Summary: Signatory the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) parliament approved ratification of the convention in November 2013, but it still has not ratified. The DRC states that it has amended existing legislation to implement the convention’s provisions. The DRC has participated in all of the convention’s meetings and voted for the first UN resolution on the convention in December 2015. The DRC has elaborated its views on several important issues for the interpretation and implementation of the convention. It provided a voluntary transparency report for the convention in 2011 that found it has never used, produced, or transferred cluster munitions, and does not possess a stockpile. Cluster munitions were used in the DRC in the past, but the party responsible for the use has never been conclusively identified.

Policy

The DRC signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 18 March 2009.

The current status of ratification is not known. In June 2015, the DRC stated that ratification legislation had been adopted and was awaiting review by the Constitutional Court.[1] The Senate adopted the ratification legislation on 28 November 2013.[2] The DRC has provided regular updates on its ratification process.[3]

In 2014, a DRC official stated that its implementation legislation for the Mine Ban Treaty had been amended to incorporate provisions on cluster munitions, but the Monitor has not been able to obtain a copy of the law.[4]

Since 2011, the DRC has provided three voluntary Article 7 transparency reports for the Convention on Cluster Munitions, most recently in June 2014.[5]

The DRC actively participated in the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions and strongly supported a comprehensive ban as well as the inclusion of provisions on international cooperation and assistance. Due to inadequate signing authority, the DRC was not able to sign the convention in Oslo in December 2008, but signed at the UN in New York three months later.[6]

The DRC participated in the First Review Conference in Dubrovnik, Croatia in September 2015. It has attended all of the convention’s Meetings of States Parties as well as intersessional meetings in 2011-2015 and regional workshops on the convention.

On 7 December 2015, the DRC voted in favor of the first UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution on the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[7]

The DRC has elaborated its views on several important issues relating to the interpretation and implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. In 2012, the government’s national mine action coordinator said that the DRC agreed with the views of the CMC that the provisions of the convention forbid transit in, foreign stockpiling of, and investment in the production of cluster munitions, and also forbid the assistance with the use of cluster munitions in joint military operations with states not party.[8]

The DRC is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

The DRC has reported that it has never used, produced, or transferred cluster munitions, and does not stockpile them.[9]

It is not clear who used cluster munitions in the DRC in the past. In April 2014, the DRC stated that cluster munitions were used in armed conflict by foreign armies, both invited and not invited.[10] Cluster munition contamination includes BLU-755, BLU-63, BLU-55, ShAOB, and PM1-type submunitions.[11]

In May 2013, the DRC confirmed that an abandoned stockpile containing 1,593 ShAOB submunitions was found in Goma and destroyed in 2011. According to the initial Article 7 report, the armed forces gave the submunitions to mine action NGO Mines Advisory Group (MAG) for destruction on 9 November 2011.[12]

Contaminated by: landmines (light contamination), cluster munition remnants (light contamination), and other unexploded ordnance (UXO) and abandoned explosive ordnance (heavy contamination).

Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 Deadline: 1 January 2021
(On track to meet deadline) 

Signatory to the Convention on Cluster Munitions 

At the end of 2015, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) had a total of 1.3km² of suspected and confirmed hazardous areas (CHAs) contaminated by antipersonnel mines, and a total of 3,840m² of land contaminated by cluster munition remnants. It also has UXO and significant quantities of abandoned ordnance.

Recommendations for action 

• The DRC should finalize a detailed workplan to fulfil its Article 5 obligations as soon as possible and create a national mine action strategy for 2017–2020.
• As soon as it is safe to do so, DRC should conduct survey in Aru and Dungu territories.
• The DRC should significantly improve the quality of the national mine action database to ensure that it is accurate, up to date, owned by national authorities, and able to produce accurate reports.
• Greater efforts should be made to ensure reporting and recording of mine action data according to International Mine Action Standards (IMAS) land-release terminology.
• A focus should be placed on capacity-building of the national authorities and local mine action actors to be able to deal with any residual contamination following the exit of international operators.

The DRC is affected by antipersonnel and antivehicle mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW), a result of decades of conflict involving neighboring states, militias, and rebel groups since gaining its independence in 1960.[1]

Mine Contamination

According to the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS), at the end of 2015, a total of 71 confirmed and suspected hazardous areas (SHAs) with a total size estimated at 1.3km² remained to be addressed, including 13 confirmed mined areas with a size of just under 0.2km², and a further 58 SHAs covering just over 1.1km².[2] Five of the DRC’s former 11 provinces still contained confirmed or suspected mine contamination, as set out in the table below.[3]

Antipersonnel mine contamination by province as at end 2015[4]

In April 2014, on the basis of the results of a nine-month-long National Landmine Contamination Survey (NLCS) launched in March 2013, the DRC reported that 130 SHAs affected by mines remained in eight provinces (then Equateur, Kasaï Occidental, Kasaï Oriental, Maniema, North Kivu, Katanga, Province Orientale, and South Kivu) covering an estimated 1.8km².[5] The Aru and Dungu territories in former Orientale Province, however, were not surveyed due to insecurity.[6]

In December 2015, the DRC stated that of those 130 SHAs, 45 had been cleared during the year, putting three of the DRC’s then eight remaining contaminated provinces in a position to be declared cleared of mines, following quality management procedures.[7] Clearance of former South Kivu province was completed following a Congolese Mine Action Center (Centre Congolais de Lutte Antimines, CCLAM) survey in early October 2015 that canceled the last remaining SHA.[8] UNMAS cautioned, however, that 12 SHAs were newly identified in 2015 and further hazards might be identified in the future, especially while conflict continued across the country.[9]

Released land is used for agriculture and settlement development, in addition to opening up access to markets, water, and firewood.[10] In 2015, Mines Advisory Group (MAG) declared an important 33km-long trade road between Kabwela and Kakuyu villages in former-Katanga province mine free, allowing for local populations to resume transport of agricultural produce and other goods to the Kabelo market, boosting socio-economic opportunities in the area.[11]

Cluster munition contamination

At the end of 2015, the DRC had four remaining areas with a total size of 3,840m² confirmed to contain cluster munition remnants. Contamination is in Equateur province in the northeast of the country.[12] The DRC identified the areas, all of which are believed to contain BL755 submunitions, in a national survey conducted in 2013.[13]

According to MAG, cluster munition contamination has impeded agriculture and limited freedom of movement. Clearance of cluster munition remnants and other UXO in areas of former Equateur and Katanga provinces in 2015 increased access to firewood, enabled use of previously restricted land and new agricultural areas, and facilitated access to remote villages. MAG also completed clearance of a cluster munition strike very near to the only hospital in Moba, in former Katanga province (renamed Tanganyika province as at July 2015).[14]

Other explosive remnants of war contamination

Successive conflicts have left the DRC with UXO as well as significant quantities of abandoned explosive ordnance.[15]

Program Management

CCLAM was established in 2012 with capacity-building support from the UN Mine Action Coordination Center (UNMACC) and UNMAS.[16] UNMAS has reported that the transfer of responsibility to CCLAM for coordinating mine action activities was completed in early 2016.[17] UNMAS is continuing to provide limited capacity building support to CCLAM.[18]

Prior to the transfer of coordination authority to CCLAM, UNMACC, established in 2002 by UNMAS, coordinated mine action operations through offices in the capital, Kinshasa, and in Goma, Kalemie, Kananga, Kisangani, and Mbandaka.[19] UNMACC was part of the UN Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) peacekeeping mission. UN Security Council Resolution 1925 mandated UNMACC to strengthen national mine action capacities and support reconstruction through road and infrastructure clearance.[20] In March 2013, Security Council Resolution 2098 called for demining activities to be transferred to the UN Country Team and the Congolese authorities.[21] As a consequence, UNMAS operates two separate projects after splitting its activities between, on the one hand, support for the government of the DRC and its in-country team, and, on the other, its activities in support of MONUSCO.[22] In accordance with Resolution 2147 of March 2014, demining is no longer included in MONUSCO’s mandate.[23]

Strategic planning

The DRC’s national mine action strategic plan for 2012–2016 set the goal of completing clearance of all areas contaminated with antipersonnel mines or unexploded submunitions by the end of 2016.[24]

In granting the DRC’s second Article 5 deadline extension request, States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty called on the DRC to present a detailed workplan by 30 April 2015 on implementation of its remaining clearance obligations throughout its extension period. In June 2015, the DRC informed States Parties that due to funding difficulties it had failed to submit a workplan or finalize its projections. It pledged to provide more information at the next meeting of States Parties in December 2015.[25] It did not, however, do so, and as of August 2016 had still to submit a workplan. In September 2016, UNMAS stated that CCLAM intended to develop an updated plan by the end of the year.[26]

UNMAS has asserted that the DRC was on track to meet its national mine action strategic plan goal of completing clearance of cluster munition contamination by the end of 2016.[27] In May 2016, however, MAG expressed doubts, noting that remaining cluster munition-contaminated areas were very remote, with limited access and difficult terrain.[28]

MAG stated that its priorities in 2016 would be to locate and confirm all remaining SHAs where cluster munition remnants are suspected within North Ubangi and South Ubangi provinces (formerly Equateur province).[29]

Standards 

As of October 2016, National Technical Standards and Guidelines for mine action had been drafted, but were still to be finalized.[30] The draft version does not contain cluster munition-specific provisions.[31]

Operators 

Five international operators are accredited for mine action in the DRC: DanChurchAid (DCA), Handicap International (HI), MAG, commercial company Mechem, and Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), along with a national demining organization, AFRILAM.[32]

UNMAS reported that a total of 80 deminers were deployed for manual demining in 2015, of which 35 worked for MECHEM; 29 for NPA; seven for MAG; and nine for DCA.[33]

UNMAS contracted MECHEM to deploy three multi-task teams (MTTs) for clearance operations in South Kivu, Maniema, and Oriental provinces.[34] In 2015, MAG deployed between two and four 10-strong technical teams, depending on funding, and two community liaison teams.[35] In early 2015, NPA commenced operations in Katanga province in eastern DRC with one MTT, one mine clearance team (MCT), and two technical survey teams. From 1 July 2015, two technical survey teams were added to its operational capacity in Katanga province.[36] HI did not carry out clearance in 2015 but developed a five-year partnership with AFRILAM, which conducted explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) spot tasks in 2015.[37]

MAG was the only operator to conduct cluster munition remnants survey and clearance activities in the DRC in 2015. The government of the DRC, through CCLAM, which operates under the Ministry of Interior, has been seconding members of the armed forces to MAG for survey and clearance of cluster munition remnants since 2011.[38]

UNMAS has multi-task teams which conduct UXO spot tasks and battle area clearance (BAC). They also conduct destruction of abandoned and obsolete ammunition for both MONUSCO and government security services, and small arms and light weapons for MONUSCO Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR). They have the capability to conduct mine clearance in emergency situations.[39]

Deminer safety 

Three employees of a private company, Mecham, contracted by a demining unit of MONUSCO were kidnapped in North Kivu province in April 2015.[40] The deminers were released after one week and returned to work.[41]

Quality management 

UNMAS stated that quality assurance (QA)/quality control (QC) visits, both internal and external, were carried out once or twice every six months in 2015. Visits were made to Batiaboli, in Tshopo province (formerly Oriental province); Mukwanyama, in Maniema province; and Ndolo, in South-Kivu province.[42] Previously, in mid-2015, UNMAS stated that very few QA activities were being carried out in the field “due to both logistics and funding constraints.”[43]

NGO operators MAG, NPA, and HI expressed significant concern over the limitations of external CCLAM/UNMAS QA/QC visits, which were transferred to the sole responsibility of CCLAM at the start of 2016.[44] All operators confirmed that internal QA/QC processes were in place and activities carried out regularly in 2015.[45]

UNMAS and MAG reported that no external QA/QC activities were carried out on any cluster munition remnants tasks in 2015, due to an inability to travel to remote areas.[46] MAG stated, however, that in 2015 an internal QA/QC process was carried out twice a week.[47]

Information management 

CCLAM assumed responsibility from UNMAS for information management in January 2016. Subsequently, data from the national mine action database in response to research queries showed limited signs of improvement, but continued to vary significantly from operators’ records, and in some cases was partial or even unusable.[48]

In 2015, NPA provided training for CCLAM information management operators and support to the centre to set up an Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) database and computerize data formerly in possession of demining operators and UNMAS. As of October 2016, data entry into the CCLAM database had not yet been completed.[49] Previously, according to a review of the 2013 NLCS, information on the threat from mines and UXO was often reported sporadically and inaccurately to UNMAS, by operators that frequently confused the type of explosive threat or submitted redundant reports, subsequently adding “thousands of duplicates and unreliable records” to the UNMAS-managed database.[50]

NPA has asserted that significant improvements in information management capacity were achieved in 2015. It was continuing to provide support for CCLAM’s information management staff, but stated further funding, training, and mentoring was necessary to continue to build adequate capacity.[51] While HI also noted positive developments (e.g. information management training), it expressed concern about the turnover of trained information management staff, the lack of management, and even an adequate internet connection within CCLAM, as well as the failure of recent attempts to obtain useable information from the database.[52] MAG stated that as the national database was “still in its infancy” and now under national ownership, it was not yet possible to assess a change in quality.[53]

Land Release (Mines)

Just over 0.74km² of mined area was released in 2015, including 0.43km² by clearance and technical survey (TS), and a further 0.31km² by non-technical survey (NTS).[54] This is an increase from the total mined area in the DRC released in 2014 of 0.59km², of which 0.23km² was by clearance and 0.36km² by survey.[55]

Survey in 2015 (mines) 

In 2015, operators canceled a total of almost 0.31km² by NTS and reduced an additional 0.12km² of antipersonnel mined area through TS, while confirming 0.17km² as mined.[56] This compares to results in 2014 of cancelation of 0.03km² of mined area through NTS, reduction of 0.33km² of confirmed mined area, and confirmation of 0.06km² as mined.[57]

Antipersonnel mine survey in 2015[58]

Clearance in 2015 (mines)

A total of 0.31km² was released by clearance in 2015, with the destruction of 31 antipersonnel mines, one antivehicle mine, and 756 items of UXO.[61] Total mined area cleared in 2014 was 0.23km², with the destruction of 43 antipersonnel mines, 10 antivehicle mines, and more than 7,300 items of UXO.[62] 

NPA released 19 SHAs in the DRC in 2015, leaving only one SHA to be completed in former Katanga province in 2016. Of the 19 completed SHAs, 14 were released through TS and clearance, and the remainder through NTS. NPA also reported completing a total of 26 spot tasks in former Katanga province in 2015.[63] It noted the success of its increased use of small technical survey teams in 2015, with very few of the SHAs found to contain antipersonnel or antivehicle mines.[64]

NPA stated that all four antipersonnel mines its teams encountered in 2015 were found individually and destroyed as spot tasks.[65] Likewise, MAG reported that all four antipersonnel mines it destroyed in 2015 were singularly-laid nuisance mines.[66]

Antipersonnel mine clearance in 2015[67]

Note: AP = antipersonnel; AV = antivehicle.

Land Release (Cluster Munition Remnants)

The total amount of cluster munition-contaminated area released in 2015 was 0.075km², compared to 0.065km² in 2014.[70]

Survey in 2015 (Cluster munition remnants) 

MAG reported cancelling 65 SHAs through non-technical survey in 2015 and confirming as hazardous two SHAs with a total size of 75,845m² in former Katanga (Tanganyika) and Equateur provinces (see table below).[71]

Cluster munition remnants survey in 2015[72]

Clearance in 2015 (cluster munition remnants) 

MAG cleared a total of 75,845m² of cluster munition-contaminated area in 2015, the majority of which—68,073m²—was in Equateur province, with a further 7,772m² in Katanga/Tanganyika province, and destroyed a total of 65 submunitions (see table below).[73] In 2014, MAG cleared 65,510m² of cluster munition-contaminated area, destroying 38 submunitions.[74]

Clearance of cluster munition-contaminated areas in 2015[75]

Note: AP = antipersonnel.

NPA destroyed one BL755 submunition as part of an explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) spot task in Tanganyika province in September 2015, and a further two similar devices in the same province in February 2016.[76] According to UNMAS, Mechem also destroyed two submunitions during EOD spot tasks in 2015.[77]

Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 Compliance

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty (and in accordance with the six-year extension request granted by States Parties in June 2014), the DRC is required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 January 2021. As of mid-2016, the DRC appeared on course to meet its deadline by 2018, albeit after the end-2016 deadline set out in its national mine action strategy.[78]

The purpose of its current (second) Article 5 deadline extension is to “(a) conduct technical surveys and clear the 130 identified mined areas; and (b) conduct non-technical and technical surveys as well as clear and/or release areas in the territories of Aru and Dungu in the Orientale province.”[79]

The DRC’s first Article 5 deadline request in 2011 largely blamed poor survey by demining operators for the failure to meet its deadline, though poor management and insufficient national ownership of the program were also major factors.[80] Initially intending to submit a request for an extension of its initial November 2012 deadline by four years, the DRC instead requested a 26-month interim extension primarily to carry out the national survey to provide it with the information needed to submit another definitive extension request in 2014.[81]

In April 2014, the DRC submitted a second request to extend its Article 5 deadline starting in January 2015. The extension indicated that at least 30% of the total mined areas could be released through technical survey, indicating that some 1.3km² would need to be cleared.[82] The extension request estimated that on average 0.21km² would be cleared each year.[83]

The extension request included annual projections of progress to be made during the extension period, though without providing a detailed workplan with a monthly breakdown of activities for each operator in each area in order to achieve these.[84] It also foresees expenditure of US$20 million, of which some $19.4 million will go to demining the 130 mined areas, while the remainder will be spent on survey and clearance in Aru and Dungu.[85] It announced that the DRC government had committed to contribute FC579,831,000 (about $600,000) a year to mine action activities, starting in January 2015.[86] Operators reported, however, that in 2015 only very limited support was provided by the government, including funding to cover the running costs of the CCLAM and operational collaboration with the army for logistical support.[87]

Over five years in 2011–2015, demining organizations cleared a total of nearly 1.37km² of mined area (see table below). 

Mine clearance in 2011–2015 (m²)[88]

As of mid-September 2016, the DRC had not submitted a detailed workplan on the implementation of its extension request targets nor its recent annual Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 transparency reports, due in April 2015 and 2016. 

The DRC has reported that challenges for implementing its current extension request plan milestones include funding and logistics, security, geography, and climate, including dense vegetation and heavy rainy seasons.[89] In June 2015, the DRC reported to States Parties that after six months of implementation of its second extension request, it had concerns over declining international funding and the consequences for its ability to achieve its extension targets.[90]

In May 2016, UNMAS claimed that the DRC was both on track to meet its national mine action strategic plan goal of completing clearance of mine and ERW contamination by the end of 2016, as well as to meet its Article 5 deadline by 2021.[91] As of October 2016, UNMAS stated that a total of 57 SHAs remained in the database.[92] It has noted, though, that the ongoing security situation in the east of the DRC remained a serious concern and could delay the DRC’s achievement of its clearance targets.[93]

In contrast, operators MAG, HI, and NPA that were optimistic in 2015 that DRC would meet its goal of completing clearance by the end of 2016, became increasingly less positive as 2016 progressed, though they remained confident that the DRC was well placed to meet its 2021 Article 5 deadline for the clearance of antipersonnel mine contamination on time, if not earlier. They attributed the DRC’s inability to finish by the end of 2016 to a lack of access and the remote, difficult terrain of remaining areas, and additional concerns over sustained funding, upcoming elections, and deteriorating security in certain field locations.[94]

The Monitor gratefully acknowledges the contributions of the Mine Action Review supported and published by Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), which conducted mine action research in 2016 and shared it with the Monitor. The Monitor is responsible for the findings presented online and in its print publications.

In 2015, five donors contributed US$8.1 million toward mine action in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which represents a decrease of $2.2 million (21%) from 2014.[1]

The largest contributions came from Japan ($2.6 million) and the United States (US) ($2.5 million), together providing more than 60% of the funding.

The DRC also received in-kind assistance from Switzerland valued at CHF412,500 ($427,918) to support clearance operations.[2]

Since March 2014 and the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2147, demining activities are no longer included in the mandate of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO), and consequently since July 2014, MONUSCO is no longer providing support to mine action in the DRC through its assessed budget.[3]

The DRC has never reported any contributions to its mine action program, but in its Second Article 5 deadline Extension Request submitted in April 2014, the DRC has committed to providing CDF579,831,000 (approximately $630,000) a year, starting in January 2015.[4]

International contributions: 2015[5]

Since 2011, international contributions to mine action activities in the DRC totaled some $59 million and average of $11.8 million per year.

The DRC’s most recent Mine Ban Treaty extension request projected that a budget of $20 million would be required for 2015–2020, of which $19.4 million would go to demining operations, while the remainder would be used for survey and clearance efforts in Aru and Dungu territories.[6]

Summary of international contributions: 2011–2015[7]

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]