International Committee Of The Red Cross
(ICRC)[1]
The contribution of this paper does not necessarily imply the association of the
ICRC with views or statements made in other chapters of the Landmine
Monitor.
Overview of ICRC mine action
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
is an impartial, neutral and independent humanitarian organisation, whose
mission is to protect the lives and dignity of victims of war, and to promote
and strengthen the law protecting them -- referred to as "international
humanitarian law". The ICRC carries out these activities in 80 countries
throughout the world, where it works in close cooperation with National Red
Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
It is the ICRC's extensive operational presence in conflict areas, its
special role in the development and implementation of humanitarian law and its
singular position within the broader Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement that
form the basis of its unique capacity to respond to the mine/ERW problem.
Preventive action
The ICRC's activities aiming to prevent further injury and economic loss
caused by mines and ERW fall into two categories:
promoting the development of, universal adherence to, and national
implementation of humanitarian law treaties designed to protect civilians from
landmines and ERW (Ottawa Convention, Amended Protocol II and Protocol V of the
Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons);
implementing at a national level preventive mine action programmes,
consisting of incident data gathering, risk reduction and risk education.
Designed to reduce the physical, social and economic impact of mines and ERW on
people living in contaminated areas, the ICRC's preventive mine action
operations are most often carried out in cooperation with National Red Cross and
Red Crescent Societies, who at branch level provide extensive networks for
grass-roots activities.
Victim assistance
Through its operations in conflict-affected areas, the ICRC provides
substantial assistance to mine victims by:
supporting first aid services in areas of conflict, often run by National
Societies;
assisting hospitals and surgical services treating victims of conflict;
supporting physical rehabilitation services in conflict-affected countries,
and in other countries through the ICRC Special Fund for the Disabled;
in some contexts, providing micro-credit programmes for persons with
disabilities.
Achievements in 2004
Promotion, development and implementation of legal norms
In 2004 the ICRC mobilized its operations worldwide to contribute to the
success of the Ottawa Convention's First Review Conference (the Nairobi Summit
on a Mine-Free World) held at the end of the year, working in close
collaboration with States Parties, the ICBL, the GICHD and the UN. It actively
participated in States Parties' preparatory meetings, and in the Review
Conference itself. In contacts and meetings, it encouraged national civil and
military authorities to meet the requirements of the treaty, including the
adoption of national implementing legislation, and organised or participated in
regional meetings on the Convention held in Latin America (Quito), South-Eastern
Europe (Bucharest), North-Eastern Europe (Vilnius), Central Asia (Dushanbe),
Middle East (Amman), South East Asia (Bangkok), Africa (AU), West Africa
(Ouagadougou) and Eastern Africa
(Nairobi).[2]
In cooperation with national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies, the ICRC
also engaged the media in all parts of the world with a view to highlighting the
achievements and challenges of the Ottawa Convention in the run-up to the Review
Conference. Materials the ICRC developed to generate media coverage on the
landmine issue included a new brochure on Ending the Landmine Era, press kits,
video footage and media visits to humanitarian mine action programmes in Angola,
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cambodia and northern Kenya.
The ICRC also worked to promote the adherence to the Protocol on Explosive
Remnants of War that was adopted in November 2003, and took an active part in
the work carried out by the group of governmental experts. With the protocol
open to ratification by States, the ICRC prepared materials to promote knowledge
and understanding of the instrument. These included an updated CCW ratification
kit, a booklet containing the text of the convention and its protocols and a
promotional brochure on the ERW problem. These materials were distributed to
governments and to all ICRC delegations and National Societies to promote the
Convention and the protocol worldwide. The ICRC also participated in a briefing
on the protocol for participants in the First Committee of the UN General
Assembly in New York. The ICRC also encouraged wider adherence to the CCW and
the amendment to Article 1 of the Convention extending its application to
non-international armed conflicts. Following efforts by the ICRC and National
Societies in many countries, the amendment, which ensures that the convention's
rules will apply to all forms of armed conflict, entered into force in May 2004
after it had been ratified by 20 States.
Mine action programmes
In 2004, the ICRC operated preventive mine action programmes in 27
countries, either directly or by providing expert guidance, training and
technical know-how to National Societies.
In 2004, three regional mine-action advisers were responsible for providing
technical advice and follow up on the planning and implementation of mine action
programmes, covering the Russian Federation and the northern Caucasus; central
Europe and the Middle East; and Angola and southern Africa.
In Iraq, the National Society continued to implement mine-risk education
insofar as the security situation allowed, through the distribution of public
awareness materials. In Afghanistan, where the ICRC remained a key player in
mine action, data on mine and ERW incidents continued to be collected in support
of the National Mine Action Programme while the National Society, with ICRC
support, pursued its community-based mine-risk education activities. In Angola,
National Society capabilities were further developed through training and other
capacity-building work.
The ICRC initiated a new mine action programme in Myanmar and sustained
technical support, mainly in mine-risk education, was provided to the National
Societies in India and Iran, which both implemented preventive programmes in
2004. Needs assessments were carried out in Pakistan, Nepal and Zambia (for
Angolan refugees).
The ICRC pursued constructive dialogue with the main international mine
action organizations such as the UN Mine Action Service, UNICEF, UNDP,
international NGOs and the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian
Demining. It continued its involvement in review and update of the
International Mine Action Standards, and monitored developments and results
related to the Global Impact Survey initiative. In addition, it adopted and
integrated the IMSMA mine action software, thus improving data compatibility
with others involved in mine action.
ICRC/National Red Cross and Red Crescent Society Mine Action 2004
Africa
Angola
Mozambique*
Sudan*
Eritrea*
Ethiopia
Namibia
Zambia
Asia
Cambodia*
Afghanistan
India
Kyrgyzstan
Myanmar
Tajikistan
Middle East
Iraq
Iran
Israel/ Occupied and Autonomous Territories
Jordan
Lebanon
Syria
Europe and the Americas
Albania
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Croatia
Serbia and Montenegro (Kosovo)
Northern Caucasus (Russian Federation)
Southern Caucasus (Azerbaijan)
Colombia
Nicaragua
*National Societies running mine action programmes without ICRC support
Surgical services for the war-wounded
Some 800 mine victims were admitted to the 48 hospitals that the ICRC
supported regularly in 2004. This support was not specifically aimed at mine
victims, but rather at maintaining and reinforcing surgical and other key
hospital services in areas affected by conflict. To this end, the ICRC provided
medicines, medical materials and other supplies, staff training, building
repairs and improvements of water supply and sanitation facilities. The main
programmes were in Afghanistan, the Caucasus, the Democratic Republic of the
Congo, Haiti, Liberia, Sudan (the southern part of the country and Darfur), and
Somalia.
The large majority of mine victims treated in ICRC-supported hospitals were
in Afghanistan and Chechnya. Mine victims made up about 10% of the total of
war-wounded patients treated in the facilities that ICRC supported worldwide,
and only a small fraction of the over 250,000 admitted to those hospitals, which
performed over 82,000 surgical operations. The ICRC also focused on helping
reinforce national hospital management structures facing humanitarian crises. In
Afghanistan, this included a thorough hospital management review in Jalalabad
hospital and technical assistance to support of the health sector and the
Ministry of Health efforts to ensure hospital sustainability. In addition, the
ICRC organized 7 seminars on war surgery in Haiti (2), Myanmar (2), Sri Lanka,
and the Russian Federation (2). Covering different aspects of the medical
treatment of the war wounded, they included instruction on the care of mine
injuries.
Physical Rehabilitation services for the disabled
In 2004, ICRC-supported physical rehabilitation centres helped over 9,000
mine victims improve their mobility through the provision of prostheses,
orthoses, wheelchairs, walking aids and physiotherapy. Mine victims accounted
for some 56% of the amputees treated through ICRC physical rehabilitation
programmes worldwide. In August 2004, ICRC physical rehabilitation programmes
received the Brian Batchford prize in recognition of its innovative
achievements, particularly in the design and development of the polypropylene
prosthetic system which, as an alternative to more costly technologies, has
become a standard for appropriate and low-cost prosthetic services in developing
countries.
In 2004, the ICRC physical rehabilitation programme supported 67 physical
rehabilitation centres and two orthopaedic component factories in 25 countries
affected by conflict. Of the projects supported, 60% were run in partnership
with national governments, 18% with NGOs, and 11% with National Societies. The
remaining 11% (in Afghanistan and in Kenya on the border with Sudan) were run by
the ICRC itself. The centres served a total of 38,700 disabled people.
The overall number of projects assisted did not change a great deal from
2003: the ICRC began programmes in India, Nepal and Pakistan and took on one
more project in Democratic Republic of the Congo, where it already had a
programme supporting other centres; it ended programmes in Namibia and Zambia,
and seven projects in countries where it continued its support to other centres
(three in Ethiopia, two in Lebanon, and one each in Russia and DR Congo).
The ICRC ran the programmes in 14 countries (42 projects) with the full-time
presence of an expatriate; it monitored the 27 projects in the remaining 11
countries through regular, short missions. Countries with projects that
received periodic technical assistance included Algeria, Azerbaijan, Chad, the
Democratic Republic of Congo, Georgia, Iraq, Namibia, Nepal, Lebanon, Russia and
Syria.
The ICRC-supported component factories in Cambodia and Afghanistan provided
the components needed to supply a total 25,000 orthopaedic appliances. These
were delivered not only to ICRC-supported centres, but also to those supported
by other organizations working in Cambodia and Afghanistan.
The ICRC sponsored 27 candidates from 8 countries to attend formal training
in prosthetics and orthotics, and organized physiotherapy refresher courses in
Afghanistan, Angola, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Democratic People's Republic of
Korea, Georgia, Myanmar, and Zambia. Formal and upgrading prosthetics and
orthotics training programmes continued in Afghanistan, Ethiopia and Sudan,
while formal training ended in Russia.
ICRC-assisted physical rehabilitation projects in 2004
The ICRC Special Fund for the Disabled (SFD) this is OK: it gives the
acronym to the reader ensures the continuity of support for physical
rehabilitation services for the disabled, providing technical and material
assistance to many centres formerly supported by the ICRC. In 2004, it provided
prostheses to some 2,500 mine survivors in countries where the ICRC is no longer
operational (accounting for 30 to 40% of the total number of amputees it
served), particularly through its projects in Columbia, Nicaragua, Vietnam and
Zimbabwe.
Overall, the SFD supported 44 projects in 19 countries in 2004, providing
over 14,000 disabled people with prostheses or orthoses. It began assisting
eight more projects during the year, two in Somalia and one each in Togo,
Vietnam, Nicaragua, Guinea-Bissau, and Timor-Leste. Two-thirds of the SFD
assisted centres were run by governmental authorities.
The SFD produced training materials in prosthetics, orthotics and clinical
methods, and sponsored a total of 12 trainees from assisted centres to attend
regional schools for one to three years of training in prosthetics and
orthotics. It gave a one-month training course to a total of 50 trainees at the
regional training centre in Addis Ababa, and in cooperation with regional
schools in Togo, Morocco, and Kenya gave three regional seminars (attended by 72
professionals) on the management of polypropylene lower-limb prostheses. This
was all in addition to the regular on-the-job training provided through regular
visits to the centres supported.
SFD-assisted projects 2004
Europe (1)
Africa (28)
Latin America (3)
Asia (12)
Albania (1)
Ethiopia Regional Training Centre (1)
Cameroon (1)
Guinea-Bissau (1)
Kenya (3)
Mali (8)
Mauritania (1)
Morocco (2)
Nigeria (2)
Somalia (3)
Tanzania (2)
Togo (2)
Zimbabwe (2)
Nicaragua (2)
Colombia (1)
Vietnam (8)
India (1)
Bangladesh (2)
Timor-Leste (1)
[1] This report is made up of extracts of the
ICRC Special Report Mine Action for
2004. [2] Workshops in Ouagadougou and
Nairobi were organised by the ICRC with the support of the Government of Canada
and the Governments of Burkina Faso and Kenya respectively.