Senegal

Victim Assistance

Last updated: 19 November 2018

Victim assistance action points

  • 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 a 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 planning and coordination

Government focal points

Senegalese National Center for Mine Action (Centre National d’Action Antimines au Sénégal) CNAMS for civilian survivors; Foundation for Disabled Veterans for military survivors

Coordination mechanisms

CNAMS, Regional Coordination Committee (Comité régional de concertation, CRC) in the Casamance region with the Solidarity Initiative for Development Actions (Initiative Solidaire des Actions de Développement, ISAD), and victim assistance service providers

Coordination regularity/frequency and outcomes/effectiveness

 

There were no victim assistance coordination meetings in 2017.[1] Several meetings on physical rehabilitation were held in 2017, which led to better collaboration between mine/ERW survivors and victim assistance actors.[2]

Plans/strategies

In 2018, the CNAMS reported that the National Victim Assistance Action Plan 2010–2014 had still not been updated for lack of financial resources.[3] In 2017, a revised action plan had been drafted and was waiting for approval, subject to availability of adequate funding[4]

In its Article 7 report (for calendar year 2017) Senegal reported that medical care of mine victims is regulated by a National Victim Assistance Action Plan (PANAV).[5]

The National Disability Action Plan was awaiting implementation as of March 2018.[6]

Survivor inclusion and participation

Survivors are included in the planning and provision of victim assistance, through ISAD.[7]

Reporting (article 7 and statements)

Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2017), which includes information on victim assistance

 

International commitments and obligations

The Republic of Senegal is responsible for a significant number of survivors of landmines and ERW who are in need: at least 651[8]

Mine Ban Treaty

Yes

Convention on Cluster Munitions

Yes

CRPD

Yes

 

Laws and policies

 

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. The Republic of Senegal did not enforce these provisions adequately in 2017.[9] The law also mandates accessibility for persons with disabilities, but the government did not effectively enforce the law.[10] Through the Equal Opportunity Card initiative, launched in 2015, persons with disabilities, including mine/ERW survivors have free access to health and rehabilitation services, education, employment, and transportation, among other state services.[11] However, access to some of these services was reported not to yet be effective.[12]

There is an annual planned budget for victim assistance, which is included in the annual work plan of the CNAMS.[13] However, in 2017, resources for activities that improve the lives of mine/ERW victims decreased compared with 2016.[14]

 

Major developments in 2017-2018

A national community-based rehabilitation program was close to, but ultimately not approved.[15] The national survivor network reported a decrease in their victim assistance activities in 2017, including mine risk education and support for medical care, due to a lack of financial resources.[16] Overall, victim assistance services have decreased in 2017.[17]

 

Needs assessment 

No structured needs assessments surveys were conducted in 2017; however, CNMAS collected information on mine victims in an ongoing manner in conjunction with other assistance activities.[18]

 

Medical care and rehabilitation

Mine/ERW survivors are taken care of in three regional hospitals (Ziguinchor, Kolda and Sédhiou) for emergency care, follow-up medical care and prosthesis fitting, free of charge.[19] Three departmental health centers in affected areas (Oussouye, Bignona and Goudomp) also provide free health care services to mine victims. 

The physical rehabilitation center in Ziguinchor was unable to meet the demand for prosthetic devices due to deteriorating equipment and a constant shortage of raw materials.[20] Within the framework of the agreement between the ICRC and ISAD, 19 Senegalese mine/ERW survivors received new prosthetic devices from the Centro de Reabilitação Motora (Center for Motor Rehabilitation, CRM) in Guinea-Bissau in 2017.[21] The CNAMS facilitates transport to Guinea-Bissau for survivors.[22] The project was ongoing in 2018. Since the project started in 2016, 82 mine/ERW survivors from Senegal had received new prosthetic devices in Guinea-Bissau.[23]

 

Socio-economic and psychosocial inclusion

Under the Social Orientation Law on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, all destitute persons who hold an Equal Opportunity Card and are enrolled in higher education institutions are eligible to a university scholarship.[24] Family security grants are also provided to families in need, including persons with disabilities.[25] In 2017, in the Dakar and Ziguinchor regions, Humanity & Inclusion (HI, formerly Handicap International) continued to train teachers in inclusive education for children with disabilities.[26]

In 2017, the ICRC supported 100 microeconomic projects for mine/ERW survivors and displaced families in Casamance.[27] HI supported the development of companies run by persons with disabilities in the regions of Dakar, Kolda, and Ziguinchor.[28] HI provided support for income-generating activities for persons with disabilities in the regions of Kolda, Sédhiou, and Ziguinchor.[29] 

Free psychological support was offered to mine/ERW survivorsat the Ziguinchor Psychiatric Center. The Academic Centre for Educational and Professional Orientation (Centre académique de l’orientation scolaire et professionnelle, CAOSP) also gave psychological support, as well as educational counseling, to students injured by mines/ERW, however the CAOSP reported that survivors injured in mine/ERW incidents after 2014 had not been registered with the center. The Kenya Psychiatric Center, which had provided psychological support to mine/ERW survivors, reported a severe lack of funding which resulted in the center’s inability to resume its outreach activities to host communities.[30] Although the center continued to provide psychological support services to mine/ERW survivors referred to the Kenya Psychiatric Center, very few survivors were able to visit the center.[31]

 

Cross-cutting

The specific needs of children are taken into account in the provision of physical rehabilitation and schooling support.[32] Women are included in victim assistance activities;[33] however, they are often ostracized in the community because of their disability.[34]

The CNAMS reported that health care is decentralized to enable access for persons living in remote areas, and that transportation to the physical rehabilitation center in Guinea-Bissau is free of charge for mine/ERW survivors.[35]

 

Victim assistance providers and activities

Name of organization

Type of activity

Government

CNAMS

Funding for materials and equipment to Ziguinchor Regional Hospital, for educational support and supplies, and for individual economic inclusion, provision of prosthetic devices and mobility devices

CRAO, Orthopedic Department

Medical care and physical rehabilitation

Kenya Psychiatric Center, Kenya Hospital

Psychological support

Casamance Rural Development Support Project (PADERCA)

Social and economic inclusion

Academic Centre for Educational and Professional Orientation (Centre académique de l’orientation scolaire et professionnelle, CAOSP)

Education and social inclusion of persons with disabilities, including mine/ERW victims

National

ISAD

Referrals for medical care and physical rehabilitation; economic inclusion; mine risk education; advocacy; and peer support

National Association of Disabled Veterans (Association nationale des anciens militaires invalides du Sénégal, ANAMIS)

Referrals for medical care, economic inclusion, and peer support among disabled veterans; advocacy to increase government support for economic inclusion and improved housing conditions

Ziguinchor Orthopedic Center (Centre d’appareillage orthopédique de Ziguinchor, CRAO)

Quality monitoring and repairs of prosthetic devices[36]

International

HI

Inclusive education; vocational training, income-generating activities and strengthening enterprises run by persons with disabilities; advocacy on rights and participation of persons with disabilities in the social and economic sphere[37]

UNICEF

Support for programs to help children access education and physical rehabilitation, through Departmental Committee for the Protection of the Child (Comité Départemental de Protection de l'Enfance, CDPE)

ICRC

Support for prosthetics and rehabilitation in Guinea Bissau for survivors from Senegal

 

 



[1] Interview with Ndeye Marieme Bodian, Country Consultant, American Jewish World Services, 30 August 2018; and response to Monitor questionnaire by Mamady Gassama, Victim Assistance Focal Point, Solidarity Initiative for Development Actions (Initiative Solidaire des Actions de Développement, ISAD), 2 November 2018.

[2] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Barham Thiam, Director, Centre National d’Action Antimines au Sénégal (Senegalese National Center for Mine Action, CNAMS), 10 August 2018.

[3] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Barham Thiam, CNMAS, 10 August 2018.; and Committee on Victim Assistance, “Conclusions of the Committee on Victim Assistance on the Information Submitted by Senegal,” undated, but 2018.

[4] Interview with Barham Thiam, CNAMS, Geneva, 9 June 2017.

[5] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2017), p. 11.

[6] Handicap.sn, “Plan d’action nationale sur le handicap : les handicapés attendent avec impatience les 47,3 milliards” (National Disability Action Plan: persons with disabilities are eagerly awaiting the 47,3 billion), 17 March 2018.

[7] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Barham Thiam, CNAMS, 10 August 2018.

[8] The Monitor has identified 442 civilians and 209 military survivors, while the CNAMS reported that, by the end of 2017 there were 442 civilian and 200 military survivors. Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2017), pp. 9-10.

[9] United States (US) Department of State, “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2017: Senegal,” Washington, DC, 20 April 2018.

[10] Ibid.

[11] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2017), p. 11.

[12] Handicap.sn, “Plan d’action nationale sur le handicap : les handicapés attendent avec impatience les 47,3 milliards” (National Disability Action Plan: persons with disabilities are eagerly awaiting the 47,3 billion), 17 March 2018; and Handicap.sn, “La protection sociale dans le cadre de la Carte d’égalité des chances” (Social protection in the context of the Equal Opportunity Card), 20 March 2017.

[13] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Barham Thiam, CNAMS, 10 August 2018.

[14] Ibid.

[15] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2017), p. 11.

[16] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Mamady Gassama, ISAD, 2 November 2018.

[17] Ibid.

[18] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2017), p. 10; and response to Monitor questionnaire by Barham Thiam, Director, CNAMS, 10 August 2018.

[19] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2017), p. 11.

[20] Interview with Djibril Ba, Centre d’appareillage orthopédique de Ziguinchor (Ziguinchor Orthopedic Center, CRAO), Ziguinchor, 15 June 2018.

[21] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Carlos Delgado, Physical Rehabilitation Project Manager, ICRC, 17 May 2018.

[22] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Mamady Gassama, ISAD, 2 November 2018.

[23] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Carlos Delgado, ICRC, 17 May 2018.

[25] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Barham Thiam, CNAMS, 10 August 2018; Agence de la couverture maladie universelle (CMU), “Couverture maladie universelle et bourses de sécurité familiale : quand l'inclusion sociale devient une réalité” (Universal Health Coverage and Family Security Grants: When Social Inclusion Becomes a Reality), 17 August 2017.

[26] Humanity & Inclusion (HI), “Country Card: Senegal,” October 2017.

[27] ICRC, “Bulletin Casamance 2017,” 24 February 2018, p. 4.

[28] HI, “Country Card: Senegal,” October 2017.

[29] Ibid.

[30] Interview with Adama Koundoule, Psychiatrist, Kenya Psychiatric Center, 19 July 2018.

[31] Ibid.

[32] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Barham Thiam, CNAMS, 10 August 2018.

[33] Ibid.

[34] Maguette Ndong and Idrissa Sane, "Crise en Casamance: confessions et convictions des victimes de mines” (Crisis in Casamance: confession and conviction of mine victims), Le Soleil, 16 August 2017.

[35] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Barham Thiam, CNAMS, 10 August 2018.

[36] Interview with Djibril Ba, CRAO, Ziguinchor, 15 June 2018.

  [37] HI, “Country Card: Senegal,” October 2017.