Lebanon

Victim Assistance

Last updated: 18 July 2018

Victim assistance action points

  • Create a sustainable funding strategy for the physical rehabilitation sector that relies on international funding and national donations.
  • Ensure that all survivors in the Lebanon Mine Action Center (LMAC) database have received a healthcare card to facilitate their access to care.
  • Introduce standards for prosthetic devices.

Victim assistance planning and coordination

Government focal point

LMAC

Coordination mechanisms

National Steering Committee on Victim Assistance (Steering Committee),[1] coordinated by LMAC and involving national victim assistance NGO service providers and relevant government ministries

Coordination regularity/frequency and outcomes/effectiveness

Regular meetings in 2017 (one or two per month),[2] effective coordination of victim assistance. There was a new mine victim assistance (MVA) officer in 2017[3]

Plans/strategies

The Lebanon Mine Action National Strategy 2011–2020 contains a specific reference to victim assistance

Disability sector integration

Civil society organizations represented on the Steering Committee are also members of the National Council of Persons with Disability. LMAC and the Steering Committee celebrated the International Day of Persons with Disabilities in December 2017[4]

Survivor inclusion and participation

Survivors’ representative organizations are members of the Steering Committee, and they are therefore included in the planning of victim assistance[5]

Reporting (Article 7 and statements)

Statement on victim assistance at the Convention on Cluster Munitions Seventh Meeting of States Parties

 

International commitments and obligations

There were at least 3,769 mine/explosive remnants of war (ERW) survivors in the Republic of Lebanon as of December 2017[6]

 

Lebanon reported that there were more than 4,000 families of landmine, cluster munition, and ERW casualties[7]

Mine Ban Treaty

No

Convention on Cluster Munitions

Yes

Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) Protocol V

No

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)

No (signed on 14 June 2007)

 

Laws and policies

Lebanon’s Law 220/2000 on the “Access and Rights of People with Disability” addresses the rights of persons with disabilities to have access to adequate education, rehabilitation services, employment, medical services sports, public transport, and other facilities.[8] Lebanese citizens with a disability can register for a disability card.[9] However, little progress has been made since parliament passed the law on disabilities in 2000.[10]

Discrimination against persons with disabilities is prohibited by law, but discrimination continued. The National Disability Law stipulates a 3% quota for hiring persons with disabilities for all employers. However, there was no evidence the law was enforced. The law required that buildings be made accessible to persons with disabilities, but the building code still required amendments.[11] Most public schools were not yet accessible.[12]

Major Developments in 2017–2018

The number of refugees in Lebanon remained steady compared to 2016.[13] There were no significant changes in terms of victim assistance funding.[14]

The government focal point for victim assistance reported that national standards for prosthetic devices had been established.[15]

Needs assessment

No national needs assessment survey was conducted in 2017 due to a lack of funds.[16] In 2017, LMAC continued to update the mine victims’ database.[17]

Medical care and rehabilitation

Emergency care and medical treatment continued to be provided to mine/ERW survivors free of charge.[18]

In 2017, the European Union (EU), the Marshall Legacy Institute (MLI), ITF Enhancing Human Security (ITF), and Dan Church Aid (DCA) were among the major donors for victim assistance in Lebanon, providing services to about 100 mine/ERW survivors.[19] Services included the provision of prostheses, an income-generating program, and psychosocial support.[20]

In early 2017, 45 mine/ERW survivors received rehabilitation services through MLI funding. In December 2017, LMAC approved a list of another 45 mine/ERW survivors to receive rehabilitation services, including prostheses and assistive devices, through EU funding.[21]

Government bodies such as the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Social Affairs were also involved in the provision of physical rehabilitation services to mine/ERW survivors, but these services were limited in 2017.[22] Other organizations at the national level, including Al-Jarha, Vision Association for Development, Rehabilitation, and Care–Al Ru’ya, Tamkeen, and the Lebanese Welfare Association for the Handicapped (LWAH) provided prosthetic services or assistive devices.[23]

Socio-economic and psychosocial inclusion

With funding from the Marshall Legacy Institute (MLI) and the EU, LMAC, the Landmine Resource Center, and the National Rehabilitation and Development Center (NRDC) jointly conducted an income-generation workshop to train 46 landmine survivors, 18 of whom received a grant to start an income-generating activity.

Al-Jarha Association provided financial support to about 90 survivors to cover school fees, and to over 280 survivors to cover social reintegration initiatives. Al-Jarha also conducted vocational trainings and provided loans for survivors to set up their businesses.[24] The NRDC facilitated inclusive education for approximately 80 disabled children in 2017.[25]

Cross-cutting

LMAC, through the Steering Committee members, the Ministry of Social Affairs, and the Ministry of Health, provides social and medical assistance to the widows and children of people killed by mines/ERW.

The victim assistance program of the government of Lebanon does not include support to Syrian refugees. Syrian refugees, including mine/ERW survivors, receive support from the ICRC, the United States Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM), and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) for medical care, prosthetics, and other assistive devices.[26]

Humanity & Inclusion (formerly Handicap International, HI) and Information Management and Mine Action Programs(IMMAP) were conducting an assessment of the level of access of refugees with disabilities to services.[27]

Victim assistance providers and activities

Name of organization

Type of activity

Government

Ministry of Health

Medical attention and prosthetics[28]

Ministry of Social Affairs

Disability benefits; socio-economic inclusion and prosthetics[29]

National

Landmine Resource Center(LMRC)

Advocacy, training/capacity-building for survivors

Al-Jarha Association for the War Wounded and

Disabled in Lebanon

Medical, physiotherapy, prosthetics production, sports activities, loans, peer support, psychological support, vocational training

Islamic Risala Scouts Association

Ambulances and transportation; vocational training

Lebanese Association for Health and Social Care

Basic medical care; vocational training, etc.

Lebanese Welfare Association for the Handicapped (LWAH)

All types of rehabilitation activities for persons with Disabilities

National Rehabilitation and Development Center (NRDC)

Income generation, rehabilitation, psychological care, prosthetic limbs[30]

Vision Association for Development, Rehabilitation and Care (Al Ru’ya)

Prosthetics and assistive devices,[31] loans, vocational training, psychological care, advocacy

Jezzine Landmine Survivor Development Cooperative

Survivor-managed cooperative producing and selling eggs, chickens, and honey

TamkeenAssociation for Independent Living

Prosthetics[32]

The Forum for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Physical rehabilitation and mobility devices, vocational training, social inclusion, awareness raising[33]

International

European Union (EU)

Income generation,[34] prosthetics[35]

Marshall Legacy Institute (MLI)

Income generation,[36] medical assistance,[37] computer training,[38] and prosthetics[39]

World Rehabilitation Fund

Support to medical care and health services

Lebanese Red Cross

Emergency medical attention, training in first aid and upgrading of emergency medical service stations with equipment and supplies

ICRC

Support to medical care and health services

Humanity & Inclusion (HI)

Physical and functional rehabilitation,[40] training of caregivers,[41] psychological support services for refugees, awareness raising on challenges faced by persons with disabilities[42]

 



[1] The Steering Committee includes representatives of the following organizations: the Injured and Victims of War Association; the Islamic Al Rissala Scouts Association; the Islamic Health Council; the Landmines Resource Center; the Lebanese Association for Health and Social Care; the Lebanese Welfare Association for the Handicapped; the Ministry of Social Affairs; the National Rehabilitation and Development Center; Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA); the Philanthropic Association for the Handicapped in Nabatiyeh; the Vision Association for Development, Rehabilitation, and Care; and the World Rehabilitation Fund.

[2] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Brig. Gen. Nasr, LMAC, 25 April 2018.

[3] Interview with Habbouba Aoun, Landmine Resource Center at the University of Balamand, in Geneva, 16 February 2018.

[4] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Brig. Gen. Ziad Nasr, LMAC, 25 April 2018.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2017), Form H.; and response to Monitor questionnaire by Brig. Gen. Nasr, LMAC, 2 June 2017.

[7] Statement of Lebanon, Convention on Cluster Munitions Seventh Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 5 September 2017.

[8] US Department of State, “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2017: Lebanon,” Washington, DC, 20 April 2018, p. 31.

[10] US Department of State, “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2017: Lebanon,” Washington, DC, 20 April 2018, p. 31.

[11] Ibid., p. 31.

[12] Ibid., p. 32.

[13] Interview with Habbouba Aoun, Landmine Resource Center at the University of Balamand, in Geneva, 16 February 2018.

[14] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Brig. Gen. Nasr, LMAC, 25 April 2018.

[15] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2017), Form H.

[16] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Brig. Gen. Nasr, LMAC, 25 April 2018.

[17] Statement of Lebanon, Convention on Cluster Munitions Seventh Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 5 September 2017.

[18] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2017), Form H.

[19] Interview with Habbouba Aoun, Landmine Resource Center at the University of Balamand, in Geneva, 16 February 2018.

[20] Ibid.

[21] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Brig. Gen. Nasr, LMAC, 25 April 2018.

[22] Interview with Habbouba Aoun, Landmine Resource Center at the University of Balamand, in Geneva, 16 February 2018.

[23] Ibid.

[24] Ibid.

[25] Ibid.

[26] Ibid.

[27] HI, “Country Card Lebanon,” October 2017, p. 4.

[28] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Brig. Gen. Nasr, LMAC, 25 April 2018.

[29] Ibid.

[30] Ibid.

[31] Ibid.

[32] Ibid.

[33] Forum for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities website, undated.

[34] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Brig. Gen. Nasr, LMAC, 25 April 2018; and interview with Habbouba Aoun, Landmine Resource Center at the University of Balamand, in Geneva, 16 February 2018.

[35] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Brig. Gen. Nasr, LMAC, 25 April 2018.

[36] Ibid.; and interview with Habbouba Aoun, Landmine Resource Center at the University of Balamand, in Geneva, 16 February 2018.

[37] The Marshall Legacy Institute, “Where we work – Lebanon,” undated but 2017.

[38] The Marshall Legacy Institute, “Annual Report 2016,” 2017, p. 17.

[39] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Brig. Gen. Nasr, LMAC, 25 April 2018.

[40] HI, “Country Card Lebanon,” October 2017, p. 4.

[41] Ibid.

[42] Ibid.