Action points based on findings

• Disseminate, budget for, and implement the Plan of Action for Victim Assistance (PAAV) among all government departments and ministries, as well as among provincial and local governments.
• Prioritize rehabilitation and economic inclusion assistance for the most vulnerable among the survivor population, based on physical, psychological, and socioeconomic needs.
• Rebuild prosthetic and orthopedic capacity in the country.
• Respond to the specific needs of women victims, the largest demographic group of victims as the members of affected families and communities.

Victim assistance commitments

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

Victim assistance since 2015

In November 2015, Mozambique adopted a national plan for victim assistance, which was developed as a complementary component of the National Disability Plan 2012–2019. Handicap International (HI) described the situation of victim assistance in Mozambique as “truly unenviable” while calling on the international community to not forget about landmine survivors after the last mines were cleared.[1] Into 2017, HI’s appeal was not reported to have been heeded.

Mozambique identified its main challenges to the implementation of victim assistance activities. These were insufficient financial and qualified human resources and weak coordination of activities between the relevant sectors and a lack of information about the activities that each sector undertakes.[2] From the time of the Third Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty in Maputo in mid-2014, HI was proactively working to raise funds for victim assistance, but noted a lack of success and that donors seemed to lose interest in victim assistance as a result of the completion of the work of demining in Mozambique.[3]

Most mine/ERW survivors in Mozambique have lacked access to victim assistance services of all kinds. The majority of survivors live far from where services are located and lack affordable transportation. There is also insufficient knowledge among survivors about the limited services that are available in provincial capitals. Thirty years of armed conflict damaged or destroyed some 40% of Mozambique’s medical facilities; the rebuilding of facilities, particularly outside of major urban centers, has been slow. After the government assumed responsibility for the management of the 10 rehabilitation centers in 2009, they have remained dependent on international financial assistance for prosthetic materials. As a result of a decline in international funding for these materials, production of prostheses in all centers was suspended in 2012. This suspension of services continued into 2013. In 2015, the HALO Trust was unable to identify a competent producer of prosthetics in the country. The supply of rehabilitation services has also been limited due to a lack of trained technicians.

Survivors have had almost no access to economic and social inclusion programs or psychological assistance. International and national NGOs, including the national Network for Mine Victims (Rede para Assistência às Vítimas de Minas, RAVIM), have reached a limited number of survivors to assist them in accessing services or provide basic economic relief or support for income-generating projects.

The National Demining Institute (IND), the Ministry of Health (Ministerio de Saude, MISAU), and the Ministry for Gender, Children and Social Action (Ministério do Género, Criança e Acção Social, MGCAS—formerly the Ministry of Women and Social Action, Ministério da Mulher e da Acção Social, MMAS) officially shared responsibility for the coordination of victim assistance. However, for most of the period, Mozambique has lacked a coordination mechanism and a victim assistance plan. Since 2004, Mozambique has identified victim assistance as the weakest component of its mine action program.

Victim assistance in 2016

In 2016, a lack of both availability and access prevented survivors from getting the rehabilitation services that they needed. Even after the production of new prosthetic devices resumed as materials became available, long waitlists remained for survivors seeking new and replacement prostheses. As in previous years rehabilitation centers remained out of reach for survivors living in rural areas, due to poor infrastructure and a lack of transportation. There was some small increase in work training and livelihoods.

Assessing victim assistance needs

There was no survey or assessment of victim assistance needs in 2016.[4] The MGCAS recognized the need to improve data collection to include landmine survivors and other persons with disabilities in the national social protection schemes and reported working on the collection mechanisms.[5]

Victim assistance coordination in 2016[6]

In 2016, the National Disability Council, formerly the coordinating mechanism for disability programming including victim assistance, was dissolved and replaced by the National Council for Social Action (Conselho Nacional de Acção Social, CNAS), which has a broader mandate covering persons with disabilities, the elderly, women, children, and other vulnerable populations.[7] The CNAS held several meetings to address the data problems related to persons in vulnerable circumstances, which include mine/ERW victims.[8]

In November 2015, the Council of Ministers of Mozambique approved the action plan for victim assistance. The PAAV 2016–2019 has three main objectives:

• To promote the equal rights, full participation, and empowerment of mine/ERW victims;
• To ensure the principle of equal opportunity for mine/ERW victims; and
• To monitor and coordinate all activities implemented on behalf of mine/ERW victims.

The plan’s strategic priorities are social assistance; access to healthcare, physical rehabilitation, and psycho-social support; socio-economic reintegration through vocational training and access to income-generating opportunities; and the promotion of the rights of victims and other persons with disabilities.[9] The PAAV was produced with the involvement of civil society, private sector, associations of disabled persons and RAVIM, HI, religious confessions, and international partners.[10] The PAAV includes monitoring mechanisms that involve the government, civil society, and survivors.[11]

Mozambique did not report on victim assistance activities in its Article 7 report for the Mine Ban Treaty for 2016.[12] It had not submitted a report for the Convention on Cluster Munitions as of September 1, 2017.

Inclusion and participation in victim assistance

In Mozambique fewer than 25% of survivors were members of a survivor network or disabled people’s organization (DPO), and the percentage was much lower among civilian survivors than veteran survivors.[13]

Landmine survivors did not participate in any victim assistance planning meetings in 2016.[14]

HI and RAVIM collaborated on a social protection project to strengthen referral networks for persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups.[15]

No survivors were included in the delegation of Mozambique at international meetings of the Mine Ban Treaty or Convention on Cluster Munitions in 2016.

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities[16]

Emergency and continuing medical care

There was at least one medical doctor (general practitioner) in each district due to efforts made to increase the availability of medical care. However, these doctors’ posts were not always accompanied by the necessary equipment to satisfactorily respond to the specific needs of persons with disabilities, including survivors.[17]

Physical rehabilitation including prosthetics

The availability of rehabilitation services and prosthetics continued to worsen. In 2015, the orthopedic center at Maputo Central Hospital had no raw materials and could not respond to the demand of survivors and other amputees and in 2016, RAVIM reported a further decrease in the availability of these services.[18] The Mozambican Association for the Disabled (ADEMO) reported challenges accessing donated wheelchairs and other mobility devices.[19]

Economic and social inclusion and psychological support

Psychological support for landmine survivors remained woefully inadequate. Peer support services were no longer available. Mozambique’s only psychiatric hospital was “overwhelmed” and unable to provide basic sustenance to patients.[20]

Social inclusion continued to pose a major challenge and persons with disabilities remained among the poorest of marginalized groups in society. HI supports inclusive education programs in parts of Maputo and Matola.[21] Elsewhere, ADEMO reported that school buildings were inaccessible and government officials in practice referred parents of children with disabilities to private or specialized schools.[22]

Laws and policies

Legislation guarantees the rights and equal opportunities of persons with disabilities. However, the government lacked the resources to implement the law and discrimination remains common.

In Maputo, persons with disabilities are able to ride the public buses for free, but the buses are not accessible for persons with physical disabilities so many are forced to pay for transport in unregulated mini-buses and private transport such as the back of pick-up trucks.[23]