Casualties Overview

In 2011, the Albanian Mine and Munitions Coordination Office (AMMCO) reported six casualties of abandoned explosive ordnance (AXO); five men and one woman. In 2010, one AXO casualty was reported. No mine or cluster munition remnants casualties have been reported in Albania since 2005.

A total of 972 mine/unexploded ordnance and AXO/explosive remnants of war (ERW) casualties (139 killed; 833 injured) have been identified in Albania between 1997 and 2011. The AMAE casualty database for Kukes region[1] contained information on 272 mine and ERW casualties (34 killed; 238 injured) for the period 1999–2005. Countrywide AXO casualty data for 1997–2010 listed 700 casualties (105 killed; 595 injured).[2]

Cluster munition casualties

At least 53 cluster munition remnants casualties (nine killed; 44 injured) are recorded in the Kukes database.[3] Two additional casualties due to the use of cluster munitions were also identified.[4]

Victim Assistance

Albania is responsible for landmine survivors, cluster munition victims and other survivors of explosive remnants of war. Albania has commitments to victim assistance through the Mine Ban Treaty and the Convention on Conventional Weapons and has victim assistance obligations under the Cluster Munition Convention.

There are at least 833 mine/ERW (including AXO) survivors in Albania.

Victim Assistance since 1999[5]

Since 1999, Albania made significant progress in developing all components of victim assistance in the northeast with the introduction of an initial victim assistance plan in 2003. Extensive data collection used for program design and information sharing contributed to the success of the regional victim assistance program in 2005-2009. Needs based and comprehensive community based programming, as well as linkages to broader development strategies, were applied to develop an exemplary victim assistance program. However, after the country was declared mine free in 2009, resources for victim assistance in Albania were insufficient to continue meeting the needs of survivors.

The national NGO, ALB-AID (formerly VMA-Kukes, founded in November 2000) provided direct victim assistance. Progress was most prominent in the areas of medical care, employment and economic support in the northeast. A prosthetic and rehabilitation center was built in the mine affected region. Conditions at the National Orthotic-Prosthetic Center had been deteriorating since 2005, and in 2010 the center lost ICRC support. Economic inclusion and psychological support remained the most serious needs of survivors. Overall, widespread poverty, unregulated working conditions, and poor medical care posed significant problems for many persons with disabilities.

Victim assistance in 2011

In 2011, the main victim assistance provider in Albania, ALB-AID, continued to implement victim assistance programs at an extremely reduced level due to decreased funding with just one economic inclusion project, which continued into 2012. In other parts of Albania, except the Gerdec munitions storage explosion site, direct services from ALB-AID for survivors are not provided to survivors due to the lack of funding.[6]

Assessing victim assistance needs

ALB-AID maintained data on all its survivor members in 2011 and continued its media monitoring of explosives and small arms incidents. The Albanian Red Cross Society continued collecting data on AXO casualties in 12 AXO affected prefectures of Albania for use by AMMCO. Data is disaggregated by age and gender, recorded in the IMSMA database and regularly shared with the relevant institutions and agencies.[7]

Victim assistance coordination[8]

Albania has a National Victim Assistance plan, which is in aligned with the recommendations of the Cartagena Action Plan.[9] The national Mine Action Plan (2010) aimed to make victim assistance sustainable by building sufficient national capacity and by implementing the National Strategy on People with Disabilities (NSPWD).[10] The Albanian Disability Rights Foundation (ADRF) monitored the implementation of the NSPWD.[11]

Albania reported in detail on victim assistance in its 2011 Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report.[12] It also provided updates on victim assistance at the Mine Ban Treaty and Cluster Munitions Convention intersessional meetings in April and May 2012 and at the Eleventh Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in December 2011.[13]

Survivors were represented at all levels of planning and implementation of victim assistance through the participation of ALB-AID.[14]

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities[15]

In 2011, the National Prosthetic and Orthotic Center (NPOC) in Tirana operated at minimum levels following the withdrawal of support of the ICRC Special Fund for the Disabled (SFD) in 2010. As a result, in the absence of an adequate national prosthetics and rehabilitation facility in the capital, beneficiaries from throughout the country continued to utilize the capacity of the facilities in Kukes. Kukes Hospital began allocating some funding for prosthetic materials in 2011 in addition to covering all staff and running costs as in past years.[16] However resources were insufficient compared to needs and the Kukes Prosthetic Workshop was facing difficulties in securing enough raw materials and components for the production of new and major repairs of prostheses for 2012.[17] This was a result of increased needs due to the influx of survivors from other parts of Albania who were treated at Kukes Prosthesis Workshop.[18]

The five–year collaborative project aimed at supporting Albania in developing a physical medicine and rehabilitation (PMR) system at the national level concluded in 2011. This project included physiotherapy training within the Nursery Faculty of Tirana and aimed to create a sustainable response to rehabilitation needs of landmine survivors in Kukes.[19] Following the completion of the project, the Nursing Faculty continued to implement a sustainable program for the development of physiotherapy training into 2012.[20]

Resource constraints and lack of infrastructure make it difficult for persons with disabilities to participate fully in many social activities. Governmental social services agencies were often unable to implement their programs due to lack of funding.[21] ALB-AID had no resources for psychological support activities in Kukes and social inclusion activates decreased significantly.

Legislation prohibited discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, and the provision of other state services. However, service providers did sometimes discriminate against people with disabilities. The law mandated that new public buildings be accessible to persons with disabilities, but this was not regularly enforced.[22]

Throughout 2011, UNDP, ADRF and ALB-AID were advocating for the Albanian Parliament to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and for the government to increase support and funding for persons with disabilities.[23]

Albania signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 22 December 2009.