Action points based on findings

• Improve the availability of physical rehabilitation and psychosocial services significantly throughout the country; increase resources to establish these services.
• Identify sustainable resources for assistance as a key priority; since most funding ended, many NGOs that provide victim assistance depend on irregular international funding channeled through the mine action sector.
• Ensure that effective mechanisms are in place for victim assistance coordination.
• Work towards forming a sustainable planning and coordination mechanism that recognizes and addresses victim assistance requirements at national and local levels.

Victim assistance commitments

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is responsible for a significant number of survivors of landmines, cluster munition victims, and survivors of other explosive remnants of war (ERW) who are in need. DRC has made commitments to provide victim assistance through the Mine Ban Treaty and has obligations to cluster munition victims as a signatory to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

DRC acceded to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on 30 September 2015.

Casualties

Casualties Overview

The UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) reported 16 mine/ERW and submunition casualties in DRC for 2015.[1] As in previous years, children constituted a significant portion of all casualties, with half of casualties being minors (eight). All casualties were civilians, including five females (all adults) and nine males (one man; eight boys).[2] This represented a significant decrease from the 47 casualties recorded for 2014 and remained less than the 21 casualties recorded for 2013 by UNMAS.[3] It was however similar to the number of casualties recorded in 2012 (13).[4] Difficulties in gathering data on incidents did not allow for comprehensive differentiation on the type of explosive devices involved in incidents causing casualties. It was reported that all but one casualties were caused by ERW.[5]

It has been frequently and repeatedly reported that available casualty data significantly underrepresents the true number of people killed and injured, due to the absence of a national data collection system for mine/ERW casualties and the fact that parts of the country remain inaccessible, owing to a lack of infrastructure and security constraints.[6]

UNMAS reported 2,579 mine/ERW casualties between 1964 and the end of 2015, with 1,073 people killed, 1,500 injured, and six cases in which it was unknown if the casualties survived.[7] Of all casualties, 1,660 were male and about a quarter (629) were female.[8] Children represented 44% (1,127) of the total casualties. Casualties were identified in all of DRC’s 11 provinces, although more than half of all casualties occurred in just three provinces: South Kivu (23%), Equateur (21%), and North Kivu (19%).[9]

Cluster munition casualties

Cluster munition remnants caused 207 casualties in DRC through the end of 2015 (accounting for 16% of all casualties for which the explosive-device type was known).[10] The last unexploded submunition casualties identified in disaggregated data occurred in 2010.

Victim Assistance

By the end of 2015, UNMAS had recorded 1,500 mine/ERW survivors in DRC.[11]

Victim assistance under the Cartagena Action Plan 2010–2014

Most persons with disabilities, including mine/ERW survivors in DRC have continued to be unable to access services. Due to conflict, poverty, and mass displacement, the many needs of persons with disabilities were not met. Access to services ranged from limited to non-existent and was further hampered by long distances, inaccessible terrain, and cost. Most services have been provided by NGOs. Conflict increased demands on services at the same time that some NGOs also faced funding difficulties.

The physical rehabilitation sector remained under-resourced and the few functioning centers remained dependent on international support. Social workers within the healthcare system had received some basic training. Opportunities for psychological assistance were limited to ad hoc NGO projects.

Victim assistance in 2015

The security situation in DRC remained volatile in 2015, with the fragmentation and proliferation of armed groups, fighting among them, and ethnic violence, notably in the eastern provinces of North and South Kivu, and the former provinces of Katanga and Province Orientale. This situation led to casualties, displacement, the destruction of livelihood/property, and other abuses against civilians.[12] International funding for victim assistance provided through UNMAS and other donors remained worryingly low in 2015.[13] This lack of funding led to a stagnation in the availability of services, the number of actors, and geographical coverage in 2015.[14] Psychological support and care remained among the biggest challenges in mine/ERW victim assistance in DRC in 2015.[15]

As in previous years, the size of the country, combined with the lack of transportation and infrastructure, armed violence, and the financial cost of obtaining assistance all made it difficult for survivors to access the limited number of services, which were available only in major cities.[16]

Assessing victim assistance needs

No new victim assistance needs assessments were conducted in 2015.[17] Victim assistance stakeholders largely worked from the results of the 2011 victim identification and needs assessment campaigns, conducted as part of the implementation of the National Strategic Plan for Assistance for Mine/ERW Victims and other Persons with Disabilities: November 2010–October 2011 (Plan Stratégique National d’Assistance aux Victimes des Mines/REG et autres Personnes en Situation de Handicap: Novembre 2010–Octobre 2011, PSNAVH).[18] Close to 500 mine/ERW survivors were identified among 1,000 persons with disabilities surveyed, identifying needs in healthcare, physical rehabilitation, and economic inclusion.[19]

In 2015, the Ministry of Social Affairs prepared, with various stakeholders, for a wide data collection exercise on persons with disabilities in 11 provincial capital cities (Goma, Bukavu, Kindu, Lubumbashi, Mbandaka, Matadi, Kinshasa, Mbuji-Mayi, Kanaga, Bandundu, and Kisangani). This exercise was carried out from January to March 2016 to inform the development of a five-year strategic plan on the protection and promotion of persons with disabilities in DRC.[20]

Victim assistance coordination in 2015[21]

From 2013 through 2015, the Working Group on Victim Assistance (Groupe de Travail sur l’Assistance aux Victimes)—created in 2011 and chaired by the Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs of the Ministry of Social Affairs[22]—remained inoperative and only two coordination meetings took place in 2015.[23] It was noted that the disengagement of UNMAS, starting in 2014 with the closure of several offices,[24] led to a general halt in coordination efforts.[25] Since then the role of coordination and planning was assumed by the Sub-cluster on Disabilities, which falls under the Health Cluster,[26] however, in 2015 this Sub Cluster did not meet.[27]

Terms of reference for a “Monthly Meeting on Victim Assistance and Mine Risk Education” were drafted in October 2013 to replace the meetings of the Working Group on Victim Assistance.[28] As of December 2015, no meetings under these new terms of reference had been organized.[29]

The National Strategic Mine Action Plan for the period 2012–2016 includes a chapter on victim assistance that draws on the PSNAVH.[30] Five strategic objectives have been set for victim assistance: (1) improved information and data management on survivors and their needs; (2) strengthened physical rehabilitation nationally; (3) development of psychological support in accordance with victims’ needs; (4) ensuring access to socioeconomic and professional rehabilitation; and (5) strengthened coordination mechanisms on victim rehabilitation.[31]

Funding to ensure the implementation of the victim assistance section of the National Mine Action Plan remained a key challenge throughout 2015.[32] In 2014, funding from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs for victim assistance through UNMAS ended, and no more UNMAS financial support was available. Because many NGOs depended almost entirely on funds raised by UNMAS, there was a significant decrease in the number of service providers.[33] In November 2015, Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) received funding from the Government of Japan for a Mine Action project, which includes capacity-building for the Congolese Mine Action Center (Centre Congolais de Lutte Anti-Mines, CCLAM), in particular for keeping and updating Mine Action databases, including on victim assistance.[34]

DRC did not provide updates on progress and challenges for victim assistance at Mine Ban Treaty and Convention on Cluster Munitions international meetings in 2015. DRC made a statement at the intersessional Standing Committee meetings of the Mine Ban Treaty in May 2016, in which it noted the severe lack of funding for victim assistance and also said that it needs to improve availability of physical rehabilitation and psychosocial services significantly.[35] As of 1 October 2016, DRC had not submitted its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report for the year 2014 and 2015. Victim assistance was reported in Form H of DRC’s voluntary Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 reports submitted in 2011, 2012, and 2013, but only briefly, with no detail or data.

Inclusion and participation in victim assistance

In 2015, mine/ERW survivors and their representative organizations, as well as disabled persons’ organizations (DPOs), were invited to the few meetings organized on victim assistance held in Kinshasa.[36] In 2015, survivors participated in the provision of economic inclusion services, as well as in advocacy activities and peer support programs carried out by NGOs.[37]

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities in 2015[38]

Emergency and continuing medical care had limited support through government medical structures and there was a lack of accessible healthcare across DRC.[39]

The long distances to services, high financial costs of attaining them, and insecurity remained the greatest obstacles to accessing physical rehabilitation.[40] The PSNAVH estimated that just 20% of the population in need of physical rehabilitation services were able to access them.[41] There were only six rehabilitation centers operating effectively in the entire country. Even these lacked sufficient materials to produce enough prosthetics to meet existing needs. Trained orthopedic technicians were needed, especially in mine-affected areas.[42] In 2015, the ICRC continued to providing technical support, equipment and materials to four physical rehabilitation centers and a workshop (located in Bukavu Goma, and Kinshasa).[43] The Orthopedic Center Kalembe-Lembe reopened in 2015 after several years of closure.[44]

The ICRC also continued to cover the treatment costs of people directly affected by the conflict.[45] In 2015, patients received improved services at 11 health facilities, including physical rehabilitation centers, following construction/repair work, particularly on sanitation, electrical, and water-supply systems.[46] The number of prostheses produced overall with ICRC support in 2015 increased compared to the past two years.[47] However in 2015, mine/ERW survivors only received 6% of all prosthetic devices produced with the assistance of the ICRC,[48] which was the same as the 6% in 2014, but continued the decrease compared to 16% in 2012 and 10% in 2013.[49]

In 2015, HI provided funding and support to the General Provincial Reference Hospital in Kinshasa for the opening of a new orthopedic workshop. Twelve local technicians were trained within the framework of the TEAM CONGO project (Training, economic empowerment, and medical/physical (re)habilitation services for the Democratic Republic of the Congo).[50] This USAID-funded disability rights project implemented by HI also aimed to promote the socio-economic inclusion of persons with disabilities—in particular women and girls—living in Kinshasa and Kananga and provide technical and mobility aids.[51] HI also worked to improve access to inclusive education for children with disabilities, in particular through the development of the legal framework for inclusive education, in partnership with the education ministry.[52] Psychological support remained an area where the largest needs and gaps existed in 2015, especially in rural areas.[53]

The CNOPHAVM, a coalition of national NGOs that includes the CCBL, the ANASDIV, the Congolese Association of the Liberation and Development of Mothers with Disabilities (l’Association Congolaise pour la Libération et le Développement de la Maman Handicapée, ACOLDEMHA), the Congolese Medico-social Expert Center for Persons with Disabilities (Centre Congolais d’Expertise Médico-Social pour Personnes Vivant avec Handicap, CCEMS-PVH), and Parousia, continued its psychological and peer support programs in the provinces of Kinshasa, North Kivu, South Kivu, and South Congo.[54] In 2015, the ICRC provided psychological support to 1,000 people with conflict-related trauma at 26 counselling centers (six of which had been newly constructed/repaired), including at two rehabilitation centers.[55] The ICRC also continued to promote social inclusion through sports.[56]

In 2015, some national NGOs continued to implement projects offering economic inclusion services to mine/ERW survivors. AFRILAM, based in Kisangani, provided vocational training for five mine/ERW survivors.[57]

The 2005 constitution includes special mention of support of war veterans and persons with disabilities resulting from war. It also prohibits discrimination against all persons with disabilities, stipulates that all citizens must have access to public services (including education), and provides that persons with disabilities are afforded specific protection by the government.[58] However, the legislation was not effectively enforced and persons with disabilities often found it difficult to obtain employment, education, or government services. The legislation did not mandate access to buildings or government services for persons with disabilities.[59] A legislative proposal for a new law on protecting persons with disabilities and promoting their rights was drafted in 2012, with the involvement of NGOs. By December 2015, the draft had not been approved.[60]

The government continued to implement its project initiated in 2013 to rehabilitate 1,000 schools throughout the country, however, accessibility standards were not taken into account.[61] New regulations on physical accessibility of school buildings were adopted in 2015 by the ministry responsible for primary and secondary education, with the support of HI’s inclusive education project.[62]