Victim assistance action points

• Improve the quality of physical rehabilitation services through funding, training, restructuring, and decentralization.
• Expand legislation and coordination for the rights of persons with disabilities.

Victim assistance planning and coordination

International commitments and obligations

Laws and policies

The multi-sectoral National Program on Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities (2017–2020), is in line with the CRPD.[6] The program, the first such document on disability issues for the Republic of Tajikistan, addresses the rights of persons with disabilities in the sphere of health, rehabilitation, education, livelihood, social protection, culture, access, and justice.

The December 2010 Law on Social Protection of Persons with Disabilities, which includes standards similar to those of the CRPD,[7] guarantees the physical accessibility of infrastructure for social life and to public transportation. Any planning, construction, or reconstruction that does not follow the law is prohibited and penalties can be applied.[8] From 2014 through 2017, 126 architects were trained in accessible design, including several with the support of the UNDP.[9]

Through policy dialogue including forums, discussion on Tajikistan joining the CRPD was promoted with the active participation of DPOs, including regional landmine survivors’ networks. These discussions resulted in a package of documents on Tajikistan’s accession to the CRPD being circulated among relevant ministries and agencies before being sent for government consideration at the end of 2017.[10]

The UNDP, in cooperation with TNMAC, continued introducing physical accessibility solutions in Tajikistan, based on international and Tajik accessibility standards and raising awareness on disability and accessibility. The fifth physical accessibility construction project of the National Research institute for Persons with Disabilities was completed in 2017.[11]

TNMAC has as its mandate the victim assistance pillar and is the governmental body with legal responsibilities for the coordination and implementation of victim assistance activities. A Law on Humanitarian Mine Action (#1338) was signed by the president of Tajikistan on 23 July 2016. This law specifically refers to victim assistance in Article 12.[12]

Major Developments in 2017–2018

Needs assessment

TNMAC continued gathering detailed information on mine/ERW casualties and service provision.[13] In 2016, the ICRC MoveAbility Foundation reported that the conditions at the national rehabilitation center were not yet adequate for conducting beneficiary-satisfaction surveys.[14] No improvement was noted in subsequent reporting.[15]

Medical care and rehabilitation

Mine/ERW survivors received emergency medical care in Ministry of Health and Social Protection-run medical institutions. Despite the improvement in the quality of diagnosis and treatment of mine victims as compared with previous years, a shortage of experienced specialists, modern medical and diagnostic equipment, and training remained a challenge. Further training for health personnel on delivering disability inclusive services was needed.[16]

Ten surgeons, anesthetists, and trauma doctors from hospitals located in areas potentially prone to emergencies or contaminated by mines/ERW attended an ICRC regional seminar on the management of weapon wounds in Kazakhstan.[17]

A 2015 situational analysis conducted by an intersectoral working group of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Population (MHSPP), in collaboration with different disability and development related stakeholders, with technical support from the World Health Organization (WHO) Country Office, provides extensive detail on gaps, needs, and opportunities for intervention in field rehabilitation for persons with disabilities in Tajikistan. The evaluation component focuses on rehabilitation policy and governance, service provisions, and its impact on persons with disabilities in Tajikistan, and remained a unique source of information on the needs of the sector.[18]

The MHSPP provides free physical rehabilitation services at the main center in Dushanbe (the State Enterprise Prosthetic-Orthopedic Plant), the only fully-functional rehabilitation center capable of providing prosthetics services in the entire country. The satellite center of Khujand only made repairs on existing devices. Remoteness and poor road conditions mean that some regions, including Sugd and Gorno-Badakhshan, are isolated for several months during the winter.[19]

The ICRC MoveAbility Foundation provided assistance to the main rehabilitation center through training and technical advice, staff support, and material donations.[20] The international NGO Polus Center provided on-the-job capacity-building training for prosthetics and orthotics technicians in the main rehabilitation center in early 2018. Wheelchairs were purchased in 2017 and distributed to landmine survivors according to their specific needs in 2018.[21]

Socio-economic and psychosocial inclusion

Two local micro-credit funds “Rushdi Sugd” and “Fayzi Surkhob” continued to provide microcredits to mine/ERW survivors and family members in accordance with a UNDP grant agreement. By the end of 2017, 265 landmine survivors and their family members had received microcreditfunds, including 117 in 2017.[22]

In February–March 2018, professional certification training for 21 doctors from mine-affected districts was organized in cooperation with the MHSPP, UNDP, and TNMAC. The training was for psychological first aid and psycho-social support.[23]

TNMAC resumed organization of its traditional two-week-long rehabilitation summer camp for mine/ERW survivors and other persons with disabilities. The camp includes rehabilitation services, art-therapy, individual and group psychological sessions, and adaptive sport.[24]

The two-week summer rehabilitation workshop for 75 mine/ERW survivors was organized with cooperation the Polus Center in 2017. This rehabilitation program for landmine/ERW survivors was organized in a new format with additional training sessions on assistive devices and stress management.[25]

Victim assistance providers and activities