Zimbabwe

Victim Assistance

Last updated: 09 October 2017

Action points based on findings

  • Expand casualty data collection to all areas affected by landmines and all organizations working in mine action.
  • Disability policies should be updated and aligned with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
  • Ensure sustainability of prosthetic and orthotic services.
  • Provide economic inclusion opportunities for survivors and persons with disabilities.

Victim assistance commitments

The Republic of Zimbabwe is responsible for a significant number of landmine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) survivors who are in need. Zimbabwe has made commitments to provide victim assistance through the Mine Ban Treaty.

Victim assistance since 2015

In 2015, support from the Norwegian government concluded but other stakeholders have stepped in to deliver wheelchairs and other mobility devices to support the Local Rehabilitation Workshop (LOREWO) based near the Mpilo referral hospital in Bulawayo.[1] The ICRC Special Fund for the Disabled (SFD) provided support to the Parirenyatwa group of hospitals until 2013 when the SFD ended support, as expected, as part of the ICRC SFD phase out, believing that they had reached a satisfactory level of autonomy.[2] ICRC SFD assistance to the Bulawayo Rehabilitation Center had been phased out by the end of 2012, as planned.[3]

Disability issues are coordinated by the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, while emergency assistance is led by the Victim Friendly Unit. Responsibility for surveying survivors needs and other assistance to mine/ERW survivors is centralized through the national mine action center, ZIMAC.[4]

Victim assistance in 2016

Assessing victim assistance needs

No systematic victim assistance needs assessment was conducted in 2016. Casualty data and the individual needs of survivors are collected and reported to ZIMAC by the international operators, HALO Trust and Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA). HALO and NPA, with the support of the United States (US) Department of State, identify survivors in their working areas, and conduct individual assessments.[5] In 2016, HALO assessed the needs of fewer survivors than in 2015.[6]

ZIMAC communicates all reported landmine casualties to the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare for inclusion in the database of all persons with disabilities maintained by the ministry, instead of creating a parallel data management system.[7]

Victim assistance coordination[8]

Government coordinating body/focal point

Zimbabwe Mine Action Centre (ZIMAC)

Coordinating mechanism

N/A

Plan

No active victim assistance plan

Note: N/A = not applicable.

Victim assistance coordination has been the responsibility of ZIMAC, a section within the Zimbabwean army. Coordination for disability programming nationally is the responsibility of the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare. ZIMAC has provided information on survivors to the Ministry to enable the survivors to access services available through the ministry. In 2017, the victim assistance focal point changed from ZIMAC to the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare.[9]

In 2016 the ICRC hosted a study tour for ZIMAC officials to visit Lebanon and observe the mine action program there, including victim assistance programming.[10]

ZIMAC, with the support of the Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) and the Mine Ban Treaty’s Implementation Support Unit (ISU), is developing a National Mine Action Strategic Plan, which may be published in 2017. It is unclear how victim assistance will be included in that plan.[11]

A draft national disability policy was pending an endorsement by the cabinet as of September 2017.[12]

Participation and inclusion in victim assistance

In the absence of a coordinating mechanism for victim assistance or a formal plan for victim assistance activities, survivors are unable to participate in the formulation of victim assistance strategies. However, a strong disability community exists in Zimbabwe, including disabled people’s organizations (DPOs) and service providers, which could contribute to a future coordinating mechanism. DPOs and their representatives, including the Federation of Organizations of Disabled People in Zimbabwe (FODPZ), were consulted on the development of the policy. The government of Zimbabwe recognized FODPZ as the “voice of the disability movement” in Zimbabwe.[13] Survivors and persons with disabilities are employed by Local Rehabilitation Workshop (LOREWO) and Jairos Jiri in the manufacture of wheelchairs and assistive devices.[14]

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities[15]

Name of organization

Type of organization

Type of activity

Changes in quality/coverage of service in 2016

National Rehabilitation Hospitals

Government

Seven rehabilitation centers with mobile workshops, includes limited psychological counseling

Ongoing

Ministry of Public Service,  Labour and Social Welfare

Government

Financial support to war victims, and management of disability benefits programs

Ongoing

Jairos Jiri

NGO

Prosthetic and orthotic devices, wheelchairs; community-based rehabilitation; inclusive education; vocational training

Ongoing; with support from Christian Blind Mission, provided emergency relief to persons with disability affected by drought. Orthopedic workshop’s output is limited by availability of raw materials

Leonard Cheshire Disability Zimbabwe Trust

NGO

Advocacy; programs for children with disabilities

Three-year vocational training and economic inclusion project came to an end in December 2015

Cassim’s Prosthetics

Commercial company

Prosthetic and orthotic devices

Delivery of prosthetics to survivors living along the Mozambican border

Local Rehabilitation Workshop (LOREWO)

NGO

Wheelchairs

International support declining; introducing physical and occupational therapy

Disabled Women in Africa

NGO

Advocacy

Publications and meetings to address accessibility of health care for persons with disabilities. Discussions around organizing community for localization of CRPD

National Council of Disabled Persons of Zimbabwe

NGO

Advocacy

Discussions around organizing community for localization of CRPD

Disabled Women Support Organization

NGO

Advocacy

Educate parliamentarians about CRPD; produced DVD about voter education for persons with disabilities

Christian Blind Mission

NGO

Advocacy, coordination of services, support to Jairos Jiri Association

Ongoing

 

Emergency and continuing medical care

Emergency medical and surgical services are available at the national referral hospitals, which are not near the mine-affected regions. Survivors and others in need of services often must travel long distances to obtain necessary medical treatments, usually at cost to the individuals.[16] In case of an incident, HALO sends its staff to the Karanda Mission Hospital, a private facility about two hours’ drive from the minefields.[17] NPA uses the Mutare Provincial Hospital, one of the national referral hospitals, for this purpose.[18]

Physical rehabilitation including prosthetics

Physical rehabilitation and orthopedic services are limited to the major cities.[19] Jairos Jiri maintains a community-based rehabilitation program that covers several, but not all, provinces of Zimbabwe.[20] Jairos Jiri, with the support of Christian Blind Mission, continues to operate its orthopedic workshop in Harare to produce and repair wheelchairs and prosthetics, but output is limited due to a lack of raw materials.[21]

The Leonard Cheshire Trust purchased and provided mobility appliances and prosthetics to several children with disabilities as part of its physical rehabilitation program.[22]

HALO has contracted with commercial prosthetic company, Cassim’s Prosthetics in Bulawayo to provide fittings and orthopedic devices for survivors in HALO’s working area. Due to funding constraints, no survivors received prosthetics from HALO in 2016, though several were fitted for devices that were delivered in 2017.[23]

In 2016, the Zimbabwe National Army supported some 50 survivors with artificial limbs in its working areas along Zimbabwe’s southern borders.[24]

Economic inclusion

With only 15% of the population engaged in formal employment, few opportunities for meaningful work exist for Zimbabweans. LOREWO and the Jairos Jiri Prosthetic Workshop operate as sheltered workshops for persons with disabilities.

Psychological support and social inclusion

Few, if any, psychological services are available for survivors and persons with disabilities in Zimbabwe, and what services do exist are inadequate for the needs.[25] The government of Zimbabwe reported significant efforts to implement inclusive education programming. The subsidies for children with disabilities under the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM), which provided US$600 per student per year have been restored with 10% of the BEAM allocation reserved for children with disabilities. An inclusive education manual has been developed and Disability Resource Centers were established at many institutions to provide educational and psychosocial support to learners with disabilities.[26]

Laws and policies

Zimbabwe has several national policies, including the Disabled Persons Act, the War Victims Compensation Act, the Social Welfare Assistance Act, and the State Service (Disabled Benefits) Act, related to victim assistance and disability. The Disabled Persons Act was hailed as a major milestone when it was passed in 1992, but has since been superseded in international policy by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Zimbabwe’s 2013 Constitution recognizes the rights of persons with disabilities and requires the government to provide mechanisms for the realization of those rights with an important and disastrous caveat: government action is contingent upon available resources.[27]

Several policy changes and programs are awaiting final approval by the government. The government of Zimbabwe and the Africa Disability Alliance have drafted a memorandum of understanding to develop a national disability mainstreaming plan but the memorandum of understanding has not been approved by the Cabinet. A draft National Disability Policy, which was drafted by and has the support of the disability community in Zimbabwe has yet to be validated by the Cabinet.[28]

Zimbabwe ratified the CRPD on 23 September 2013, but has yet to domesticate the law and revise existing legislation in accordance with the convention.[29]



[1] Interviews with Anywhere Chimbambaira, Local Rehabilitation Workshop, 22 June 2015; and with Isaac Nyathi, National Council of Disabled Persons of Zimbabwe, 22 June 2015; and response to Landmine Monitor questionnaire by Michele Angeletti, Christian Blind Mission (CBM), 8 April 2016.

[2] ICRC SFD, “Annual Report 2013,” Geneva, May 2014, p. 19.

[3] ICRC SFD, “Annual Report 2012,” Geneva, May 2013, pp. 13, 20.

[4] Presentation of Zimbabwe, “ICRC-AU Workshop to Advance the Implementation of Victim Assistance Obligations Arising from Various Weapons Treaties,” Addis Ababa, 6 March 2014.

[5] Interview with Dennis Hadrick, Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement, US State Department, 15 February 2017.

[6] Response to Landmine Monitor questionnaire by Tom Dibb, HALO Trust, 17 September 2017.

[7] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2016).

[8] Ibid.

[9] Email from Amir Musanovic, Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), 19 September 2017; and response to Landmine Monitor questionnaire by Tom Dibb, HALO Trust, 17 September 2017.

[10] ICRC, “Annual Report 2016,” Geneva, May 2017, p. 229.

[11] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2016), Form J.

[12] Republic of Zimbabwe, Statement delivered to the 9th Conference of States Parties to the CRPD, 14 June 2016; and response to Landmine Monitor questionnaire by Deborah Tigere, CBM, 27 September 2017.

[13] Republic of Zimbabwe, Statement delivered to the 9th Conference of States Parties to the CRPD, 14 June 2016; and response to Landmine Monitor questionnaire by Deborah Tigere, CBM, 27 September 2017.

[14] Interviews with Anywhere Chimbambaira, Local Rehabilitation Workshop, 22 June 2015; and with Jairos Jiri Prosthetic Workshop, 17 June 2015.

[15] Interviews with Tendayi Sengwe, ICRC, 16 June 2015; with Sneddon Soko, Ministry of Labor & Social Welfare, 16 June 2015; with Jairos Jiri Prosthetic Workshop, 17 June 2015; with Rejoice Timire, Disabled Women Support Organization, 17 June 2015; with Don Chauke, Independent Consultant, 17 June 2015; with Anywhere Chimbambaira, Local Rehabilitation Workshop, 22 June 2015; with Isaac Nyathi, National Council of Disabled Persons of Zimbabwe, 22 June 2015; with Tione Mzila, Disabled Women in Africa, 22 June 2015; and with Dawood Cassim and Noordan Cassim, Cassim’s Prosthetics, 22 June 2015; Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2016), Form J; Jairos Jiri Association, “Community Based Rehabilitation,” undated; Leonard Cheshire Disability Zimbabwe, “Annual Report: 1 April 2015–31 March 2016,” undated; and responses to Landmine Monitor ruestionnaire by Tom Dibb, HALO Trust, 17 September 2017; and by Deborah Tigere, CBM, 27 September 2017.

[16] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for the calendar year 2016), Form J.

[17] Email from Tom Dibb, HALO Trust, 9 December 2014.

[18] Email from Sheila Mweemba, NPA, 19 March 2015.

[19] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for the calendar year 2016), Form J.

[20] Jairos Jiri Association, “Community Based Rehabilitation,” undated.

[21] Response to Landmine Monitor questionnaire by Deborah Tigere, CBM, 27 September 2017.

[22] Leonard Cheshire Disability Zimbabwe, “Annual Report: 1 April 2015–31 March 2016,” undated.

[23] Response to Landmine Monitor questionnaire by Tom Dibb, HALO Trust, 17 September 2017.

[24] “Sanctions won’t stop de-mining,” The Herald, 3 August 2017.

[25] US Department of State, “2016 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Zimbabwe,” Washington, DC, 3 March 2017.

[26] Republic of Zimbabwe, Statement delivered to the 9th Conference of States Parties to the CRPD, 14 June 2016.

[27] Proceed Manatsa, “Are disability laws in Zimbabwe compatible with the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)?” International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention, Vol. 4, Issue 4, April 2015, pp. 25–34.

[28] Republic of Zimbabwe, Statement delivered to the 9th Conference of States Parties to the CRPD, 14 June 2016; and response to Landmine Monitor questionnaire by Deborah Tigere, CBM, 27 September 2017.

[29] Interview with Tione Mzila, Disabled Women in Africa, 22 June 2015.