Congo, Democratic Republic of

Victim Assistance

Last updated: 01 December 2018

Victim assistance action points

  • Improve the availability of physical rehabilitation and psychosocial services significantly throughout the country, especially outside the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) capital; increase resources to establish these services.
  • Identify sustainable resources for assistance as a key priority; since most funding ended, many NGOs that provide victim assistance depend on irregular international funding channeled through the mine action sector.
  • Ensure that effective mechanisms are in place for victim assistance coordination, including outside of the DRC capital.
  • Work towards forming a sustainable planning and coordination mechanism that recognizes and addresses victim assistance requirements at national and local levels. In this regard, efforts to implement the objectives set in the 2018-2019 National Strategic Mine Action Plan in the DRC are necessary.

 

Victim assistance planning and coordination[1]

Government focal points

Ministry of Social Affairs, Humanitarian Action, and National Solidarity (Ministry of Social Affairs)

Coordination activities

 

From 2013 to 2017, the Working Group on Victim Assistance (Groupe de Travail sur l’Assistance aux Victimes)—created in 2011 and chaired by the Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs of the Ministry of Social Affairs —remained inoperative. In 2017 however, two meetings were organized at the national level in Kinshasa.

The centralization of all coordination efforts in the country’s capital, Kinshasa has generally made it difficult for all actors from other regions of the country, included Provinces affected by mines/ERW, to participate effectively, rendering coordination efforts only partially effective[2]

Plans/strategies

No victim assistance plan.

 

In November 2017 a National Strategic Mine Action Plan was adopted for the period 2018–2019. This Plan includes only as part of its first strategic objective.[3] The minimal reference to victim assistance under the objective “Managing the Threats of Explosives” is to “Identify, register and assist all mine/ERW victims – women, girls, boys and men – and ensure their integration and their participation within society on the basis of equal rights compared to other citizens”[4]

Disability sector integration

The Physical Rehabilitation Sub-Group, facilitated by the ICRC with the participation of the National Community-Based Readaptation Programme (Programme National de Réadaptation à Base Communautaire,PNRBC) of the Public Health Ministry, remained active and effective in 2017 and met five times within the year in Kinshasa

Emergency sector integration

The Sub-Cluster on Disabilities, falling under the UN Health Cluster, for a while assumed the role of coordination and planning of victim assistance in 2015.[5] It was not reported if or when that role ended

Survivor inclusion and participation

In 2017, mine/ERW survivors and their representative organizations, as well as disabled persons’ organizations (DPOs), were invited to the meetings organized on victim assistance and on the preparations of the 2018-2019 National Strategic Mine Action Plan held in Kinshasa.[6] In 2017, survivors participated in the provision of economic inclusion services, as well as in advocacy activities and peer support programs carried out by NGOs[7]

Reporting

Statement on victim assistance at the intersessional meetings of the Mine Ban Treaty in June 2018

 

As of 1 December 2018, DRC had not submitted its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report for years 2015, 2016 and 2017. Victim assistance was reported in Form H of DRC’s voluntary Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 reports submitted in 2011, 2012 and 2014 but only briefly, with no detail or data

 

International commitments and obligations

The DRC is responsible for a significant number of survivors of landmines, cluster munition victims, and survivors of other explosive remnants of war (ERW) who are in need

Mine Ban Treaty

Yes

Convention on Cluster Munitions

Signatory

CRPD

Yes

In 2018 a Level 3 humanitarian emergency applied

 

Laws and policies

The 2005 constitution includes special mention of support of war veterans and persons with disabilities resulting from war. It also prohibits discrimination against all persons with disabilities, stipulates that all citizens must have access to public services (including education), and provides that persons with disabilities are afforded specific protection by the government.[8] However, the legislation was not effectively enforced, and persons with disabilities often found it difficult to obtain employment, education, or government services. The legislation did not mandate access to buildings or government services for persons with disabilities.[9] New regulations on physical accessibility of school buildings were adopted in 2015 by the ministry responsible for primary and secondary education, with the support of Humanity & Inclusion’s (HI) inclusive education project,[10] but these regulations were not successfully implemented.[11]

DRC acceded to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on 30 September 2015. However, DRC never adopted a National Legislation to implement the provisions of the CRPD. A legislative proposal for a new law on protecting persons with disabilities and promoting their rights was drafted in 2012, with the involvement of NGOs. By November 2017, the draft had not been approved.[12] Advocacy towards the adoption of this law before December 2019 is a key deliverable of strategic objective 3 of the 2018-2019 National Strategic Mine Action Plan.[13]

In June 2016, the Ministry of Social Affairs adopted a National Strategic Plan for the Promotion and Protection of Persons with Disabilities.[14]

The National Strategic Mine Action Plan 2018–2019 was adopted following a workshop organized in August 2017 by the Congolese Mine Action Center (Centre Congolais de Lutte Anti-Mines, CCLAM), United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) and the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD).[15]

Major developments in 2017-2018

Funding to ensure the implementation of the National Mine Action Plan, and subsequently resourcing of its victim assistance feature, is a key challenge.[16] In a statement at the intersessional Standing Committee meetings of the Mine Ban Treaty in June 2018, the DRC noted the need for external funding to ensure that the objectives of the 2018-2019 National Strategic Mine Action Plan will be fulfilled.[17] Since funding for victim assistance through UNMAS has ended in 2014, and many local NGOs that depended almost entirely on funds raised by UNMAS had to suspend or close their operations which led to a significant decrease in the number of service providers.[18]

The security situation in DRC remained volatile and further deteriorated in several Provinces, primarily North Kivu and South Kivu with increased and renewed violence from armed groups, in Tanganyika (formerly part of the Katanga Province), and in the Kasais[19] with continued clashes between governmental forces and local armed groups. Armed violence, ethnic tensions, and criminality were on the rise in these areas and continued to lead to casualties, displacement, the destruction of livelihoods and property and other abuses against civilians. International funding for victim assistance remained worryingly low. Diminished funding for victim assistance, or lack thereof, have been experienced in DRC for several years, leading to already insufficient services to either disappear or being unable to respond to the needs. This situation further led to a stagnation in the number of actors and geographical coverage.[20] Psychological support and care remained among the biggest challenges in mine/ERW victim assistance in DRC, as has been the situation for several years.[21]

Needs assessment

No significant improvement in availability of data on new victims and survivors was noted in 2017. This was included as a key strategic deliverable of the 2018-2019 National Strategic Mine Action Plan.[22] However in November 2015, Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) received funding from the Government of Japan for a Mine Action project, which includes capacity-building for the Congolese Mine Action Center (Centre Congolais de Lutte Anti-Mines, CCLAM), in particular for keeping and updating Mine Action databases, including on victim assistance.[23]

No new victim assistance needs assessments were conducted in 2017.[24] Victim assistance stakeholders largely worked from the results of the 2011 victim identification and needs assessment campaigns, conducted as part of the implementation of the National Strategic Plan for Assistance for Mine/ERW Victims and other Persons with Disabilities: November 2010–October 2011 (Plan Stratégique National d’Assistance aux Victimes des Mines/REG et autres Personnes en Situation de Handicap: Novembre 2010–Octobre 2011, PSNAVH).[25] Close to 500 mine/ERW survivors were identified among 1,000 persons with disabilities surveyed, identifying needs in healthcare, physical rehabilitation, and economic inclusion.[26]

From January to March 2016, the Ministry of Social Affairs conducted, for a wide data collection exercise on persons with disabilities in 11 provincial capital cities (Goma, Bukavu, Kindu, Lubumbashi, Mbandaka, Matadi, Kinshasa, Mbuji-Mayi, Kanaga, Bandundu, and Kisangani). This exercise was aimed at informing the development of a five-year strategic plan on the protection and promotion of persons with disabilities in DRC.[27]

 

Medical care and rehabilitation

The size of the country, as well as logistical and security constraints often hindered the delivery of humanitarian assistance. A lack of transportation and infrastructure, armed violence, and the financial cost of obtaining assistance presented difficulties for survivors to access the limited number of services, which were available only in major cities. Emergency and continuing medical support continued to have limited support through government medical structures and there was a lack of accessible healthcare across DRC.[28] In cases of mine/ERW incidents, it was reported that survivors are, in most cases, not able to receive appropriate support, resulting in fatalities.[29]

The long distances to services, high financial costs of attaining them, and insecurity remained the greatest obstacles to accessing physical rehabilitation.[30] The PSNAVH estimated that just 20% of the population in need of physical rehabilitation services were able to access them.[31] There were only six rehabilitation centers operating effectively in the entire country. Even these lacked sufficient materials to produce enough prosthetics to meet existing needs. Trained orthopedic technicians were needed, especially in mine-affected areas.[32] In 2017, the ICRC continued to provide technical support, equipment and materials to four physical rehabilitation centers and workshops (located in Bukavu Goma, and Kinshasa).[33] In August 2017 the ICRC launched a new 5-year project for the construction/creation of a new Physiotherapy and Orthopedic service at the Kinshasa General Provincial Reference Hospital. This new structure should be able to provide, as of 2020, a wide range of high-quality services for physical rehabilitation.[34]

The ICRC also continued to cover the treatment costs of people directly affected by conflict, including 11 victims of mines or ERW.[35] In 2017, patients received improved surgical and other medical care at 11 hospitals for which the ICRC provided equipment, supplies, and staff training.[36] The number of prostheses produced overall with ICRC support in 2017 was stable compared to previous years.[37] However, mine/ERW survivors only received 2% of all prosthetic devices produced with the assistance of the ICRC in 2017.[38] This was consistent with a regular decline in the ratio of survivors getting prosthesis over the previous years.[39]

The USAID-funded and disability rights-focused project, TEAM CONGO (Training, Economic Empowerment, Assistive Technologies and Medical/Physical Rehabilitation),was implemented by HI ended in December 2017.[40] In 2017, HI continued to provide TEAM CONGO funding and support to the General Provincial Reference Hospital in Kinshasa and its orthopedic workshop and trained local technicians.[41] Over the course of the three-year project 2,800 people received rehabilitation within the framework of TEAM CONGO.[42]

 

Socio-economic and psychosocial inclusion

In 2017, ICRC continued to strengthen its activities on psychosocial support and inclusion for disabled people. Indeed, psychosocial care was provided at two ICRC-supported centers in Goma and Bukavu.[43] Mine/ERW survivors in Kinshasa gathered every months through the Association for the Unity of Mine Survivors (Association pour le Rassemblement des Survivants de Mines,ARASM) to ensure peer support and overcome trauma.[44] The ICRC continued its partnership with the DRC National Paralympic Committee and assisted them to develop their activities by donating equipment and by increasing their geographical reach through the creation of Provincial leagues in five Provinces in 2017.[45]

In 2017, the Ministry of Education increased its special education outreach efforts but estimated it was educating fewer than 6,000 children with disabilities.[46] In 2017, the ICRC also supported inclusive education by taking care of school fees for 24 children with disabilities in Goma, Bukavu and Kinshasa.[47]

The TEAM CONGO project promoted the socio-economic inclusion of persons with disabilities—in particular women and girls—living in Kinshasa and Kananga while providing technical aids and mobility devices.[48] At the end of the project, 70% of beneficiaries of the socio-economic inclusion component had achieved their objectives and the rate of reimbursement of microcredits was 69%, despite the complications of a changing situation in Kasaï.[49]

  

Victim assistance providers and activities

Name of organization

Type of activity

Government

National Community-Based Rehabilitation Program (Programme National de Réadaptation à Base Communautaire, PNRBC)

Ministry of Health’s coordinating body for community-based rehabilitation (CBR); physical rehabilitation; capacity-building in communities

National

National Committee of Organizations for Persons with Disabilities and on Mine Victim Assistance (Collectif National des Organisations des Personnes Handicapées et d’Assistance aux Victimes de Mines, CNOPHAVM)

Advocacy

Action for the Complete Development of Communities (Action pour le Développement Intégral par la conservation Communautaire, ADIC)

Ad-hoc registration of victims; referrals of victims for rehabilitation services in dedicated institutions

Bureau for Development and Emergency Actions (Bureau des Actions de Développement et des Urgences, BADU)

Ad-hoc registration of victims; referrals of victims for rehabilitation services in dedicated institutions

ANASDIV

Social and economic inclusion; advocacy activities for assistance to mine/ERW survivors and other persons with disabilities; peer support through CNOPHAVM

Congolese Campaign to Ban Landmines and Cluster Munitions (CCBL)

Advocacy; peer support through CNOPHAVM

Synergy for the Struggle against Landmines (Synergie pour la Lutte Antimines, SYLAM)

Services for mine/ERW victims in the eastern part of North Kivu

International

Polus Centre

Provision of rehabilitation services in North Kivu (Goma); Capacity building of local NGO partners

Humanity & Inclusion (HI, formerly Handicap International)

Physical rehabilitation services; capacity-building of local NGOs and physical rehabilitation stakeholders; advocacy; psychosocial support

ICRC

Physical rehabilitation and prosthetics, including training staff; treatment, transport, and accommodation costs for beneficiaries, and supporting a referral network; social inclusion of survivors and victims of conflict

 

 



[1] 2018-2019 National Strategic Mine Action Plan in the DRC, November 2017; Statement of DRC, Mine Ban Treaty Intersessional Standing Committee Meetings, Geneva, 8 June 2018; Responses to Monitor questionnaire by Louis Ibonge Numbi, Ministry of Social Affairs, Kinshasa, 25 May 2012; by Jean Marie Kiadi Ntoto, UNMACC, Kinshasa, 12 April 2012; by Francky Miantuala, CCBL, 31 May 2017; by Ngubo Selemani Longange, CCLAM, 2 June 2017; by Amy Hbamushi, GADDE, Kalemie, 17 July 2018; by Alice Baltus, Deputy Desk Officer DRC & Burundi, Humanity & Inclusion (HI), 12 July 2018.; by Marc Liandier, Physical Rehabilitation Head of Project, ICRC, 22 October 2018, by Vermigna Wabujolela, BADU, Bukavu, 18 October 2018; and by Christophe Asukulu M’Kulukkulu, ADIC, Bukavu, 17 October 2018.

[2] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Amy Hbamushi, GADDE, Kalemie, 17 July 2018; and by Vermigna Wabujolela, BADU, Bukavu, 18 October 2018.

[3] 2018-2019 National Strategic Mine Action Plan in the DRC, November 2017 pp. 18-22.

[4] 2018-2019 National Strategic Mine Action Plan in the DRC, November 2017 pp. 20-21.

[5] Responses to Monitor questionnaire by Francky Miantuala, CNOPHAVM, Kinshasa, 11 May 2015.

[6] 2018-2019 National Strategic Mine Action Plan in the DRC, November 2017 pp. 6 and 29-35; responses to Monitor questionnaire by Vermigna Wabujolela, BADU, Bukavu, 18 October 2018; and by Christophe Asukulu M’Kulukkulu, ADIC, Bukavu, 17 October 2018.

[7] Responses to Monitor questionnaire by Christophe Asukulu M’Kulukkulu, ADIC, Bukavu, 17 October 2018, and by Amy Hbamushi, GADDE, Kalemie, 17 July 2018.

[9] United States (US) Department of State, “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2017: Democratic Republic of the Congo,” Washington DC, 2018.

[10] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Baudouin Asubeti Milongo, CCLAM, 11 July 2016.

[11] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Francky Miantuala, CCBL, 31 May 2017.

[12] 2018-2019 National Strategic Mine Action Plan in the DRC, November 2017 p.14.

[13] Ibid., p.25.

[14] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Franck Mbizi Mwana Mu Mwana, Department for the Coordination of Rehabilitation Activities for Persons with Disabilities (DICOREPHA), Ministry of Social Affairs, 24 May 2017; by Francky Miantuala, CCBL, 31 May 2017; and by Ngubo Selemani Longange, CCLAM, 2 June 2017; and report of the Consutations on the situation of persons with disabilities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kinshasa, 2 to 4 June 2016.

[15] 2018-2019 National Strategic Mine Action Plan in the DRC, November 2017 pp. 20-21.

[16] Ibid., p. 15.

[17] Statement of DRC, Mine Ban Treaty Intersessional Standing Committee Meetings, Geneva, 8 June 2018.

[18] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Francky Miantuala, CNOPHAVM, Kinshasa, 11 May 2015; and interview with Francky Miantuala, CNOPHAVM, in Geneva, 21 June 2015.

[19] Kasaï, Kasaï-Central, Kasaï-Oriental and in neighbouring Provinces such as Lomami, Lualaba and Sankuru.

[20] Responses to Monitor questionnaire by Christophe Asukulu M’Kulukkulu, Coordinator, ADIC , Bukavu, 17 October 2018; by Vermigna Wabujolela, Coordinator, Bureau for Development and Emergency Actions (Bureau des Actions de Développement et des Urgences – BADU), Bukavu, 18 October 2018; by Amy Hbamushi, National Director, GADDE, Kalemie, 17 July 2018; and email from Rose Okito, Director, Movement for Integral Development (Mouvement pour le Dévelopement Intégral – MDI), Kananga, 19 October 2018.

[21] See previous editions of the Monitor.

[22] 2018-2019 National Strategic Mine Action Plan in the DRC, November 2017 pp. 15-16.

[23] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Baudouin Asubeti Milongo, CCLAM, 11 July 2016.

[24] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Christophe Asukulu M’Kulukkulu, ADIC, Bukavu, 17 October 2018.

[25] Responses to Monitor questionnaire by Christophe Asukulu M’Kulukkulu, ADIC, Bukavu, 17 October 2018.by Louis Ibonge Numbi, Ministry of Social Affairs, Kinshasa, 3 May 2013; by Douglas Kilama, United Nations Mine Action Coordination Centre (UNMACC), Kinshasa, 3 June 2013; by Francky Miantuala, CNOPHAVM, Kinshasa, 20 April 2013; and by Valentin Tshitenge, PNRBC, Kinshasa, 8 April 2013.

[26] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Louis Ibonge Numbi, Ministry of Social Affairs, Kinshasa, 25 May 2012.

[27] Responses to Monitor questionnaire by Franck Mbizi Mwana Mu Mwana, DICOREPHA, Ministry of Social Affairs, 24 May 2017 and 25 October 2018; by Ngubo Selemani Longange, CCLAM, 2 June 2017; and by Francky Miantuala, CCBL, 31 May 2017; and Ministry of Social Affairs, Humanitarian Action, and National Solidarity, “Data collection report on persons with disabilities in DRC,” prepared by Félicité Langwana and Jean Bitumba, March 2016.

[28] Responses to Monitor questionnaire by Francky Miantuala, CCBL, 31 May 2017 and by Valentin Tshitenge, PNRBC, 24 May 2017.

[29] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Francky Miantuala, CCBL, 31 May 2017.

[30] Ibid.

[31] Ministry of Social Affairs, “PSNAVH,” Kinshasa, 24 February 2011, p. 20.

[32] Ibid.

[33] The Kinshasa General Provincial Reference Hospital (Hôpital Provincial Général de Référence de Kinshasa), the Civil Education and Social Action Service in Kinshasa (Service d'Education Civique et d'Actions Sociales à Kinshasa), which falls under the Congolese Army supervision, the Center for the Physically Disabled “Shirika La Umoja” of the Charity Brothers in Goma (North Kivu), and the Center for Persons with Disabilities “Heri Kwetu” in Bukavu (South Kivu). Response to Monitor questionnaire by Marc Liandier, ICRC, 22 October 2018.

[34] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Marc Liandier, ICRC, 22 October 2018.

[35] ICRC, “Annual Report 2017,” Geneva, June 2018, p. 132.

[36] Ibid., p. 129.

[37] ICRC, “Annual Report 2017,” Geneva, June 2018, p. 132; ICRC, “Annual Report 2016,” Geneva, May 2017, p. 128; ICRC, “Annual Report 2015,” Geneva, May 2016, p. 138; ICRC PRP, “Annual Report 2014,” Geneva, 2015, pp. 33–34. ICRC-supported centers produced 320 prostheses in 2014, 493 prostheses in 2015 and 438 prostheses in 2016.

[38] ICRC, “Annual Report 2017,” Geneva, June 2018, p. 132.

[39] ICRC PRP, “Annual Report 2012,” Geneva, September, p. 32; ICRC, “Annual Report 2013,” Geneva, 14 May 2014, p. 141; ICRC PRP, “Annual Report 2014,” Geneva, 2015, pp. 29–30; and ICRC, “Annual Report 2016,” Geneva, May 2017, p. 128.

[40] Responses to Monitor questionnaire by Alice Baltus, Deputy Desk Officer DRC & Burundi, HI, 12 July 2018.

[41] Ibid.

[42] Ibid.

[43] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Marc Liandier, ICRC, 22 October 2018.

[44] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Francky Miantuala, CCBL, 31 May 2017.

[45] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Marc Liandier, ICRC, 22 October 2018.

[46] US Department of State, “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2017: Democratic Republic of the Congo,” Washington DC, 2018, p. 44.

[47] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Marc Liandier, ICRC, 22 October 2018.

[48] HI website, “DRC Country Profile,” accessed on 1 October 2017; and responses to Monitor questionnaire by Francky Miantuala, CCBL, 31 May 2017; and by Ngubo Selemani Longange, CCLAM.

[49] Responses to Monitor questionnaire by Alice Baltus, Deputy Desk Officer DRC & Burundi, HI, 12 July 2018.