Summary: State Party Mozambique ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 14 March 2011. It is reviewing existing legislation to see if additional measures are required to enforce the convention’s implementation. Mozambique has attended all of the convention’s meetings and has condemned new use of cluster munitions. It voted in favor of a UN resolution on the convention in December 2015.

In its initial transparency report for the convention provided in 2012, Mozambique confirmed it has never produced cluster munitions. Cluster munitions were used in Mozambique in the past. In September 2015, Mozambique announced the completion of the destruction of its stockpile of 299 cluster munitions and 9,708 submunitions, five years in advance of the treaty’s deadline. It is not retaining any cluster munitions for training or research.

Policy

The Republic of Mozambique signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008, ratified on 14 March 2011, and the convention entered into force for the country on 1 September 2011.

Mozambique reported in June 2012 and again in February 2016 that it is undertaking a review of existing legislation to determine if new law is needed to enforce its implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[1]

Mozambique submitted its initial Article 7 transparency report for the convention in June 2012. It has provided annual updated reports since then, most recently on 1 February 2016.[2]

Mozambique was one of three African states to participate in the launch of the Oslo Process in February 2007, which produced the Convention on Cluster Munitions. It participated actively throughout the Oslo Process and advocated forcefully for a comprehensive ban without exceptions, as well as for victim assistance and international cooperation and assistance.[3]

Mozambique engages actively in the work of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. It participated in the convention’s First Review Conference in Dubrovnik, Croatia in September 2015, where it announced the completion of the destruction of its stockpiled cluster munitions.

In an address to the high-level segment of the meeting, Mozambique’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Ambassador Pedro Comissário, described universalization of the convention as “of paramount importance” and said, “we appeal to those states that have not yet ratified or acceded to this important legal instrument to ratify it or accede to it as a matter of urgency.”[4]

Mozambique has participated in every Meeting of States Parties of the convention as well as intersessional meetings in Geneva in 2011–2015. It has attended regional workshops on cluster munitions, most recently in Lusaka, Zambia in June 2015.[5]

Mozambique expressed sincere regret at new use of cluster munitions in 2013.[6]

On 7 December 2015, Mozambique voted in favor of a UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution on the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[7] Mozambique has not elaborated its views on several important issues relating to the convention’s interpretation and implementation, such as the prohibition on transit, the prohibition on assistance during joint military operations with states not party that may use cluster munitions, the prohibition on foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions, and the prohibition on investment in production of cluster munitions.

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

Use, production, and transfer

Mozambique has declared that it “never produced” cluster munitions and “therefore has no need to convert or decommission such facilities.”[8]

It is not clear who was responsible for using cluster munitions in Mozambique in the past. Clearance operators have discovered and destroyed cluster munition remnants, including submunitions from RBK-250 and CB-470 air-dropped bombs, in Tete, Manica, Gaza, and Maputo provinces.[9] In 2011, Mozambique requested that State Parties “provide any technical data on previous cluster munitions strikes within the territory of Mozambique that may be available in their military archives.”[10]

Stockpiling and destruction

Mozambique once stockpiled 299 cluster munitions and 9,708 submunitions:

• 199 RBK-250 PTAB-2.5M cluster bombs containing 8,358 submunitions;
• 9 RBK-250-275 AO-1SCh cluster bombs containing 1,350 submunitions.[11]

Under Article 3 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Mozambique was required to destroy all its stockpiled cluster munitions as soon as possible but not later than 1 September 2019.

At the First Review Conference in September 2015, Mozambique announced the completion of its stockpile destruction, four years in advance of the treaty deadline.[12] It destroyed all of the stocks after the convention’s entry into force for Mozambique, between October 2014 and September 2015.

During 2015, Mozambique destroyed 208 cluster munitions and 5,970 submunitions:

• 109 RBK-250 PTAB-2.5M cluster bombs containing 4,620 submunitions;
• 9 RBK-250-275 AO-1SCh cluster bombs containing 1,350 submunitions.

In October–December 2014, Mozambique destroyed 90 RBK-250 PTAB-2.5 bombs and 3,738 PTAB submunitions.

In June 2014, the Ministry of Defence, National Demining Institute of Mozambique, and Norwegian People’s Aid dismantled and destroyed one RBK-250 PTAB-2.5 bomb containing 42 PTAB-2.5 submunitions as part of a joint project to safely destroy the stockpile.

Mozambique also reported the destruction of incendiary weapons in its Article 7 report for the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[13]

Retention

Mozambique has reported that it is not retaining any cluster munitions for training or research.[14]

Contaminated by: antipersonnel mines (light contamination) and other unexploded ordnance (UXO, residual contamination).

Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 Deadline: 1 January 2015
(Declared completion but has outstanding mined areas)

Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 4 deadline: 1 September 2021
(Clearance completed in 2016)

Summary

After the Republic of Mozambique formally declared completion of its clearance of antipersonnel mines in December 2015, three previously unidentified areas contaminated by antipersonnel mines were identified in 2016 and 2017 totaling 85,000m². Clearance of these areas was completed on 29 May 2017. Four small suspected mined areas with a combined size of 1,881m² remained submerged under water. These areas are “suspended” and Mozambique plans to address them once the water level has receded and access can be gained.

The remaining 1.2km² of cluster munition contamination was identified and cleared in 2016. Mozambique informed the Secretariat of the Convention on Cluster Munitions of completion of cluster munition clearance in December 2016.

Recommendations for action

• Mozambique should ensure a sufficient clearance capacity remains in place to deal with mine or explosive remnants of war (ERW) contamination.
• Mozambique should ensure that the national mine action database is maintained.
• Mozambique should continue to monitor the “suspended” areas that are submerged under water and address them as soon as they become accessible.

Mine Contamination

Mozambique formally declared compliance with its Article 5 obligations at the Mine Ban Treaty 14^th Meeting of States Parties in December 2015, after announcing its completion of antipersonnel mine clearance on 17 September 2015.[1] In a public ceremony, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Oldemiro Baloi, declared the country to be free of the “threat” of mines following survey and clearance of more than 3,000 areas across a total of more than 55km² in 2008–2014 and the destruction of over 86,000 antipersonnel mines.[2]

In March 2016, international demining NGO APOPO, which remained in country after September 2015 and responded to a number of isolated mine and ERW tasks in southern, central, and northern provinces of Mozambique in coordination with the National Demining Institute (IND), identified a mined area covering 63,000m² during non-technical survey in Nangade district, Cabo Delgado province, near the border with Tanzania.[3]

Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), which was clearing the last remaining cluster munition remnants in the country in 2016, secured funding to clear the mined area in early 2017. After clearance operations began in February 2017, subsequent investigation by NPA identified two further mined areas nearby, one covering approximately 14,000m² and a second with an estimated size of 8,000m².[4] Clearance of all areas was completed on 29 May 2017, with a total of just under 139,000m² released, and the destruction of 115 antipersonnel mines and three items of UXO.[5]

According to the IND, four small suspected mined areas with a combined size of 1,881m² remain underwater in Inhambane province.[6] At the Mine Ban Treaty intersessional meetings in June 2017, Mozambique informed States Parties it would reassess the status of the submerged areas during the month and reiterated its commitment that the remaining areas would be continuously monitored and addressed once the water level receded and access could be gained.[7] The IND visited the areas in June 2017 and confirmed they remained submerged and inaccessible.[8]

Mozambique previously reported the existence of “suspended” mined areas in its declaration of completion of Article 5 obligations submitted in December 2015, which it defined as “suspected hazard areas that remain seasonally or permanently submerged under water in Inhambane province.” It further stated that all suspended areas “were subjected to technical survey and clearance up to the water line during the annual dry season with no direct evidence found to confirm the presence of mines in any of these areas. Nevertheless, the portion of the suspected hazardous areas (SHAs) that remains underwater will be marked and regularly monitored to confirm if the area ever dries enough to allow further technical survey.”[9]

Mozambique was contaminated with mines, mostly antipersonnel, as a legacy of nearly 30 years of conflict that ended in 1992. Mozambique also has residual contamination from ERW, including UXO. The IND has reported that 47 items of UXO were destroyed in 2016.[10]

According to NPA, the mined area identified in 2016 in Nangade district had both a social and economic impact on the local border community, whose economic activity primarily consists of small scale cross-border trade on a key transit route between Tanzania and Mozambique.[11] Clearance of the mined area ensures safe passage of individuals between the two countries, and for the community of Mungano, the nearest settlement to the minefield, frees extra land for cultivation, and allows children to attend the Mungano primary school, located only 20 meters from the minefield, without the fear of landmines.[12]

Cluster Munition Contamination

The remaining 1.2km² of cluster munition contamination was identified and cleared in 2016, including nine areas covering 0.98km² in Manica province and one area with a size of nearly 0.25km² in Tete province.[13]

At the end of 2014, Mozambique had no known areas confirmed to contain cluster munition remnants. However, the IND asked NPA to undertake a cluster munition remnants survey in the second half of 2015 in Gaza, Manica, and Tete provinces, targeting specific communities. According to the IND, this was intended as a mix of additional non-technical and technical survey to confirm that areas where clearance had already been carried out did not contain any cluster munition remnants and with a view to ensuring completion of clearance “by no later than 2016.”[14]

Cluster munitions are reported to have been used on “a limited scale” during the 1977–1992 war in Mozambique.[15] In 2013, Mozambique reported that the extent of areas contaminated by cluster munition remnants was not known, though it noted that cluster munitions had been used in seven provinces: Gaza, Manica, Maputo, Niassa, Sofala, Tete, and Zambezia.[16] A small number of RBK-250 cluster munition containers and unexploded submunitions, notably Rhodesian-manufactured Alpha bomblets, were found in Gaza, Manica, Maputo, and Tete provinces in 2005–2014.[17] Mozambique asserted that most of the resultant cluster munition remnants had already been destroyed during mine and ERW clearance by 2014.[18]

Clearance of the remaining cluster munition contamination was reported to have a direct and immediate socio-economic impact on the communities living in and around the areas, whose main livelihood activities were subsistence farming and agriculture. The released land was being put to use for agricultural cultivation and animal husbandry.[19]

Other explosive remnants of war

Mozambique also has other ERW. Incidents have occurred in rural areas in the course of everyday community activities.[20] The IND reported that 47 items of UXO were destroyed in 2016.[21]

Program Management

The IND serves as the national mine action center in Mozambique, reporting to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Provincial demining commissions have also been created to assist in planning mine action operations. Beginning in 1999, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) provided technical assistance to the IND, most recently under a three-year program that ended in 2015.[22]

As of mid-2016, the UNDP no longer had a budget for mine action-related activities in Mozambique.[23] At the same time, amid a growing national economic crisis, the government put in place strict austerity measures that saw financial support to the IND reduced drastically. The lack of sufficient funding resulted in the institution being downsized during the year, with only key staff remaining at the start of 2017.[24] NPA expressed concern at the IND’s lack of resources and its ability to maintain a capacity to address residual mine and ERW contamination.[25]

Strategic planning

A “National Strategy on Management of Residual Contamination 2015–2017” was submitted to the government for adoption in 2015. It calls for Mozambique’s national capacities to be “developed and structured to respond to the anticipated residual contamination problems in the most effective and efficient manner,” and sets three goals: the establishment of a national ERW center; the development of sustainable national explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) capacity; and creation of an information management system to facilitate coordination and information sharing between stakeholders.[26] The document, however, was not adopted by the government, and as of August 2017, the IND was still pushing for it to be approved.[27] According to the IND, under the plan, provincial police units are foreseen to address any future residual contamination.[28]

Operators

In 2016, Mozambique had two international demining operators in country: international NGOs APOPO and NPA. During the year, APOPO maintained a presence of approximately 50 personnel, primarily to clear ammunition around the Malhazine weapons depot in Maputo city. It seconded personnel for ad hoc survey, EOD, and clearance of residual risk tasks on a call-out basis.[29]

While NPA’s operations in 2016 were to carry out cluster munition clearance only, from February to end-May 2017, NPA deployed two teams of a total of 16 deminers to conduct manual clearance of the mined area identified in Nangade.[30]

In April 2017, APOPO closed its program in Mozambique after it was unable to secure funding to complete its ammunition clearance operations at the Malhazine weapons depot complex.[31] Following an official handover ceremony on 1 June 2017, NPA demobilized its mine clearance operations in Nangade district. It stated that no new reports of suspected mined areas in Nangade district, or in the wider Cabo Delgado province, were received.[32]

Quality management

The IND stated that only limited quality assurance (QA) activities, primarily to APOPO’s ammunition clearance operations at the Malhazine depot, could be undertaken during the year.[33] APOPO reported, however, that there was regular coordination and cooperation with the IND on all residual risk tasks.[34] In its operations in Nangade, NPA stated that in addition to regular internal QA and quality control (QC) activities, external QA was provided by IND QA officers in the form of a one-week QA visit in April 2017.[35]

Information management

In 2016, the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) database remained with the IND and was managed by two information management staff at the IND’s office in Maputo. The IND had reported plans to shift responsibility of the IMSMA database to a government ministry; however, as of August 2017, this had not been formalized, and the future of the database remained uncertain.[36]

Land Release (mines)

According to Mozambique, in April 2016, following two suspected mine incidents in Nangade district, Cabo Delgado province, a mined area covering an estimated 63,000m² was confirmed through non-technical and technical survey carried out by APOPO and IND survey teams along the Mozambique-Tanzania border.[37]

NPA began clearance activities on the 63,000m² area at Mungano in Nangade on 1 February 2017. Following completion of clearance of that mined area, further investigation by technical survey identified two additional mined areas, one with a size of 14,000m² in Chicamba village, approximately 3.5km from Mungano, and a third area with a size of 8,000m², some 500 meters from the larger minefield at Mungano, which, according to NPA, formed part of an old mine belt at the Mozambique-Tanzania border.[38] Clearance of all areas was completed on 29 May 2017, with a total of 138,958m² released, including 7,537m² by manual clearance and 27,885m² by technical survey, with the destruction of 115 antipersonnel mines and three items of UXO.[39]

In January–September 2015, the total hazardous area released was 0.45km², almost all through clearance and technical survey, with an additional 7,700m² canceled by non-technical survey, as major clearance operations came to a close in Mozambique.[40]

In September 2015–October 2016, APOPO also responded to 11 tasks in Cabo Delgado, Gaza, Manica, Maputo, and Sofala provinces, surveying a total of more than 110,000m² of SHA.[41] In addition to identifying the significant mined area in Nangade, APOPO reported destroying two antipersonnel mines during clearance of just over 2,100m² in a task in Massingir district, Gaza province at the end of 2015, and destruction of a total of 13 items of UXO across all 11 tasks.[42] According to the IND, antipersonnel mines were also destroyed by police trained to conduct EOD after the completion of clearance was announced.[43]

Land Release (cluster munition remnants)

As a result of its targeted survey operations to address the remaining cluster munition contamination in Gaza, Manica, and Tete provinces in 2015–2016, NPA reported canceling three suspected hazardous areas in Tete province, with a size of 155,897m^2, and confirming 10 areas, with a combined size of just over 1.2km². Nine of these areas were located in Manica province (total size 979,766m²) and one area in Tete province (251,300m²).[44]

By November 2016, NPA had cleared all the contaminated areas it had confirmed to contain cluster munition remnants, as reported above, releasing a total of 1,231,066m² of cluster munition-contaminated area, and in the process destroying 145 submunitions and 22 other items of UXO. It also reported destroying 50 antipersonnel mines during BAC operations in Manica province; it said the mines had not been emplaced, but were scattered on the ground at a former military base.[45]

Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 Compliance

On 1 December 2015, at the Mine Ban Treaty Fourteenth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva, Mozambique officially declared completion of its Article 5 obligations to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control. However, subsequently three further mined area were identified. These areas were cleared by May 2017.

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty (and in accordance with its second extension granted by States Parties in December 2013), Mozambique was required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control no later than 1 January 2015. It was not able to meet this deadline, and was therefore in violation of the treaty from 1 January to September 2015, when it announced completion during a public event in Maputo.

Mozambique reported that it had failed to meet its extended deadline due to three primary factors. The first was ongoing “low-intensity military hostilities creating a situation of temporary insecurity” between January and August 2014 in Manica and Sofala provinces, which prevented access to some mined areas and caused logistical and transportation difficulties. Second, it stated that continuing insecurity had raised logistical costs, resulting in delays and reduced productivity in certain areas as teams and equipment had to take longer routes to reach affected areas.[46] Third, some demining tasks in Manica and Sofala provinces were suspended due to heavy rains in December 2014.[47] Mozambique submitted a comprehensive and detailed progress report to Mine Ban Treaty States Parties on its activities in 2014 and its plans and capacity to complete remaining clearance in 2015.[48]

Mozambique stated in its declaration of completion of its Article 5 obligations that if previously unknown areas of mine contamination were subsequently discovered, it would:

• Immediately inform States Parties of any discovery and report any mined areas in accordance with its Article 7 transparency obligations and at Mine Ban Treaty meetings;
• Ensure the effective exclusion of civilians from any contaminated areas;
• Destroy all antipersonnel mine contamination as soon as possible; and
• If it cannot destroy all contamination in the mined area before the next Meeting of States Parties, submit a request for another extended Article 5 clearance deadline in accordance with its obligations as a Mine Ban Treaty State Party.[49]

While noting that it had not followed the course indicated in its declaration of completion by failing to inform Mine Ban Treaty States Parties of the discovery of additional contamination at the subsequent Meeting of States Parties in December 2016, or to submit a request for another extended Article 5 clearance deadline, Mozambique reported in detail on the discovery of the mined area in Nangade in its Article 7 transparency report submitted in April 2017 and informed States Parties of its identification and clearance in June 2017, at the treaty’s intersessional meetings.[50] Mozambique also announced that the IND would reassess the status of the remaining four submerged SHAs in Inhambane province and reiterated that the areas would be continuously monitored and cleared once access could be gained and the water level receded.[51] The IND visited the areas in June 2017 and confirmed they remained underwater and inaccessible for operations.[52]

Measures to maintain a capacity to address ERW and residual mine contamination

In late 2016, the UNDP reported that a number of key challenges remained in the phasing out Mozambique’s national mine action program. These included difficulties in digitalizing demining completion reports from NGO operators and the need for a back-up system to avoid the loss of data.[53] The transfer of the database, along with information management staff, to the Ministry of Land, Environment, and Rural Development and the proposed transfer of database copies for storage with the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of State Administration, had still to occur as of August 2017. The future of the IND, which employed 24 staff, also remained uncertain.[54]

According to the IND, due to the nature of the mine contamination in Mozambique and the lack of mine maps, the risk remained that mines would be found after Mozambique’s declaration of compliance with Article 5. After the completion of clearance in September 2015, the government of Mozambique embarked on training and equipping the provincial police to be able to respond to EOD call-outs. In total, as of October 2016, the IND had trained and certified 194 police officials from all provinces to handle residual threats, and provided provincial commanders with equipment such as personal protective kits, explosives, and metal detectors.[55]

The IND noted, however, the urgent need for the continuation of weapons and ammunition destruction at the Nacala arms depot and for BAC interventions at the Malhazine arms depot in Maputo, appealing to Mozambique’s development partners to continue to support initiatives to deal with these and other ammunition depots requiring clearance.[56]

The Monitor acknowledges the contributions of the Mine Action Review (www.mineactionreview.org), which has conducted the mine action research in 2017, including on survey and clearance, and shared all its resulting landmine and cluster munition reports with the Monitor. The Monitor is responsible for the findings presented online and in its print publications.

In 2015, five donors contributed US$3.1 million toward mine action activities in the Republic of Mozambique, down from more than $10 million in 2014.[1]

The largest contributions were provided by the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US), each contributing more than $1 million.

Despite the continued assistance from international donors over the past five years, with almost $50 million provided between 2011–2015, only a small proportion of the funding was earmarked for victim assistance and most funds were directed to clearance efforts. In 2015, only the Netherlands reported contributing some $330,000 to victim assistance through Handicap International.

International contributions: 2015[2]

In 2015, Mozambique contributed $1.3 million towards its mine action program.[3] Since 2011, the government of Mozambique has contributed more than $10 million, or 17% of its total mine action budget, while international contributions totaled nearly $50 million.

Summary of contributions: 2011–2015[4]

Casualties Overview

In 2016, the National Demining Institute (Instituto Nacional de Desminagem, IND) reported two ERW casualties. One man and one woman were injured in the same incident as the result of an item of unexploded ordnance.[1]

This continues a trend of decreasing mine/ERW casualties from six in 2015, eight in 2014, and 11 in 2013.[2]

The total number of mine/ERW casualties in the Republic of Mozambique is unknown, but there were at least 2,436 through the end of 2015. The most extensive collection of casualty data to date remains the nationwide Landmine Impact Survey (LIS), completed in 2001; it recorded 2,145 mine/ERW casualties but did not provide a breakdown of those killed and injured.[3] An additional 291 casualties (110 killed; 178 injured; three unknown) were identified between 2002 and 2016.[4]

Based on the results of an earlier national survey, the then-titled Ministry of Women and Social Action (Ministério da Mulher e da Acção Social, MMAS)[5] projected that there were some 10,900 landmine/ERW survivors in Mozambique through December 2011.[6]

Cluster munition casualties

There were no reported cluster munitions casualties in 2016.[7] There are known to be casualties from earlier incidents involving cluster munition remnants, although these were not distinguished from ERW in the data and would require a survey to identify them.[8] Cluster munition casualties have been reported among non-state armed group members from Zimbabwe (when it was formerly Rhodesia) on the territory of Mozambique during cluster munition bombing.[9]

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]