Summary: The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) signed the convention in 2009 and its parliament approved ratification in 2013, but the government still has not completed the ratification process. The DRC has participated in meetings of the convention, but not since 2015. It voted in favor of a key United Nations (UN) resolution promoting the convention in December 2018.

In 2011, the DRC reported that it has never used, produced, or transferred cluster munitions, and does not possess a stockpile. Cluster munitions were used in the DRC in the past, but the party or parties responsible has never been conclusively identified.

Policy

The DRC signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 18 March 2009.

The current status of the DRC’s ratification efforts is not known. The Senate adopted the ratification legislation on 28 November 2013.[1] In 2015, the DRC stated that the ratification legislation was awaiting review by the Constitutional Court.[2]

The DRC stated in 2014 that its implementation legislation for the Mine Ban Treaty had been amended to incorporate provisions of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[3] However, the Monitor has never been able to obtain a copy of the law to confirm this.

The DRC provided three voluntary Article 7 transparency reports for the Convention on Cluster Munitions in 2011–2014, but none since then.[4]

The DRC actively participated in the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions and strongly supported a comprehensive ban as well as the inclusion of provisions on international cooperation and assistance. Due to inadequate signing authority, the DRC could not sign the convention in Oslo in December 2008, but signed three months later at the UN in New York.[5]

The DRC has participated in meetings of the convention, but not since 2015.[6] It was invited to, but did not attend the Eighth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in September 2018.

In December 2018, the DRC voted in favor of a key UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution that urges states outside the Convention on Cluster Munitions to “join as soon as possible.”[7] It has voted in favor of the annual UNGA resolution promoting the convention since it was first introduced in 2015.

The DRC has elaborated its views on several important issues relating to the interpretation and implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. In 2012, the government’s national mine action coordinator said that the DRC agreed with the views of the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) that the provisions of the convention forbid transit in, foreign stockpiling of, and investment in the production of cluster munitions, and also forbid assistance with the use of cluster munitions in joint military operations with states not party.[8]

The DRC is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

The DRC reports that it has never produced cluster munitions and does not possess a stockpile.[9]

However, the DRC may have received a shipment of Chilean-manufactured cluster munitions from Zimbabwe in or after July 2013, according to a copy of an official document obtained by Human Rights Watch in May 2018.[10] As a signatory, under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, the DRC has committed not to take any action that runs contrary to the object and purpose of the convention such as importing or otherwise receiving cluster munitions.

The DRC states that it never used cluster munitions, but “foreign armies” used cluster munitions in the DRC in the past.[11] The DRC’s cluster munition contamination includes BL-755, BLU-63, BLU-55, ShAOB-0.5, and PM1-type submunitions.[12]

In May 2013, the DRC reported that an abandoned stockpile of 1,593 ShAOB-0.5 submunitions was found and destroyed in Goma in 2011.[13]

Policy

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty on 2 May 2002, becoming a State Party on 1 November 2002. The National Commission to Fight Antipersonnel Mines was created in 2002.[1]

The DRC enacted legislation to implement the Mine Ban Treaty in 2011. “Law no. 11/007 implementing the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production, and Transfer of Antipersonnel Mines and on their Destruction in the Democratic Republic of the Congo” was promulgated by the president on 9 July 2011 and published in the official journal on 15 July 2011.[2] The law was first adopted in December 2010 and a final version adopted by Parliament on 16 June 2011.[3]

Law 11/007 prohibits the development, manufacture, production, acquisition, stockpiling, conservation, supply, sale, import, export, transfer, and use of antipersonnel mines or their components and also prohibits assistance, encouragement, or inducement in these activities.[4] The law establishes penal sanctions for persons violating its provisions of 10 years imprisonment and a fine of CDF10–20 million (about US$11,000–$22,000). The law also provides penal sanctions for legal entities (companies) guilty of violations of CDF10–20 million (about US$11,000–$22,000).[5] The law also contains provisions on victim assistance.

The DRC regularly attends meetings of the treaty, most recently the Seventeenth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in November 2018, where it provided a statement on Article 5 clearance obligations, and the intersessional meetings in Geneva in May 2019, where it provided a statement on victim assistance.[6] The DRC also attended the Third Review Conference in Maputo in June 2014. The DRC provides updated Article 7 transparency reports semi-regularly, most recently in 2019.

The DRC is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons. It is a signatory state to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Production, transfer, use, stockpile destruction, and retention

The DRC is not known to have produced or exported antipersonnel mines. While government forces have used antipersonnel mines in the past, the Monitor has not received any allegations of such use since it acceded to the treaty. There were credible allegations of use of antipersonnel mines in the DRC by non-state armed groups (NSAGs) at least until 2004 and by Ugandan and Rwandan government forces in 2000.[7]

In May 2006, the DRC informed States Parties that it had completed the destruction of all 2,864 stockpiled antipersonnel mines it had been able to identify, thus fulfilling its treaty obligation to destroy stocks by 1 November 2006. It stated that if more stockpiled mines were discovered they would be destroyed in a timely fashion.[8]

Since May 2006, the DRC has destroyed newly discovered, seized, or turned in antipersonnel mines on many occasions. It reported an additional 198 mines destroyed in 2006, 936 in 2007, 631 in 2008, 101 in 2009, and 70 in 2010.[9]

In March 2010, a government official informed the Monitor that there were some live antipersonnel mines retained for training at the Military Engineers’ School in Likasi, but the types and numbers had not yet been reported.[10] Since 2011, the DRC has reported “not applicable” on Form D on mines retained for training or research purposes. In 2009, as in its previous report, the DRC stated that information on retained mines was “not yet available.”[11]

Non-state armed groups

NSAGs, both Congolese and foreign, remain active in the country.[12] In August 2009, a military officer reportedly stated that 25 soldiers had been killed by antipersonnel mines laid by the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (Forces Démocratiques de Liberation du Rwanda, FDLR, Rwandan Hutu rebels), and noted, “We are not aware of other antipersonnel mines planted in the area. Teams from the United Nations or other international bodies will be needed to clear the mines.”[13] The Monitor could not confirm if this constituted new use of antipersonnel mines, or if so, by whom.

Notes: CHA = confirmed hazardous area; SHA = suspected hazardous area; ERW = explosive remnants of war; AXO = abandoned explosive ordinance.

Mine Contamination

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is affected by antipersonnel mines and ERW, a result of armed conflict involving neighboring states, militias, and armed opposition groups, which have increased since the late 1990s.[1] According to UNMAS, at the end of 2017, a total of 36 CHAs and SHAs with a total size of 502,591m² remained to be released. There were two SHAs with a total size of just under 4,000m² and 34 CHAs with a combined size of nearly 498,500m².[2] Previously, at the end of 2016, a total of 54 CHAs and SHAs with a total size of 851,228m² remained; the total comprised seven confirmed mined areas covering just over 60,000m², and 47 SHAs covering just over 0.78km².[3]

At the end of 2017, six of the DRC’s former 11 provinces still contained confirmed or suspected mine contamination, as set out in the table below.[4]

Antipersonnel mine contamination by province (at end 2017)[5]

However, according to the Article 7 report for 2017, as of 17 April 2018, a total of 56 areas with a size of 535,359m² remained to be addressed: 27 mined areas in the nine provinces identified in its initial survey and 29 newly identified mined areas. The total of 56 areas included 16 areas with a total size of 286,640m² and 15 areas with a size yet to be determined.[6] As of 6 June 2018, the Congolese Mine Action Center (Centre Congolais de Lutte Antimines, CCLAM) reported that that a total of 58 hazardous areas with a size of approximately 600,000m² remained to be addressed. On request of the CCLAM, NPA agreed to assist with a re-survey of areas in the provinces of Bas Uele, Ituri, Maniema, North Kivu, North Ubangi, South Kivu, Tanganyika, and Tshopo.[7]

The Aru and Dungu territories in former Orientale province, have not been surveyed due to insecurity, and survey had still to be carried out as of June 2018.[8]

UNMAS reported that mine contamination remaining in the DRC in 2017 was limited and that only small numbers of antipersonnel mines were found on an annual basis by operators. Areas suspected to contain antipersonnel mines often proved to contain unexploded ordnance (UXO), abandoned ordnance (AXO), or small arms ammunition instead.[9] 

The impact of remaining mine and ERW contamination in 2017 was predominantly socio-economic. Released land is used for agriculture and settlement development, in addition to opening up access to markets, water, and firewood.[10] In 2017, in one example, clearance of the Bongala road by NPA, which is a shortcut linking Gbadolite in North Ubangi province with Gemena in South Ubangi province, reduced the travel time and distance from 185km² and up to seven hours to 155km,taking up to five hours.[11] HI reported that land released to local inhabitants in Tshopo province, which had previously been blocked from cultivation or restricted access to resources, such as water, for many years, was being put to use for socio-economic and community activities, such as the construction of houses and agriculture.[12]

Cluster Munition Contamination 

At the start of 2017, only two areas known to contain cluster munition remnants remained to be addressed in Bolomba, Equateur province, in the northwest of the country.[13] The DRC had identified these two areas in a national survey conducted in 2013, and they were released through survey and clearance in 2017.[14]

Subsequently, however, UNMAS reported that four PM-1 submunitions were found in a previously unrecorded hazardous area in Shabunda, South Kivu province. It reported that evidence from eye-witnesses and past cluster munition contamination encountered in the DRC indicated that it was a cluster munition strike from the 1980s.[15] UNMAS stated that the area would be reported to the CCLAM as a CHA.[16]

In August 2017, MAG reported finding a single submunition in Manono, Tanganyika province, which was treated as a spot task and destroyed by a demining team. MAG stated that it did not intend to do any cluster munition survey and did not expect to find any other submunitions in its area of operations.[17]

The DRC’s new National Mine Action Strategy for 2018–2019, finalized in November 2017, states that in addition to mines and ERW, “some areas contaminated by submunitions have also been reported but the areas affected remain negligible.”[18] The strategy includes among its objectives completion of survey of mine and cluster munition contamination in the Aru and Dungu territories, as yet inaccessible due to security concerns, by mid-2018.[19]

Other explosive remnants of war

The DRC is affected by other ERW as a result of years of conflict involving neighboring states, militias, and rebel groups (see the 2017 DRC Mine Action profile for details). Successive conflicts have also left the country with significant quantities of AXO.[20]

In 2018, explosive ordnance continued to pose a significant risk to civilians in the DRC, increased by the recent resurgence in armed conflict that has resulted in new ERW contamination, particularly in the eastern and central regions. UNMAS reported that a number of SHAs remained in geographically challenging areas where large numbers of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees were seeking shelter.[21]

Program Management

CCLAM was established in 2012 with support from the UN Mine Action Coordination Center (UNMACC) and UNMAS.[22] Although CCLAM took over responsibility from UNMAS as the national focal point for demining in early 2016, its capacity to carry out accreditation, issue task orders, and report on mine action activities remained very limited in 2017. Its lack of capacity to manage an up-to-date national database and carry out quality management activities continued to be highlighted by operators as critical areas of concern.[23]

In 2017–2018, UNMAS was assisting MONUSCO operations and mitigating the threat from ERW through explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) operations and risk education.[24]

Strategic planning

The DRC’s national mine action strategic plan for 2012–2016 set the goal of clearing all areas contaminated with antipersonnel mines or submunitions by the end of 2016.[25] Neither goal was met.

In 2017, under CCLAM’s coordination, with support from the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD), UNMAS, and the government of Japan, a new National Mine Action Strategy for 2018–2019 was developed in a series of workshops in collaboration with mine action operators.[26] The strategy focuses on fulfilling the country’s Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 obligations by 2020, one year ahead of its 2021 deadline.[27] The strategy does not contain specific provisions on or timeframes for the completion of clearance of cluster munition remnants.[28]

The new strategy contains the following three strategic objectives: effective and efficient management of the explosive threat; ensuring the national program has the capacity to manage residual contamination in a sustainable manner; and strengthening the legal framework of the mine action program. These objectives are to be achieved through the adoption of national laws and other implementing measures, by adherence to relevant treaties, through the integration of mine action into national development and poverty reduction strategies, and as a result of the mobilization of adequate resources.[29]

Legislation and standards

There is no national mine action legislation in the DRC, based on available information. In 2017, UNMAS said it would provide technical support to CCLAM to complete the revision of the DRC’s outdated National Technical Standards and Guidelines (NTSGs) for mine action.[30] Revised NTSGs had been drafted by the middle of 2016, but were still under review as of August 2018.[31] The draft version does not contain cluster munition-specific provisions.[32]

Quality management

In 2017, CCLAM controlled external quality assurance (QA)/quality control (QC) after the handover of responsibility for quality management from UNMAS in 2016.[33] Operators reported that CCLAM carried out QA/QC on all operations and tasks in 2017; however, they also stated that CCLAM staff did not have adequate material and financial resources to plan and carry out autonomous inspection visits during the year. Operators reported having to cover some of CCLAM’s costs to allow it to carry out monitoring operations in the field.[34] 

Information management

CCLAM assumed responsibility from UNMAS for information management in January 2016. Concerns persisted over the quality of the database and CCLAM’s capacity and resources to manage it. Gaps in the data, a lack of maintenance, a lack of capacity to extract and share information from the database, and the absence of coordination meetings with operators, all remained evident in 2017.[35]

NPA held refresher training courses on information management and use of the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) database and geographic information system (GIS) for CCLAM staff during the year. It reported that while CCLAM had competent technical staff, its limited administrative and financial resources continued to adversely affect its ability to maintain the database, and that, as a consequence, a system of parallel reporting to CCLAM and UNMAS had developed. The situation even appeared to deteriorate in 2017.[36] CCLAM did not respond to requests for data in 2018.

Operators

Four international operators carried out demining operations in the DRC in 2016: DanChurchAid (DCA), HI, MAG, and NPA, along with one national clearance organization, AFRILAM, and a second national organization, AAAD, which conducted non-technical survey and mine risk education.[37]

In January–April 2017, NPA deployed five technical survey teams with a total of 22 demining personnel. From April, the project configuration changed to include both demining and the provision of risk education, with the number of technical survey teams reduced to three 15-strong teams and two four-strong risk education teams. It focused on completing clearance of SHAs in Bolomba and Ikela territories in Equateur and Tshuapa provinces, respectively.[38] NPA was the only operator to conduct area clearance of cluster munition remnants in 2017.

In 2017, MAG deployed two multi-task teams (MTT) and two community liaison teams in North and South Ubangi provinces and two MTTs and one community liaison team in Tanganyika province.Personnel totaled 26 deminers and 15 community liaison staff. MAG carried out community liaison, EOD spot tasks, battle area clearance (BAC), and other clearance activities.[39]

With support from HI, AFRILAM deployed three teams with a total of 20 deminers and two community liaison officers in 2017. AFRILAM carried out clearance and EOD spot tasks during the year; however, as funding for 2018 was unable to be secured, AFRILAM and HI’s operations ceased on 31 December 2017.[40]

Land Release (mines)

UNMAS and operators reported a total of 0.86km² of mined area released in 2017, of which 0.42km² was by clearance and technical survey, and a further 0.44km² cancelled by non-technical survey.[41] However, the DRC reported 0.45km² cleared in its Article 7 report for 2017.[42] Both figures represent an increase from the total mined area in the DRC released in 2016 of just under 0.4km² of mined area, including 0.36km² by clearance and technical survey, and a further 0.04km² by non-technical survey, largely due to a sizeable increase in cancellation by non-technical survey.[43]

Survey in 2017 (mines)

In 2017, operators cancelled a total of nearly 444,300m² by non-technical survey and reduced a further nearly 192,500m² of antipersonnel mined area through technical survey, while confirming just under 264,500m² as mined.[44] This is a large increase in survey in comparison with results in 2016 when nearly 37,700m² mined area was cancelled by non-technical survey, 127,300m² of mined area was reduced, and 120,000m² was confirmed as mined.[45]

MAG reported that its large increase in non-technical survey cancellation in 2017 was due to deploying to North and South Ubangui to address significantly overestimated SHAs, along with increased access to address areas following cutting of vegetation, enabling a larger amount of SHA to be cancelled.[46] According to NPA, its survey output increased in 2017 due to a large SHA in Bongala that proved to have very little contamination resulting in significant cancellation, and the erroneous recording of a second task as having a size of 16,000m², which in fact proved to be 160,000m².[47]

Mine survey in 2017[48]

Note: N/R = not reported; TS = technical survey.

As of August 2018, NPA was preparing to implement a project aimed at reassessing all recorded and newly reported SHAs to allow for better planning and coordination of clearance efforts.[49]

Clearance in 2017 (mines)

A total of just over 226,000m² was reportedly released by clearance in 2017, with the destruction of 32 antipersonnel mines and 3,173 items of UXO.[50] This is almost the same as clearance in 2016 (just over 230,300m²).[51]

HI reported that the significant increase in land release output by AFRILAM in 2017 compared with 2016 was due to the fact that 2016 was dedicated to the recruitment, mobilization, and accreditation of demining teams, whereas in 2017 the focus was on implementing clearance.[52]

Mine clearance in 2017[53]

The DRC reported 0.45km²cleared in its Article 7 report for 2017.[56]

Land Release (cluster munition remnants)

In 2017, a total of 3,900m² of cluster munition contamination was cleared, and a total of 242 submunitions destroyed.[57] This compares to the total of 37,903m² released though clearance and technical survey in 2016, with the destruction of 46 submunitions.[58] 

Survey in 2017 (cluster munition remnants)

One SHA with an unrecorded size was cancelled by NPA in Bolomba, Equateur province in April 2017.[59]

Clearance in 2017 (cluster munition remnants)

NPA completed clearance of the last remaining area of cluster munition contamination identified in Bolomba, Equateur province on 12 May 2017.[60] It cleared a total of 3,900m², destroying 239 submunitions in the task area. It reported that the submunitions were of the type PTAB-1M, which it said are usually dispensed from a container that holds 268 submunitions. NPA found only the loose submunitions, however, and not the container itself. It also destroyed an additional two submunitions in EOD spot tasks.[61] It did not expect that more cluster munition remnants would be found in Equateur province.[62]

In August 2017, MAG reported discovering one submunition in Manono, Tanganyika province, which was found and destroyed by a demining team as an EOD spot task. The submunition was a type MK2 submunition, similar to the United Kingdom (UK)-manufactured BL755 MK1 submunitions previously found and cleared by operators in Tanganyika province.[63]

Progress in 2018 (cluster munition remnants)

Despite the identification of submunitions in Shabunda, South Kivu province, UNMAS said there were no plans to conduct a specific survey of cluster munition contamination in 2018, though it also stated that “the discovery of CM [cluster munitions] in a location previously thought to be not contaminated would lead UNMAS to believe that the CM hazard is still present.”[64] At the end of June 2018, UNMAS reported that technical survey of the area was being carried out to determine the footprint and size of the area of contamination. It further stated, however, that it did not have funding to conduct clearance of the area following completion of technical survey.[65]

Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 Compliance

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty (and in accordance with the six-year extension request granted by States Parties in June 2014), the DRC is required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 January 2021. It is on track to meet this deadline. As stated above, according to its National Mine Action Strategy for 2018–2019, the DRC expects to complete its Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 obligations by 2020, one year ahead of its 2021 deadline. However, this is three years after the DRC previously expected to complete clearance.

In 2018, UNMAS and operators confirmedthat with existing mine action capacity and the maintenance of sufficient funding, the DRC could complete clearance of all contamination in the remaining provinces of Bas-Uele, Equateur, Ituri, Maniema, North-Kivu, Tanganyika, Tshuapa, Tshopo, and South and North Ubangi, before its extended Article 5 deadline of 1 January 2021.[66]

The DRC’s first Article 5 deadline request in 2011 largely blamed poor survey by demining operators for the failure to meet its deadline, though poor management and insufficient national ownership of the program were also major factors.[67] Initially intending to submit a request for an extension of its initial November 2012 deadline by four years, the DRC instead requested a 26-month interim extension primarily to carry out the national survey to provide it with the information needed to submit another definitive extension request in 2014.[68]

In April 2014, the DRC submitted a second request to extend its Article 5 deadline starting in January 2015. The extension indicated that at least 30% of the total mined area could be released through technical survey, indicating that some 1.3km² would need to be cleared.[69] The extension request estimated that on average 0.21km² would be cleared each year.[70]

The purpose of its current (second) Article 5 deadline extension is to “(a) conduct technical surveys and clear the 130 identified mined areas; and (b) conduct non-technical and technical surveys as well as clear and/or release areas in the territories of Aru and Dungu in the Orientale province.”[71]

The DRC has reported that challenges for implementing its current extension request plan milestones include funding and logistics, security, geography, and climate, including dense vegetation and heavy rainy seasons.[72]

The DRC provided clearance figures for the period 2014–2017 in its Article 7 report submitted in 2018. These are not consistent with figures provided by the CCLAM, UNMAS, and international operators. The table below provides the figures as reported in the Monitor profiles, and in the Article 7 report for 2017. The Article 7 report also reported 65,318m² cleared from January–March 2018, and four additional mined areas with a size of 90,229m² were “suspended” or “closed.” It reported a total of 370 antipersonnel mines had been destroyed, including 49 antipersonnel mines found in 2014; 36 antipersonnel mines in 2015; 162 antipersonnel mines in 2016; 26 antipersonnel mines in 2017; and two antipersonnel mines in the first quarter of 2018.[73]

Mine clearance in 2013–2017

Progress towards completion 

According to UNMAS, as of October 2017, 71% of all known SHAs in the DRC had been released. UNMAS stated that with existing mine action capacity and the maintenance of sufficient funding, the DRC could complete clearance of all contamination in the remaining provinces of Equateur, Tshuapa, Tshopo, Ituri, North-Kivu, Tanganyika, Maniema, South and North Ubangi, and Bas-Uele, before its extended Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline of 1 January 2021.[75]

In 2018, MAG, HI, NPA, and UNMAS reiterated concerns over an on-going decline in funding for mine action operations to address the larger problem of mines and ERW in the DRC. They reported that with the deteriorating political climate in the country, donors were reluctant to support mine action activities and prioritized funding to address other higher-impact humanitarian crises, such as cholera and yellow fever outbreaks, flooding, and increasing displacement of populations.[76]

Prior to 2017, no clearance had been conducted in the previous four years. 

The Monitor acknowledges the contributions of the Mine Action Review (www.mineactionreview.org), which has conducted the primary mine action research in 2018 and shared all its country-level landmine reports (from“Clearing the Mines 2018”) and country-level cluster munition reports (from “Clearing Cluster Munition Remnants 2018”) with the Monitor. The Monitor is responsible for the findings presented online and in its print publications.

In 2018, eight donors contributed US$7.8 million toward mine action in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which represents an increase of 36% from 2017.[1]

DRC also received in-kind assistance from Switzerland valued at US$1.3 million to support clearance operations.[2]

Since March 2014 and the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2147, demining activities are no longer included in the mandate of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in DRC (MONUSCO); consequently, since July 2014, MONUSCO is no longer providing support to mine action in DRC through its assessed budget.[3]

DRC has never reported any contributions to its mine action program, but in its Second Article 5 deadline Extension Request submitted in April 2014, DRC committed to providing CDF579,831,000 (approximately $630,000) a year, starting in January 2015.[4]

International contributions: 2018[5]

Note: N/A=not available; N/R=not reported.

Since 2014, international contributions to mine action activities in DRC totaled nearly $37 million, an average of some $7 million per year.

DRC’s most recent Mine Ban Treaty extension request projected that a budget of $20 million would be required for 2015–2020, of which $19.4 million would go to demining operations, while the remainder would be used for survey and clearance efforts in Aru and Dungu territories.[6]

Summary of international contributions: 2014–2018[7]

Casualties Overview

The UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) reported 37 mine/ERW casualties in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for 2016.[1] As in previous years, children constituted a significant portion of all casualties, with nearly three quarters of casualties being minors (27). All casualties were civilians, including 10 females (two women; seven girls; 1 of unknown age) and 27 males (four men; 20 boys; three of unknown age).[2]

All casualties were caused by ERW, except one that was caused by an improvised mine (victim-activated improvised explosive device, IED).

The 2016 casualty total represented a significant increase from the 16 mine/ERW casualties recorded for 2015, but remained less than the 47 casualties recorded by UNMAS for 2014.[3]

It has been frequently and repeatedly reported that available casualty data significantly underrepresents the true number of people killed and injured, due to the absence of a national data collection system for mine/ERW casualties and the fact that parts of the country remain inaccessible, owing to a lack of infrastructure and security constraints.[4]

UNMAS reported 2,579 mine/ERW casualties between 1964 and the end of 2015,[5] with 1,073 people killed, 1,500 injured, and six cases in which it was unknown if the casualties survived.[6] Of all casualties, 1,660 were male and about a quarter (629) were female.[7] Children represented 44% (1,127) of the total casualties. Casualties were identified in all of DRC’s 11 provinces, although more than half of all casualties occurred in just three provinces: South Kivu (23%), Equateur (21%), and North Kivu (19%).[8]

Cluster munition casualties

Unexploded cluster submunitions caused 207 casualties in DRC through the end of 2016.[9] The last unexploded submunition casualties identified in disaggregated data occurred in 2010.

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]

International commitments and obligations

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