Sudan

Casualties and Victim Assistance

Last updated: 21 October 2018

Victim assistance planning and coordination[1]

Government focal points

Nationwide: National Mine Action Center (NMAC)
Darfur: NMAC and Ministry of Social Affairs

Other focal points

National Council of Persons with Disabilities (NCPD) Sudan

Coordination activities

Victim Assistance Working Group (VAWG), chaired by NMAC were held monthly; victim assistance/disability coordination working group (VACWG) in Darfur

Plans/strategies

The Victim Assistance Strategic Framework and National Multi-year Work Plan adopted during 2016–2017, with a timeframe until 2019.[2] The objectives of the plan include: the development of a system for data collection and management of victim data; effective and sustainable services, including enhancing medical services coverage of affected areas; promoting psychological rehabilitation; establishing a psychological support system; development and implementation of economic-inclusion programs; and promoting effective coordination, advocacy, legislation, and policies[3]

Disability sector integration

Details not reported

Survivor inclusion and participation

10 advocacy workshops for persons with disabilities were conducted by the NCPD and the states council for persons with disabilities, including implementation of the Sudan Disability Act 2017, the building code, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)[4]

Reporting

Sudan included victim assistance in its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report for calendar year 2017 and made statements at the Mine Ban Treaty Sixteenth Meeting of States Parties in 2017 and the intersessional meetings in 2018

 

International commitments and obligations

Sudan is responsible for a significant number of landmine survivors, cluster munition victims, and survivors of other explosive remnants of war (ERW) who are in need. Sudan has made commitments to provide victim assistance as a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty

Mine Ban Treaty

Yes

Convention on Cluster Munitions

No

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)

Yes

 

Laws and policies

The Sudan Act for the Persons with Disabilities for the year 2017 was adopted by the Republic of Sudan’s National Assembly in session No 41 in January 2017, and was signed by the president by in February 2017. The NCPD published 4,000 copies of the Sudan Act for persons with disabilities with NMAC support. Three additional state disability acts were adopted in Central, North Darfur, and South Kordofan states, consistent with the newly adopted federal disability act. That raised the number of states with disability acts to 14 out of 18 states.[5] An informal coalition of Sudanese disabled people’s organizations (DPOs) and civil society organizations submitted an alternative CRPD report for Sudan that provides an independent assessment of the implementation of convention.[6]

The labor law of Sudan reserves 5% of all government jobs for persons with disabilities, but it is unclear how well this measure is enforced or what the actual rate of employment for persons with disabilities in the government is.[7]

Major Developments in 2017–2018

Needs assessment

No needs assessment was reported for Sudan in 2017.

Medical care and rehabilitation

In the first half of 2017, while negotiations with the authorities for having independent and direct access to people affected by armed conflict and other situations of violence were ongoing, the ICRC donated emergency medical supplies to local institutions or other international organizations in Khartoum and Darfur. Following dialogue with the authorities, in July, the ICRC wasallowed to increase its assistance activities.[8]

Socio-economic and psychosocial inclusion

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) Ordnance Disposal Office (ODO) supported 20 survivors or family members with income-generation projects across Darfur. The financial support provided changed from support to organizations of persons with disabilities to directly focus on explosive remnants of war (ERW) survivors.[9] Friends of Peace & Development Organization (FPDO) implemented a project in Kassala state in eastern Sudan, including socio-economic integration, assistive devices, and psychosocial support to 20 beneficiaries.[10]

JASMAR Human Security Organization was contracted by UNOPS to implement Victim Assistance project in Blue Nile and South Kordofan states for the period September 2017–February 2018. All 50 project beneficiaries of them received psychological support and were trained on their rights and small business project management. All beneficiaries were covered by health insurance.[11]

Victim assistance providers and activities

Name of organization

Type of activity

Government

National Authority for Prosthetics and Orthotics (NAPO)

Seven rehabilitation centers with mobile workshops, includes limited psychological counseling

NCPD

Coordination, monitoring and funding programs for DPOs

National

Elfasher Association of the Disabled (FSD)

Data collection economic inclusion, psychosocial support; prosthetics repair center in Darfur; referrals to ICRC facilities

Friends of Peace & Development Organization (FPDO)

Economic integration, assistive devices, and psychosocial support in Kassala state, eastern Sudan

Sudan Association for Combating Landmines (JASMAR)

Economic reintegration targeting disabled former combatants, including mine/ERW survivors; community-based healthcare in Kassala state

Cheshire Home for Disabled Children

Prosthetic and orthotic services for children with disabilities

Friends of Peace and Development Organization & AAR Japan

Partnership between national NGOs and international NGOs June 2016 to March 2017; mobility devices, prosthetic support, small business grants, and psychosocial support

Name of organization

Type of activity

International

ICRC

NAPO rehabilitation centers (main center in Khartoum, six satellite centers, and one mobile clinic) with materials and training; repair center in Darfur and a facility in North Kordofan state

 



[1] Statement of Sudan, Mine Ban Treaty Thirteenth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 3 December 2013; and Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2013), Form J; and Preliminary Observation of the Committee on Victim Assistance, Mine Ban Treaty Intersessional Meetings, 8–9 June 2017.

[2] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2017), Form J.

[3] Preliminary Observation of the Committee on Victim Assistance, Mine Ban Treaty Intersessional Meetings, 8–9 June 2017.

[4] The workshops were held in Khartoum, Kassala, Eastern Darfur, Western Darfur, Southern Darfur, and Northern Darfur states.

[5] NCPD, “Sudan National Council Annual report, 2017,” by Abdulrahman Esmael Ghani,Director of Planning, Policies and Research, NCPD, Khartoum, 17 May 2018.

[6] “Implementation of the CRPD, Alternative report – The Republic of Sudan,” Alradi Abdalla, ADD, Khartoum Sudan, 24 August 2017.

[7] Preliminary Observation of the Committee on Victim Assistance, Mine Ban Treaty Intersessional Meetings, 8–9 June 2017.

[8] ICRC, “Annual Report 2017,” Geneva, 2018, p. 205.

[9] Response to Monitor questionnaire from Emeka Nwadike, Programme Officer, Ordnance Disposal Officer, UNMAS, 29 May 2018.

[10] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2017), Form J.

[11] JASMAR Final Report, VA project funded by USAID through UNMAS by Sami Ibrahim, Programs Manager, JASMAR, 30 April 2018.