Somalia
Victim Assistance
For most landmine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) survivors and other persons with disabilities, services remain unavailable or inaccessible and the ongoing conflict and extensive use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) simply increases the number of people who require assistance.
Victim assistance commitments
The Somali Republic is responsible for significant numbers of mine/ERW survivors and cluster munition victims, although the total number is unknown. Somalia has commitments to victim assistance as a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty and the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
The Monitor identified at least 1,568 mine/ERW survivors from 1999 to the end of 2016.
Victim assistance since the Maputo Action Plan
In May 2014, the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) held a Victim Assistance and Disability Working Group meeting in Mogadishu. It was the first such meeting ever held to discuss needs, the development of a plan, and possible support for persons with disabilities, including survivors. Participants included representatives of the Somali Federal Government, the UN, the Somalia Coalition to Ban Landmines (SOCBAL), the Institute for Education for Disabled People (IEDP), the National Disability Council, and the Somali Union for the Blind.[1] Disabled people’s organizations (DPOs) attending the meeting “demanded with strong voice” to be part of the victim assistance decision-making process and working groups.[2] The working group was intended to meet quarterly, but no meeting has taken place since the initial meeting in 2014.
Victim assistance in 2016
In 2016, survivors in Somalia continued to lack adequate emergency and ongoing healthcare, employment, and training and education opportunities.[3]
Assessing victim assistance needs
No efforts to identify victim assistance needs in Somalia in 2016 were identified.
Coordination
A quarterly meeting on mine action, hosted by the mine action authority, the Somali Explosive Management Agency (SEMA), provides an opportunity for victim assistance issues to be raised and addressed, but this is not systematic.
The Horn of Africa Disability Forum (HADF) hosted a celebration of the International Day of Mine Action and Awareness in April 2016, calling on the government and the international community to fulfill the victim assistance mandate and calling on SEMA to uphold its responsibilities as the victim assistance focal point.[4]
Disability associations are organized under the National Disability Council, an informal coalition of the private associations working with and on behalf of persons with disabilities However, the council is not formally recognized by the government, and lacks power to contribute. Although there are many DPO’s, they remain uncoordinated and are differentiated on various bases.[5]
As of 1 September 2017, Somalia had not submitted a Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report for calendar years 2013, 2014, 2015, or 2016, nor has Somalia provided its initial report for the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which was due on 31 August 2016. It had provided detailed information on victim assistance and the existing lack of planning and services in Form J of its initial Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report, covering the period to March 2013.[6] Somalia did not make statements on victim assistance at the Mine Ban Treaty Fifteenth Meeting of States Parties in 2016.
Service accessibility and effectiveness
Emergency and continuing medical care
Ongoing armed violence and conflict continued to erode the minimal health resources available.In 2016, the ICRC supported 12 hospitals, four comprehensively, and provided support to thousands of war-wounded Somalis. The ICRC reported 191 admissions of landmine and ERW casualties, including 35 women and 26 children. The ICRC also trained and deployed 10 emergency first aid teams to serve in violence-prone areas.[7]
Physical rehabilitation including prosthetics
The Somali Red Crescent Society (SRCS) Rehabilitation Centre in Mogadishu is the primary provider of prosthetic and orthopedic appliances in Somalia. There are no private providers.[8] The centre serves 350 to 400 persons per month providing physical rehabilitation services in addition to assistive devices.[9]
ICRC MoveAbility (formerly the Special Fund for Disability) had planned to develop a national plan to strengthen rehabilitation services in Somalia, but continuing instability has delayed that project.[10]
Presidential candidate, Fadumo Q. Dayib, provided some wheelchairs and crutches to persons with disabilities in Mogadishu through the Somali Disability Empowerment Network (SODEN).[11]
Social and economic inclusion
Economic inclusion programs for landmine survivors and other persons with disabilities are nearly, if not totally, nonexistent. IEDP worked on an inclusive educational program with the African Education Trust.[12] In Kismayo, SODEN hosted a week-long workshop to identify barriers to and develop an inclusive education program.[13]
Abdullahi Hassan of the IEDP spoke at an event commemorating International Human Rights Day, noting the neglect of persons with disabilities despite the fact that they may constitute 15% of the population.[14]
Psychological assistance
Psychosocial support is extremely limited in Somalia with the Mogadishu Memorial Hospital serving as the only formal provider of such services and reaching only a few dozen individuals.[15]
Laws and policies
In April 2016, the UN-appointed independent expert on the situation of human rights in Somalia conducted a site visit to the country. During that visit, the government acknowledged a “lack of understanding of rights of persons with disabilities,” and the expert also received several reports from civil society that neither the government nor the international community provided support to persons with disabilities.[16]
In December 2015, the minister for internal security of Somalia announced to the Mine Ban Treaty Fourteenth Meeting of States Parties to the that the prime minister of Somalia had “ratified” the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. However as of 1 September 2017, no ratification or accession instruments had been deposited with the UN.
[1] “UNMAS working group provides assistance to Somalia mine victims,” Chian News Agency, 25 May 2014; and “Somalia: UNMAS steps up support to victims of landmines and explosive remnants of war,” Somalia Current, 23 May 2014.
[2] IEPD, “VA victims assistant working group in Mogadishu today,” 22 May 2014.
[3] Telephone interview with Dahir Abdirahman, SOCBAL, 10 July 2017.
[4] Horn of Africa Disability Forum, “International Victim Assistance Day Report 2016,” undated.
[5] Tele phone interviews with Dahir Abdirahman, SOCBAL, 5 July 2017, and 10 July 2017.
[6] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for the period 16 April 2012–30 March 2013), Form J, 30 March 2013.
[7] ICRC, “Annual Report 2016,” Geneva 2017, pp. 191–193.
[8] Telephone interview with Dahir Abdirahman, SOCBAL, 10 July 2017.
[9] ICRC, “Somalia: Encouraged by colleagues, a woman heads Mogadishu rehab centre,” 7 March 2017.
[10] ICRC MoveAbility, “Annual Report 2016,” pp. 17–18.
[11] Somali Disability Empowerment Network, “More than thirty people with disabilities have been distributed a mobility equipments,” undated.
[12] Telephone interview with Dahir Abdirahman, SOCBAL, 10 July 2017.
[13] Somali Disability Empowerment Network, “SODEN held 4 days communication mobilization for access to equity and inclusive education for children with special needs in Kismayo Southern Somalia collaboration with ADRA and NORAD,” undated.
[14] ReliefWeb, “Somalia: Somalia marks International Human Rights Day,” 10 December 2016.
[15] Email from Dahir Abdirahman, SOCBAL, 21 February 2015.
[16] UN, “Report of the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Somalia,” 15 September 2016, para. 81.