Action points based on findings

• Dedicate resources to the implementation of the newly approved law on the inclusion of persons with disabilities.
• Develop a means to monitor the implementation of accessibility standards to ensure widespread compliance, including in rural areas.
• Ensure that all mine/explosive remnants of war (ERW) survivors and other persons with disabilities have equal access to programs and services.
• Dedicate sufficient resources to service providers so they can attend to all the needs of persons with disabilities, including mine/ERW survivors.

Victim assistance commitments

The Republic of El Salvador is responsible for a significant number of landmine survivors and survivors of other ERW who are in need. El Salvador has made commitments to provide victim assistance through the Mine Ban Treaty and is a State Party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions and to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, including Protocol V.

El Salvador ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on 14 December 2007.

Casualties Overview

There were no casualties from mines or ERW identified in El Salvador in 2014.[1] The last reported casualties occurred in 2011, when one person was killed and another injured from explosives abandoned during armed conflict.[2] The last confirmed mine casualty was in 1994.

There were known to be at least 4,037 casualties in El Salvador through the end of 2014.[3] Of the total, the number of people killed and injured was not reported, but most registered mine/ERW casualties are thought to be survivors.[4]

Victim Assistance

As of the end of 2014, at least 3,159 mine/ERW survivors were registered in El Salvador. However, the total number is likely closer to 4,000 as the majority of recorded mine/ERW casualties were people who were injured, and most additional casualties registered in 2010 and 2011 were survivors.[5]

Victim assistance since 1999[6]

Since 1999, El Salvador’s Protection Fund for the Injured and Disabled as a Result of the Armed Conflict (Fondo de Protección de Lisiados y Discapacitados a Consecuencia del Conflicto Armado, Protection Fund) has enabled military and civilian survivors[7] to access a range of services and benefits, including medical and rehabilitation services, pensions, subsidies and economic benefits, vocational training, and economic inclusion programs. However, services were initially only available in El Salvador’s capital and most, except for medical care, were provided via international organizations. Starting in 2005, the Ministry of Health began to decentralize healthcare throughout the country. In 2009, the Protection Fund also decentralized its offices and has now two regional offices in the departments of San Miguel and Chalatenango where most of the survivors are located. By 2009, nearly all services for survivors and others disabled by armed conflict were conducted through national capacity with national funds, thus ensuring their sustainability following the withdrawal of international donors.

In 2001, Landmine Survivor Network (LSN, later re-named Survivor Corps) initiated the only peer-to-peer support program and one of the only psychological support programs available to mine/ERW survivors. The program was nationalized in 2009 as the Network of Survivors and Persons with Disabilities (Network of Survivors) and has continued to be pivotal in assisting survivors and other persons with disabilities to access services and promote their rights.

Throughout the period, efforts have been made to develop the physical rehabilitation capacity by: opening new prosthetics workshops; a rehabilitation services center; and through the University of Don Bosco School of Prosthetics and Orthotics’ training program. Progress was slow, with survivors only noting modest improvements since 2009, however, improvement in services were noted recently, due to the opening of the Protection Fund’s physical rehabilitation center in 2013.

Starting in 2009, an enhanced political focus on the rights of El Salvador’s war-wounded increased availability of all services provided through the Protection Fund. The availability of programs offering microcredit, peer-to-peer support, and group therapy increased as the Protection Fund expanded coverage throughout the country. This has resulted in more services available to a growing number of mine/ERW survivors and others disabled by armed conflict. All other service providers, including both NGOs and some government-supported providers, have reported static or decreasing budgets to respond to the needs of mine/ERW survivors and other persons with disabilities.

Victim assistance coordination and planning in El Salvador has been intermittent; changes in government leadership have resulted in frequent restructuring of coordination mechanisms for war-victims, victim assistance, and disability issues. Overlapping functions among the Protection Fund, military and veteran agencies, and the Council for Integrated Attention for Persons with Disabilities (Consejo Nacional de Atención Integral a las Personas con Discapacidad, CONAIPD) have also complicated coordination efforts.

Victim assistance in 2014

No major changes were reported in the availability of medical care for mine/ERW survivors during 2014. The Protection Fund—the largest service provider (either directly or through sub-contracts) for mine/ERW survivors—maintained its programs, started operating its recently opened rehabilitation center in San Salvador, and increased levels of activity in regional offices somewhat. Some increases were identified for economic inclusion and services. All of the governmental and non-governmental service providers who were active in 2013 remained active in 2014, with similar numbers of beneficiaries and geographic coverage.

In terms of laws and policy, a national policy on disability issues was approved and advances were made in the reform of the national disability law to align it with the CRPD. Representatives of the Network of Survivors participated in CONAIPD’s planning, monitoring, and implementing services and in programs for armed conflict victims and persons with disabilities, although the general representation of survivors and persons with disabilities in decision-making was relatively low.

Assessing victim assistance needs

In 2014, through its Dialogue Roundtable, the Protection Fund held three consultations with 22 organizations and associations of survivors of armed conflict to collect feedback on the needs of survivors and on ways to better address those needs. Information collected was distributed throughout the different units of the Protection Fund to find the appropriate means to address the identified needs.[8] Between June 2013 and May 2014, the Protection Fund visited 11 locations throughout the country, meeting with 1,355 beneficiaries. During these visits, legal support and health control as well as information on socio-economic inclusion and psychological support programs were provided. Such information was also provided via a radio program, through its website and during home visits.[9] Furthermore, during 2014, the Protection Fund started to analyze how to better train families of persons with severe disabilities in order to improve the assistance provided.[10]

In April 2015, the Protection Fund collected a sampling that included updated information on its beneficiaries, including mine/ERW survivors, and an evaluation of the disability condition according to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) standard (Clasificación Internacional del Funcionamiento, de la Discapacidad y de la Salud, CIF). The World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule II system, which provides ICF characterization, was integrated to the Protection Fund’s data collection methods.[11]

The Unit for the Coordination and Support of Disabled Members of the Armed Forces (Unidad de Coordinación y Apoyo a Discapacitados de la Fuerza Armada, UCADFA) continued to collect information on its beneficiaries through its visits to the Military Hospital and the military units throughout the country as well as during medical campaigns. Although the efforts of the Protection Fund and UCADFA to assess the needs of armed conflict victims were acknowledged by the Salvadoran Association of Disabled Members of the Armed Forces (Asociación Salvadoreña de Lisiados de la Fuerza Armada, ALFAES), home visits were found to be too short to be able to address broader issues such as alcoholism or drug addiction.[12]

In  2014 and into 2015, the Association of War Wounded of El Salvador (Asociación de Lisiados de Guerra de El Salvador, ALGES) conducted a study on life conditions of its members at the national level, which included information on organization and participation levels, and socio-economic and health conditions.[13]

Between October and November 2013, the Network of Survivors surveyed 417 armed conflict survivors in 12 of El Salvador’s 14 departments, both civilians and former combatants, including mine/ERW survivors. The purpose of the survey was to assess their current situation and their remaining needs in the areas of health, human rights, economic inclusion, and social inclusion/recreation. It also recorded their perceptions of how well the government had implemented the commitments made to address the needs of armed conflict victims through the peace agreements in the early 1990s, which ended El Salvador’s armed conflict.[14] The results of the survey were shared with those associations of armed conflict survivors who assisted with the survey; it was used to inform the planning of services for their members. In 2014, the Network of Survivors shared the results with government representatives but no feedback was given and no follow up was made regarding how the information was used.[15]

In 2014, the Department of Statistics and Censuses (Dirección General de Estadísticas y Censos, DIGESTYC) in collaboration with the Technical and Planning Secretariat of the Republic (Secretaría Técnica y de Planificación de la Presidencia de la República), CONAIPD, and UNICEF, initiated a national census on disability, which will also help to set priorities in the type of assistance needed. The results should be available by the end of 2015.[16]

As in previous years, victim assistance actors collected information from their members and beneficiaries on an ongoing basis in order to determine priorities in providing support.[17]

Victim assistance coordination[18]

In 2014, there was no active interministerial coordination of victim assistance for mine/ERW survivors in El Salvador. However, there was regular coordination of assistance for survivors of armed conflict, including mine/ERW survivors, convened by the Protection Fund, as well as coordination of disability issues through CONAIPD.

In 2014 and into 2015, the Protection Fund’s Consultative Group held 18 participative forums on disability throughout the country, which were attended by more than 20 associations working in the sector. The meetings allowed for an inclusive decision making on the strengthening of rehabilitation services, economic inclusion, and mental health programs, as well as on the extension of psychological support services available to the beneficiaries. Among the participating organizations were ALGES, ASALDIG, ALFAES, and the Administration of the War Disabled of the Armed Forces of El Salvador (Administrativos Lisiados de Guerra de la Fuerza Armada de El Salvador, AOSSTALGFAES).[19]

A major area of work for CONAIPD in 2014 was the development and approval of a national policy on the comprehensive support for persons with disabilities.[20] The national policy was approved on 14 May 2014, following extensive consultations with government representatives and persons with disabilities to identify and develop a strategy to promote the full inclusion of persons with disabilities.[21]

In October 2014, CONAIPD, the Protection Fund and the Salvadoran Institute of Comprehensive Rehabilitation (Instituto Salvadoreño de Rehabilitación Integral, ISRI) held three consultative meetings with persons with disabilities throughout the country, with the objective of collecting perspectives and ideas to promote their effective inclusion in the country’s 2014–2019 development plan.[22] This plan identifies priority groups, including survivors of the armed conflict and persons with disabilities, and sets strategies to ensure their inclusion in health, education, and economic sectors.[23]

The Protection Fund participated in meetings organized by CONAIPD to represent the perspective of armed conflict victims. It served on the technical committee on employment, participated in consultations to develop the national policy on persons with disabilities, and contributed to the evaluation of El Salvador’s efforts to implement the CRPD.[24]

The National Council for the Defense of Human Rights (Procuraduría para la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos No Gubernamental, PDDH) convened a multi-stakeholder coordinating committee on the rights of persons with disabilities. In 2014, the coordinating committee drafted a new law on the inclusion of persons with disabilities (see Laws and policies section below) and formed a mechanism to monitor the government’s implementation of the recommendations of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.[25]

Although it has self-identified as a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty with a significant number of survivors and need for assistance, El Salvador did not report internationally on its victim assistance activities for 2014. It did not provide any updates on progress or challenges for victim assistance at the Mine Ban Treaty Third Review Conference in Maputo in June 2014, through its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report for calendar year 2014, or during the Mine Ban Treaty Intersessional Meetings in Geneva in June 2015.

Survivor inclusion and participation

The Protection Fund held a number of assemblies with persons with disabilities (including mine/ERW survivors) in remote areas or in areas with a high number of survivors.[26] Mine/ERW survivors and their representative organizations were included in the planning and coordination of the activities of the Protection Fund as members of the Consultative Group.[27] Between June 2013 and May 2014, the Protection Fund held six meetings of the Consultative Group.[28] Survivors and their representative organizations are also part of Protection Fund’s board of directors, which holds meetings on a weekly basis.[29]

Half of the members of CONAIPD’s general council are representatives of disabled persons’ organizations.[30] Organizations representing persons with disabilities and mine/ERW survivors, including ALGES and the Network of Survivors, were elected to continue participating in CONAIPD’s coordination activities during 2015–2016.[31]

In 2014, the Network of Survivors participated in CONAIPD’s technical committee on employment. During the year, the Network of Survivors also participated in the monitoring of the implementation of recommendations to El Salvador by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and contributed to the development of the draft reform to the national disability law.[32] However, the Network of Survivors and ALFAES reported that, apart from CONAIPD, there are few or no victim assistance coordination and planning activities in which survivors are included. Furthermore, they report that there is no inclusive monitoring mechanism on the subject.[33] The Network also reported not knowing if survivors and their representative organizations were included in the Mine Ban Treaty reporting activities, as the only known institution responsible for this is the Ministry of Foreign Relations.[34]

The following organizations included survivors in the implementation of services in such roles as administrators, prosthetists, trainers, and peer-to-peer counselors as well as in running economic inclusion programs: the Protection Fund (with a significant percentage of survivors among its staff and 70% of services provided by the institution offered through its beneficiaries), Association Promoting the Organization of Disabled Persons of El Salvador (Asociacion Promotora de la Organizacion de Discapacitados de El Salvador, PODES), and the Network of Survivors.[35] Other associations, such as the Salvadoran Association of War Wounded and Disabled (Asociación Salvadoreña de Lisiados y Discapacitados de Guerra, ASALDIG) and ALFAES, included survivors and/or persons with disabilities in leadership roles.[36]

In 2014, the Network of Survivors signed agreements with three municipalities for the implementation of a project aimed at strengthening the capacities of 20 associations of persons with disabilities.[37]

UCADFA and PODES reported not having participated in any victim assistance planning and coordination meeting. It was not common for survivors and their representative organization to be part of the coordination processes regarding victim assistance, although some organizations are represented in CONAIPD and the National Council for the Defense of Human Rights.[38]

ALGES continued to hold sessions with its affiliates in which information was shared on most important news on disability, such as training and orientation activities.[39]

Service accessibility and effectiveness

In general, no major changes were reported in the provision of medical physical rehabilitation and psychological support services, except by PODES, which identified an important reduction in victim assistance services.[40] No major changes were reported in physical accessibility for persons with disabilities, as the majority of public buildings as well as the public transportation system are still not accessible for this group of people.[41] In most cases, the organizations working with survivors did not report major changes regarding funding.[42]

In the area of social inclusion and inclusive education, a sport center specialized for persons with disabilities in San Salvador was inaugurated by the Salvadoran Sports Institute (Instituto Salvadoreño de los Desportes, INDES).

Efforts were made by the Ministry of Education to implement an inclusive school program. However, discrimination against children with disabilities in the education sector remained widespread.[43] In the area of economic inclusion, the Protection Fund improved efficiency and reduced delays in delivery of benefits.[44]

Victim assistance activities in 2014[45]

Emergency and ongoing medical care

The Protection Fund established an agreement with the national military hospital to allow survivors of armed conflict (both former combatants and civilians) to access medical care there for health issues related to their war injuries. This was said to have improved the quality of medical care available to this group.[46]

The Protection Fund has signed agreements with the National Health Network’s hospitals, which improved the coordination of medical care and emergency services provision.[47]

Through 2014 and into 2015, UCADFA held information sessions and offered legal counselling and medical consultations for disabled veterans and their families throughout the country. These activities also served to update the Protection Fund’s database. In 2015, UCADFA plans to increase its medical campaigns in order to bring health services closer to persons with disabilities’ residences.[48]

Physical rehabilitation

2014 marked the first year of operation of the Protection Fund’s physical rehabilitation facility, the Aníbal Salinas prosthetic workshop, constructed in 2013. It began providing services to beneficiaries of the fund in early 2013 and was considered “fully equipped” by November 2014.[49] By the end of 2014, the center was covering the needs of more than 4,000 people, included mine/ERW survivors.[50] PODES registered a slight increase in the number of beneficiaries receiving prosthetic limbs.[51]

In June 2014, the Protection Fund signed and cooperation agreement with the Association for Human Development. The first initiative was the distribution of 100 electric wheelchairs to beneficiaries located in remote areas.[52] In March of the same year, the Protection Fund signed a memorandum of understanding with the organization UCP Wheels for Humanity, which provides for the training of physical rehabilitation professionals.[53]

Furthermore, the Protection Fund welcomed a team of occupational therapists and physiotherapists to attend the needs of beneficiaries strongly impaired after being injured during conflict or from a complication stemming from their injury, beneficiaries who have limited access to services and medicines, and beneficiaries deprived of their liberty.[54] According to ALGES and ALFAES, rehabilitation services offered by the Protection Fund have improved since the opening of a prosthesis and orthosis manufacture and repair workshop.[55] 

During medical campaign activities organized by UCADFA in the beginning of 2015, CERPROFA provided prosthesis repair services and various mobility devices to disabled veterans.[56] UCADFA also continued providing support to its beneficiaries in accessing physical rehabilitation services through CERPROFA, the Protection Fund, and the Salvadoran Rehabilitation Institute (Institute Salvadoreño de Rehabilitación Integral, ISRI).[57]

The ICRC Special Fund for the Disabled (SFD) reimbursed the cost of materials and components to fit over 100 patients with orthopedic devices in three rehabilitation centers, and as part of practical training sessions. The patients were fitted at the Prosthetic and Orthotic School of the University of Don Bosco (UDB), however SFD reimbursements were postponed until 2015 because because financial documentation from UDB was late. Materials for the Santa Ana Hospital and ISRI were donated as planned.[58]

Economic and social inclusion

The Protection Fund remained the main provider of social protection and support for income-generating projects for mine/ERW survivors in 2014. All the beneficiaries were granted an 8% increase of their monthly pensions in 2014, due to an increase of the minimum wage.[59]

In January, former combatant members of ALFAES and beneficiaries of the Protection Fund claimed their pension had not been paid for two months.[60]

The Protection Fund continued programs to provide credit and goods to survivors to start small businesses, as well as a few cases of assistance for land acquisition, home purchase, or renovation.[61]

The Protection Fund operated an art gallery for its beneficiaries.[62]

In December 2014, the Protection Fund and the Solidarity Fund for the Microentrepreneur Family (Fondo Solidario para la Familia Microempresaria, FOSOFAMILIA) signed an agreement for a program to train and fund economic initiatives led by persons with disabilities as a result of the armed conflict.[63] In November, CONAIPD signed a similar agreement.[64] In October, the Protection Fund renewed its agreement with the international NGO Habitat for Humanity to improve access to credit for persons with disabilities for house building or renovation.[65] Similar agreements have been signed with financial institutions as a way to facilitate access to credits for survivors and compensate for budget reduction of the Protection Fund.[66]

PODES recognized improvements in the economic inclusion program by the Protection Fund, particularly in the area of support for small business development.[67] According to ALFAES, assistance provided by the Protection Fund was still insufficient to meet the level of need among armed conflict survivors, including mine/ERW survivors.[68]

In February 2015, CONAIPD held a meeting with the Ibero-American Network of Persons with Physical Disabilities’ Organizations (Red Iberoamericana de Entidades de Personas con Discapacidad Física) in order to discuss mutual cooperation in socio-inclusion projects.[69]

UCADFA continued to support the national amputee soccer team, made up primarily by survivors of armed conflict. UCADFA assistance covered travel costs for local and international games, equipment for the players, and national sporting events.[70]

Psychosocial inclusion

In 2014, the Protection Fund re-launched its Mental Health Program, which provides home-based services throughout the country, prioritizing persons with significant psychological needs. In order to foster social inclusion, the program targeted beneficiaries, their families, caregivers, and communities.[71]

The Protection Fund remained the only provider of professional psychological support to survivors, via its national and regional offices;[72] UCADFA continued to offer peer support to veteran survivors through the Club of Amputees based at the military hospital in San Salvador.[73] The Network of Survivors maintained its peer-to-peer support, which continued to operate in 12 of the country’s 14 departments.[74]

Laws and policies

The law prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment, education, air travel and other transportation, access to health care, and the provision of other state services. In 2014, the government did not effectively enforce legal requirements for access to buildings, information, and communication for persons with disabilities. There were almost no access ramps or provisions for the mobility of persons with disabilities.[75]

In April 2014, the National Policy for Comprehensive Assistance for Persons with Disabilities was approved. Its objective is to guarantee the rights of persons with disabilities through the removal of physical and social barriers, and provide for improved coordination mechanisms. It also aims at updating current legislation according to the international legal framework. The policy was elaborated by CONAIPD following a series of public consultations with persons with disabilities and their families, civil society organizations, and representatives of governmental institutions and international organizations.[76]

At the beginning of 2014, CONAIPD also initiated a project aimed at the including disability issues in the new government’s 2014–2019 agenda.[77]

In 2013, CONAIPD and the PDDH’s Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities worked on developing a draft law, aligned with the CRPD, to replace the existing law on the inclusion of persons with disabilities. The law will combine input from organizations of persons with disabilities through the PDDH consultative process. CONAIPD expected to prepare the draft law for legislative approval by the end of 2014.[78] As of May 2015, the law had not been reviewed by Legislative Assembly.[79]

In January 2015, the Protection Fund was reviewing the Law for the Protection of Wounded and Disabled Persons as a Result of the Armed Conflict that allowed its creation to present a draft law in line with the CRPD.[80]

Despite the legal reform by the Legislative Assembly stating that at least 10% of the public transportation system must be accessible for persons with disabilities, the Network of Survivors reported that the adjustments had not been made and that the Ministry of Transportation was not doing the necessary monitoring. In addition, in San Salvador, the Metropolitan Area Transportation System (Sistema de Transporte del Área Metropolitano de San Salvador, SITRAMSS) was planning to launch a project in 2015 aiming at making public buses accessible for persons with disabilities.[81]

In 2014, efforts were made to ensure participation of persons with disability in the presidential elections through the signature of an agreement between the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and CONAIPD, which allowed for improved accessibility in the whole process.[82]

The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recommended that El Salvador develop a monitoring mechanism for compliance with accessibility standards and increase efforts to ensure access in rural areas and to community services.[83] It was estimated that physical barriers to access for persons with disabilities had been removed in one-third of public buildings by the end of 2013. However, this was primarily in urban areas, and some architectural improvements were considered “temporary” rather than long-lasting renovations.[84]

PODES and the Network of Survivors did not report discrimination against survivors from either the state nor from NGO services providers. They noted that, in general, services are provided in a differentiated approach for women and girls, although most beneficiaries were adults. CONAIPD reported frequent discrimination against persons with disabilities from employers and some schools. There is no formal system for filing a complaint with the government.[85]

In January 2015, El Salvador withdrew the reservation made when it ratified the CRPD (see footnote).[86]