Action points based on findings

• Ensure the sustainability of physical rehabilitation and psychosocial support in the Casamance region.
• Ensure regular and effective coordination on victim assistance with all stakeholders and adopt new victim assistance plan.
• Work on developing economic inclusion projects for mine/explosive remnants of war (ERW) victims in the Casamance region.
• Ensure the inclusion of mine/ERW survivors in the planning of victim assistance.
• Ensure the sustainability of psychological support services for mine/ERW victims and other persons with disabilities in the Casamance region.

Victim assistance commitments

The Republic of Senegal is responsible for a significant number of survivors of landmines and ERW who are in need. Senegal has made commitments to provide victim assistance through the Mine Ban Treaty.

Senegal ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on 7 September 2010.

Victim Assistance

By the end of 2016, there were at least 648 mine/ERW survivors in Senegal (439 civilian and 209 military survivors).

Victim assistance since 2015

Most mine/ERW survivors in Senegal live in the Casamance region where services are much more limited than elsewhere in the country.

Senegal reported on several occasions that it is committed to victim assistance, but at the same time acknowledged that needs were not being met due to a lack of resources. The government relied on international and national NGOs, including the former Senegalese Association of Mine Victims (Association sénégalaise des victimes de mines, ASVM), renamed Solidarity Initiative for Development Actions (Initiative Solidaire des Actions de Développement, ISAD), Handicap International (HI), and the ICRC to implement activities. Years of conflict and continued intermittent violence devastated infrastructure and prevented access to services.

In 2015, the president of Senegal launched a new “Equality of Chances Card” (carte d’égalité des chances) aimed at providing all insured persons with disabilities, including mine/ERW victims, with access to health and a range of services.[1]

Since 2015, a number of activities in support of mine/ERW survivors stopped, including outreach activities by the Kenya Psychiatric Center[2] and the Academic Centre for Educational and Professional Orientation (Centre académique de l’orientation scolaire et professionnelle, CAOSP).[3] Due to a lack of financial support and supplies, the Regional Orthopedic Appliance Centre (Le Centre régional d'appareillage orthopédique, CRAO), was unable to meet the demand.[4] Since 2013, the ICRC Special Fund for the Disabled (SFD)’s (in January 2017 renamed MoveAbility) partnership in Senegal was put on hold pending a renewed commitment from the authorities concerned.[5]

Victim assistance in 2016

In 2016, with the improving security situation in Casamance, more and more internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees, mainly from Gambia, returned to their homes; certain areas, however, remained inaccessible because of security concerns, including mines in areas bordering Guinea-Bissau.[6]

Throughout 2016, emergency medical care was limited. Response times varied depending on the location of the incident and the army provided assistance. Ziguinchor regional hospital was the only medical center in a position to provide emergency medical care to mine victims.[7] Follow-up medical care was only available in the three regional hospitals (Ziguinchor, Kolda, and Sédhiou), which had sufficient capacity but had equipment that only worked intermittently and experienced shortages of supplies.[8] These three hospitals and their satellite centers have signed agreements with the National Mine Action Centre (Centre national d’action antimines au Sénégal, CNAMS) to provide rehabilitation services to mine/ERW victims. However, the hospitals are unable to provide these services due to shortages of raw material.[9]

Assessing victim assistance needs

No structured needs assessments surveys were conducted in 2016. However, CNMAS collected information on mine victims in an ongoing manner in conjunction with other assistance activities.[10] The last needs assessments surveys were undertaken in 2013 by CNAMS, ISAD, and HI.[11]

Victim assistance coordination[12]

In 2016, no coordination and planning meetings on victim assistance that included all stakeholders were held.[13] CNAMS held several bilateral meetings with NGOs as well as the ICRC.[14] In 2016, no meetings of the CRC were reported. The CRC, established in 2011, brings together CNAMS with local and international organizations working in the region under the chairmanship of the governor of the Casamance region.[15] However, the focus of the CRC is on mine action more broadly and since its inception, national organizations noted that while victim assistance was sometimes discussed and debated during these meetings, the CRC was not fulfilling its coordination role.[16] Regular informal meetings took place in 2016 between representatives of CNAMS and of ISAD.[17]

Senegal’s PANAV included a mechanism for monitoring and evaluating progress in its implementation, though no reports had been made available that compared victim assistance progress against the PANAV through the end of 2016. CNAMS launched a mid-term evaluation of the PANAV and its impact in 2013.[18] The results of this evaluation were finalized and made public in 2014[19] and two key recommendations were made: 1) to decentralize the support provided to health facilities in order to ensure that victims in rural areas can also benefit from those services; 2) strengthen psychological support to mine/ERW victims.[20] No funding was available in 2016 to conduct the final evaluation of the PANAV, which in turn hindered the development of a new victim assistance plan.[21]

Senegal did not provide updates on victim assistance at Mine Ban Treaty international meetings in 2016. Senegal submitted its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report for calendar year 2016, which includes information on victim assistance.[22]

Inclusion and participation in victim assistance

In 2016, mine/ERW survivors and their representative organizations were not involved in victim assistance planning.[23]

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities in 2016

On 30 April 2015, the president of Senegal launched an initiative titled the “Equality of Chances Card” (“carte d’égalité des chances”). It targets all persons with disabilities, including mine/ERW victims, so that they can receive healthcare and rehabilitation services at a reduced cost if they subscribe to a health insurance. The initiative also encompasses improved access to education, vocational training, transports, benefits, and employment. As of February 2017, over 20,000 persons with disabilities had received an equality of chances card.[24]

In 2016, the physical rehabilitation center in Ziguinchor had difficulty in meeting the demand for orthotic devices due to deteriorating working tools and a constant shortage of materials.[25] Therefore, the ICRC signed an agreement with CNAMS to send people from Senegal for rehabilitation abroad. Within the framework of this project, ISAD was responsible for covering the costs of the accommodation, transport, and food of beneficiaries traveling to Guinea Bissau to be treated.[26] As of June 2017, 63 survivors had received new prosthetics in Guinea-Bissau.[27]

Psychological support services provided by the Kenya Psychiatric Center decreased significantly in 2016 and through 2017. The SNP-funded project between ISAD and the CNAMS ended and specialists of the center were no longer able to visit and provide group support to mine/ERW victims in host communities. The center also stopped providing ergotherapy services due to a lack of funding.[28] The Kenya Psychiatric Center was the only facility providing psychological support to mine/ERW survivors and other persons with disabilities for all regions of Casamance.[29]

In 2016, due to funding shortages the CAOSP was not able to provide services in the villages of origin of child victims of mines/ERW.[30] In the Dakar and Ziguinchor regions, HI trained teachers in inclusive education for children with disabilities.[31] In 2016, UNICEF funding was channeled through the Departmental Committee for the Protection of the Child (Comité Départemental de Protection de l’enfant, CDPE). However, as a result of the unreasonable length and difficulty of administrative processes under the CDPE, projects for children with disabilities were limited.[32]

HI supported the development of companies run by persons with disabilities in the regions of Dakar, Kolda, and Ziguinchor.[33]

The government provided grants, managed vocational training in regional centers, and offered funding for persons with disabilities to establish businesses.[34]

Senegalese law prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to healthcare, transport, the judicial system, and the provision of other state services. Senegal did not enforce these provisions adequately in 2016.[35] The law also mandates accessibility for persons with disabilities, but there remained a lack of infrastructure to assist them.[36]