Zimbabwe

Casualties and Victim Assistance

Last updated: 04 January 2017

Action points based on findings

  • Expand casualty data collection to all areas affected by landmines and all organizations working in mine action.
  • Update disability policies and align legislation with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
  • Ensure sustainability of prosthetic and orthotic services.
  • Provide economic inclusion opportunities for survivors and persons with disabilities.

Victim assistance commitments

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

Casualties Overview

All known casualties by end 2015

1,610 mine/ERW casualties

Casualties in 2015

8 (2014: 9)

2015 casualties by outcome

1 killed; 7 injured (2014: 2 killed; 7 injured)

2015 casualties by device type

8 antipersonnel mine

 

For 2015, the Monitor identified eight mine/ERW casualties. Four were boys, one was a civilian man, and the remaining three were deminers. All casualties were caused by antipersonnel landmines and of the five civilian casualties, all occurred because of tampering with the mines. The three deminer casualties occurred during landmine clearance and the injuries were such that the deminers were able to return to work. The Zimbabwe Mine Action Center (ZIMAC) also reported the deaths of 35 cattle in 2015.[1] All of the casualties were from the HALO Trust’s area of operations. Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) reported no casualties[2] and casualty data is only obtained through ZIMAC’s partners, not through the government or national army demining brigades.

Since 1980, 1,610 casualties have been reported by ZIMAC.[3]

Cluster munition casualties

There have been at least three cluster munition casualties in Zimbabwe, dating from the period of the liberation war in the 1970s. In an incident documented by a former Rhodesian soldier in his memoirs, two children were killed and a third injured when they found an unexploded cluster submunition (bomblet) and threw it against a large rock.[4] 

Victim Assistance

Victim assistance since 1999

The majority of documented landmine casualties have been animal casualties. In a 1998 study of the impact of landmines in Zimbabwe, Martin Rupiya estimated the number of landmine victims at 470 with 70 killed and 400 injured.[5] Rupiya described the lack of sufficient emergency medical assistance and rehabilitation care for survivors in the Mukumbura region. The local clinics lacked the surgical wards to address traumatic amputations and had no rehabilitation or prosthetic facilities. Surgical and rehabilitation needs could be met at the referral hospital in Mount Darwin or the national hospitals in Harare.[6]

Prosthetic services in 1998 were available from a government-approved facility in Bulawayo. At the time, prosthetic legs cost Z$8,000 (circa US$430) and prosthetic arms cost Z$15,000 (circa US$800). Survivors were expected to cover 15% of the cost of the limbs, which made them prohibitive for many.[7]

Community-based rehabilitation (CBR) was pioneered in Zimbabwe and for many years, and was hailed as a model for other countries. With the support of the ICRC, Zimbabwe established rehabilitation villages and provided rehabilitation services to beneficiaries. With the economic collapse in Zimbabwe in the early 2000s, these services were mostly discontinued, except in limited areas where Jairos Jiri, a national NGO, continued to provide CBR with support from external donors.[8]

The Local Rehabilitation Workshop (LOREWO) was founded in 1999 to meet the needs of persons with disabilities for wheelchairs. Based near the Mpilo referral hospital in Bulawayo, LOREWO transitioned from international management to national management in 2001 and has produced chairs and mobility devices with support from the governments of Norway and the United States. In 2015, support from the Norwegian government concluded but other stakeholders have stepped in to support LOREWO to deliver wheelchairs and other mobility devices.[9]

Disability issues are coordinated by the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, while emergency assistance is led by the Victim Friendly Unit. Responsibility for surveying survivors needs and other assistance to mine/ERW survivors is centralized through ZIMAC.[10]

The ICRC Special Fund for the Disabled (SFD) provided support to the Parirenyatwa group of hospitals until 2013, when the SFD ended support to the Parirenyatwa groups as part of the planned ICRC SFD phase out, finding that they had reached a satisfactory level of autonomy.[11] ICRC SFD assistance to the Bulawayo Rehabilitation Center had been phased out by the end of 2012, as planned.[12]

Assessing victim assistance needs

The HALO Trust, in the course of its survey of suspected hazardous areas in its working area, identified 138 landmine survivors, including 20 people who had been injured between 2013 and 2015.[13]

The government planned to develop a database of mine/ERW survivors through coordination between the Ministry of Health and Child Care and the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare. The Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare maintains a database of all persons with disabilities and ZIMAC communicates all reported landmine casualties to the Ministry for Inclusion.[14]

Victim assistance coordination

Government coordinating body/focal point

NMAC

Coordinating mechanism

Not applicable

Plan

No active victim assistance plan

 

Zimbabwe reported on victim assistance efforts at the Mine Ban Treaty Fourteenth Meeting of States Parties in December 2015.[15] It also reported on the status of victim assistance in its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report for 2015.[16]

Participation and inclusion in victim assistance

In the absence of a coordinating mechanism for victim assistance or a formal plan for victim assistance activities, survivors are unable to participate in the formulation of victim assistance strategies. There is a strong disability community in Zimbabwe, including disabled persons’ organizations (DPOs) and service providers who could contribute to a coordinating mechanism. Some of the organizations expressed concern that they were not consulted in the development of the Ministry of Health and Child Care’s survey of needs for persons with disabilities in 2013.[17] Survivors and persons with disabilities are employed by the Local Rehabilitation Workshop (LOREWO) and Jairos Jiri in the manufacture of wheelchairs and assistive devices.[18]

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities

Name of organization

Type of organization

Type of activity

National Rehabilitation Hospitals

Government

Seven rehabilitation centers with mobile workshops, includes limited psychological counseling

Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare

Government

Financial support to war victims, management of disability benefits programs

Jairos Jiri

NGO

Prosthetic and orthotic devices, wheelchairs; CBR

Leonard Cheshire Disability Zimbabwe Trust

NGO

Economic inclusion

Cassim’s Prosthetics

Commercial Firm

Prosthetic and orthotic devices

Local Rehabilitation Workshop (LOREWO)

NGO

Wheelchair manufacture

Disabled Women in Africa

NGO

Advocacy

National Council of Disabled Persons of Zimbabwe

NGO

Advocacy

Disabled Women Support Organization

NGO

Advocacy

Mercy Corps

NGO

Physical rehabilitation for children

Christian Blind Mission

NGO

Advocacy, coordination of services

 

Emergency and continuing medical care

Emergency medical and surgical services are available at the national referral hospitals. Survivors and others in need of services can apply for Medical Treatment Orders, which are used as vouchers for services; hospitals redeem the vouchers for payment from the Department of Social Services.[19] In case of an incident, HALO sends its staff to the Karanda Mission Hospital, a private facility about two-hours’ drive from the minefields.[20] NPA uses the Mutare Provincial Hospital, one of the national referral hospitals, for this purpose.[21]

Physical rehabilitation, including prosthetics

Since the termination of support by the ICRC SFD, Zimbabwe’s national rehabilitation centers have been unable to procure the supplies necessary for the manufacture of assistive devices.[22] The centers still provide rehabilitation services;[23] Leonard Cheshire Disability Zimbabwe Trust offers physical rehabilitation for children with disabilities;[24] and LOREWO has introduced rehabilitation and occupational therapy services for persons with cerebral palsy.[25]

Three facilities, two commercial firms and a national NGO, produce prosthetic and orthotic devices. The Jairos Jiri Prosthetic Workshop, on the outskirts of Harare, sells wheelchairs and manufactures customized orthotic and prosthetic devices.[26] Ottobock operates the commercial firm out of Harare and Cassim’s Prosthetics, the other commercial prosthetic company in Zimbabwe, is in Bulawayo. Cassim’s Prosthetics produces arm and leg prosthetics and also maintains a remote capacity, providing prosthetic devices to customers throughout the country.[27] In 2015, the National Mine Action Authority (NMAA) and HALO identified several survivors in need of prosthetics and contracted with Cassim’s Prosthetics to measure, build, fit, and deliver prosthetic limbs. The program began in 2014.HALO also identified some survivors who were assessed to receive cataract surgery.[28]

In addition to Jairos Jiri, LOREWO imported and manufactured wheelchairs. Motivation UK provided wheelchairs for LOREWO to distribute for little or no cost; manufactured chairs are sold at cost.[29]

Mercy Corps had run a large program focused on facilitating support for children with disabilities, but the project came to an end in early 2015.[30]

Economic inclusion

With only 15% of the population engaged in formal employment, few opportunities for meaningful work exist for Zimbabweans. LOREWO and the Jairos Jiri operate as sheltered workshops for persons with disabilities. The Leonard Cheshire Disability Zimbabwe Trust operates an access to livelihoods program for persons with disabilities; they receive vocational training and are then encouraged to form manufacturing groups to produce products that are likely to produce a profit in the marketplace.[31]

Psychological support and social inclusion

Few, if any, psychological services are available for survivors and persons with disabilities in Zimbabwe.[32] Disabled Women’s Support Organization (DWSO) provided peer counseling through hospital visits to persons who had recently suffered disabling injuries. Support for these activities has discontinued, though the capacity remains.[33]

Educational opportunities for persons with disabilities were constrained after the government suspended subsidies for children with disabilities under the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM), which provided US$600 per student per year.[34] School Development Grants are used to create resource units and special education classes within mainstream schools, but still an estimated 75% of children with disabilities have no access to education.[35]

The Office of the President and a number of DPOs hosted the annual disability exposition in Bulawayo in July 2015. The expo is designed to counter traditional beliefs and prejudices against disabilities and demonstrate that disability does not mean inability.[36]

In November–December 2015, Harare hosted the 18th ICASA (International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa), an opportunity to highlight the impact of the AIDS epidemic on persons with disabilities. Some advocates reported how prejudice and ignorance about the sexual activity of persons with disabilities had hindered diagnoses of HIV and AIDS. Advocates also discussed how persons with physical disabilities were unable to access HIV/AIDS services.[37]

Laws and policies

Zimbabwe has several national policies related to victim assistance and disability, including the Disabled Persons Act, the War Victims Compensation Act, the Social Welfare Assistance Act, and the State Service (Disability Benefits) Act. The Disabled Persons Act was hailed as a major milestone when it was passed in 1992, but was superseded in international policy by the CRPD. Zimbabwe’s 2013 constitution recognizes the rights of persons with disabilities and requires government implementation, however it contains the caveat that government action is contingent upon available resources.[38] Zimbabwe ratified the CRPD on 23 September 2013, but has yet to adopt domestic laws and revise existing legislation in accordance with the convention.[39]

Several policy changes and programs were pending final government approval. The government of Zimbabwe and the Africa Disability Alliance have drafted a memorandum of understanding to develop a national disability mainstreaming plan but it has not been approved by the cabinet. A draft national disability policy, which was drafted with the support of the disability community in Zimbabwe, has yet to be indorsed by the cabinet. Multiple meetings were held between the disability community and the Ministry of Social Welfare to advance disability policy.[40]



[1] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2015), Form J.

[2] Email from Claus Nielsen, NPA, 8 March 2016; and response to Landmine Monitor questionnaire by Tom Dibb, Programme Manager, HALO Trust, 3 March 2016.

[3] Interview with Col. Ncube, ZIMAC, in Geneva, 24 June 2011; ICBL, Landmine Monitor Report 2009: Toward a Mine-Free World (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada: October 2009); and Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Reports (for calendar years 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015), Form J; and email from Tom Dibb, HALO Trust, 23 March 2015.

[4] PJH Petter-Bowyer, Winds of Destruction: The autobiography of a Rhodesian born pilot covering the Rhodesian bush war of 1967–1980 (Trafford Publishing: 2003).

[5] Martin Rupiya, “Landmines in Zimbabwe: A Deadly Legacy,” SAPES Trust, 1998, p. 10.

[6] Ibid., p. 47.

[7] Ibid., p. 3.

[8] Interview with Michele Angeletti, Christian Blind Mission (CBM), 23 June 2015.

[9] Interviews with Anywhere Chimbambaira, Local Rehabilitation Workshop, 22 June 2015; and with Isaac Nyathi, National Council of Disabled Persons of Zimbabwe, 22 June 2015; and response to Landmine Monitor questionnaire by Michele Angelleti, CBM, 8 April 2016.

[10] Presentation of Zimbabwe, “ICRC-AU Workshop to Advance the Implementation of Victim Assistance Obligations Arising from Various Weapons Treaties,” Addis Ababa, 6 March 2014.

[11] ICRC SFD, “Annual Report 2013,” Geneva, May 2014, p. 19.

[12] ICRC SFD, “Annual Report 2012,” Geneva, May 2013, pp. 13, 20.

[13] HALO Trust, “Zimbabwe Survey Summary Report,” 28 Febuary 2015; and response to Landmine Monitor questionnaire by Tom Dibb, HALO Trust, 3 March 2016.

[14] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2015).

[15] Statement of Zimbabwe, Mine Ban Treaty Fourteenth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, December 2015.

[16] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2015).

[17] Interviews with Tione Mzila, Disabled Women in Africa, 22 June 2015; and with Rejoice Timire, Disabled Women’s Support Organization, 17 June 2015.

[18] Interviews with Anywhere Chimbambaira, Local Rehabilitation Workshop, 22 June 2015; and with Jairos Jiri Prosthetic Workshop, 17 June 2015.

[19] Government of Zimbabwe, “Update Report on Victim Assistance,” presented at the Mine Ban Treaty Intersessional Meetings, 19 May 2016.

[20] Email from Tom Dibb, HALO Trust, 9 December 2014.

[21] Email from Sheila Mweemba, NPA, 19 March 2015.

[22] Interview with Jairos Jiri Prosthetic Workshop, 17 June 2015.

[23] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2014), Form J.

[24] Leonard Cheshire Disability Zimbabwe Trust, undated pamphlet.

[25] Response to Landmine Monitor questionnaire by Anywhere Chimbambaira, LOREWO, 15 March 2016.

[26] Interview with staff, Jairos Jiri Prosthetic Workshop, 17 June 2015.

[27] Interview with Dawood Cassim, and Noordan Cassim, Cassim’s Prosthetics, 22 June 2015.

[28] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2015); and response to Landmine Monitor questionnaire by Tom Dibb, HALO Trust, 3 March 2016.

[29] Interview with Anywhere Chimbambaira, Local Rehabilitation Workshop, 22 June 2015.

[30] Interview with Don Chauke, Independent Consultant, 17 June 2015.

[31] Interview with Noma Dube, Leonard Cheshire Disability Zimbabwe Trust, 24 June 2015.

[32] United States (US) Department of State, “2015 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Zimbabwe,” Washington, DC, 13 April 2016.

[33] Interview with Rejoice Timire, Disabled Women’s Support Organization, 17 June 2015.

[34]BEAM cancellation hits special school,” The Zimbabwean, 26 February 2014.

[35] Response to Landmine Monitor by Michele Angeletti, CBM, 8 April 2016; and US Department of State, “2015 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Zimbabwe,” Washington, DC, 13 April 2016.

[36] Lisa Shirichena, “Disability Expo set for July,” All Africa, 26 May 2015.

[37] Bonginkosi Moyo-Mbano, “Person with Disability Shares Reflection on Aids Conference,” All Africa, 11 December 2015; and Jeffrey Moyo, “Disabled Persons Not Part of Aids Success in Zimbabwe,” All Africa, 23 December 2015.

[38] Proceed Manatsa, “Are disability laws in Zimbabwe compatible with the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)?” International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention, Vol. 4, Issue 4, April 2015, pp. 25–34.

[39] Interview with Tione Mzila, Disabled Women in Africa, 22 June 2015.

[40] Government of Zimbabwe, “Update Report on Victim Assistance,” presented at the Mine Ban Treaty Intersessional Meetings, 19 May 2016; and response to Landmine Monitor by Michele Angeletti, CBM, 8 April 2016.