working in the region under the chairmanship of the governor of the Casamance region.[26] However, the focus of the CRC is on mine action more broadly and since its inception, national organizations noted that while victim assistance was sometimes discussed and debated during these meetings, the CRC was not fulfilling its coordination role.[27] Regular coordination meetings took place in 2015 between representatives of CNAMS and of ASVM.[28]

Senegal’s PANAV included a mechanism for monitoring and evaluating progress in its implementation, though no reports had been made available that compared victim assistance progress against the PANAV through the end of 2015. CNAMS launched a mid-term evaluation of the PANAV and its impact in 2013.[29] The results of this evaluation were finalized and made public in 2014[30] and two key recommendations were made: 1) to decentralize the support provided to health facilities in order to ensure that victims in rural areas can also benefit from those services; 2) strengthen psychological support to mine/ERW victims.[31] No funding was available in 2015 to conduct the final evaluation of the PANAV, which in turn hindered the development of a new victim assistance plan. However, CNAMS reported that the objectives of the PANAV were still appropriate in 2015.[32]

Senegal did not provide updates on victim assistance at Mine Ban Treaty international meetings in 2015. As of 1 October 2016, Senegal had not submitted its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report for the 2015 calendar year.

Inclusion and participation in victim assistance

Mine/ERW survivors were involved through ASVM and international organizations in the design of victim assistance programming.[33] In 2015, two women with disabilities were nominated to high-level state positions; as counselor to the Senegal Presidency and as a counselor to the Economic, Social, and Environmental Committee (Conseil Economique, Social et Environemental, CESE).

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities in 2015[34]

In 2015, a positive dynamic between NGOs and CNAMS led to increased availability of services for mine/ERW victims and persons with disabilities.[35] Although challenges remained in rural areas, projects were introduced to develop services outside of urban centers. While the security situation in the northern part of Casamance improved throughout 2015, access to all services for survivors in this geographic area, as well as transportation, remained an issue. Access to certain areas due to the presence of mines remained a challenge especially for returning IDPs and refugees.[36]

On 30 September 2015, Senegal began implementing, the new Equality of Chances card in accordance with a new Social Orientation Law passed in 2012. The card was to provide access for free medical care, rehabilitation, transport, and education to all persons with disabilities.[37]

In 2015, the physical rehabilitation center in Ziguinchor had difficulty in meeting the demand for orthotic devices. Therefore, the ICRC signed an agreement with CNAMS to send people from Senegal for rehabilitation abroad. The first five patients were sent to Guinea-Bissau in December 2015.[38] Within the framework of this project, ASVM is responsible for covering for costs of the accommodation, transport, and food of beneficiaries traveling to Guinea Bissau to be treated.[39] Since 2013, ICRC Special Fund for the Disabled (SFD)’s partnership in Senegal was put on hold pending a renewed commitment from the authorities concerned.[40]

The Kenya Psychiatric Center continued to provide psychological support to mine survivors in 2015. A new project, a collaboration between ASVM and CNAMS and funded by the SNP, allowed for visits by specialists of the center and group support to mine/ERW victims in host communities in 2015. Fifty mine/ERW survivors benefited from this support, thus marking a significant increase in access to such services as opposed to previous years.[41] The center also continued therapy sessions, including ergotherapy, for mine/ERW victims.[42]

CNAMS provided school books and other educational materials to children victims of mines/ERW in 2015.[43] In collaboration with ASVM and CNAMS, the CAOSPE provided educational support and coaching to students, including in their villages of origin.[44]

The government provided grants, managed vocational training in regional centers, and offered funding for persons with disabilities to establish businesses.[45] In 2015, Senegal continued to fund the National Program for Community-based Reintegration (Programme National de Réadaptation à Base Communautaire, PNRBC), which supports socio-economic integration projects, vocational training, micro-finance, and education, as well as healthcare and physical rehabilitation.[46]

Senegalese law prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to healthcare, transport, and the provision of other state services. Senegal did not enforce these provisions adequately in 2015.[47] The law also mandates accessibility for persons with disabilities, but there remained a lack of infrastructure to assist them.[48]