Action points based on findings

• Re-dedicate funding to the Kenya Psychiatric Center and Ziguinchor Regional Hospital (CRAO) rehabilitation center to ensure the availability of rehabilitation and mental health services for mine/explosive remnants of war (ERW) survivors.
• Ensure the sustainability of physical rehabilitation for mine/ERW survivors and other persons with disabilities in the Casamance region.
• Guarantee regular and effective coordination of victim assistance with all stakeholders and adopt a new victim assistance plan.

Victim assistance commitments

The Republic of Senegal is responsible for a significant number of survivors of landmines and ERW who are in need. Senegal has made commitments to provide victim assistance through the Mine Ban Treaty.

Senegal ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on 7 September 2010.

Casualties Overview

In 2014, the Monitor identified 15 mine/ERW casualties in Senegal.[1] All casualties were male civilians, including 10 children. At least 13 casualties out of 15 occurred in two separate incidents,[2] one of them claiming the lives of seven and injuring three.[3] Nearly all casualties in 2014 occurred in the west of Casamance.

The 15 casualties identified for 2014 represented a significant increase from the eight casualties reported in 2013, but still lower than the 24 casualties identified in 2012. The rise in the annual casualty rates recorded in 2011 and 2012 was explained by the increase in mine casualties among combatants. In 2013, just two of the eight casualties were among combatants, while in 2014 none of the casualties were combatants, indicating a changing dynamic in the conflict situation in the Casamance. Fluctuations in the security situation in Casamance have resulted in changes in annual mine casualty rates in Senegal over the last several years.[4] Following an intensification of violence since 2011, there was a decrease in violence throughout 2013 and 2014, explaining the decline in casualties among security personnel during that period In 2014 there were about double the number of civilian casualties compared to 2013 (six in 2013 and 15 in 2014).[5]

The Monitor identified at least 847 casualties (187 killed; 647 injured; 13 unknown) between 1988 and the end of 2014.[6] This included 591 civilian casualties and 243 military casualties.[7] As of June 2015, the Senegalese National Mine Action Center (Centre national d’action antimines au Sénégal, CNAMS) registered a total of 825 casualties (186 killed; 639 injured) of which 589 were civilians and 236 were military.[8] Since 2005, all reported casualties have been caused by mines.[9] In 2014, five casualties were caused by antipersonnel mine while one antivehicle mine caused 10 casualties.

Victim Assistance

By the end of 2014, there were at least 647 mine/ERW survivors in Senegal, including 439 civilians and 208 military survivors.

Victim assistance since 1999[10]

Most mine/ERW survivors in Senegal live in the Casamance region where services are much more limited than elsewhere in the country. Senegal has reported on several occasions that it is committed to victim assistance, but at the same time has acknowledged that needs were not being met due to a lack of resources. The government relied on international and national NGOs, including the Senegalese Association of Mine Victims (Association sénégalaise des victimes de mines, ASVM) and HI to implement activities. Years of conflict and continued intermittent violence devastated infrastructure and prevented access to services.

Throughout 2014, emergency medical care was limited and response times depended on the location of the incident; the army provided assistance. NGOs continued to consider evacuation of injured victims as one of the biggest challenges in accessing appropriate emergency medical care.[11] Follow-up medical care was only available in the two regional hospitals, which had sufficient capacity but had equipment that only worked intermittently and experienced shortages of supplies. These two hospitals and their satellite centers also provided physical rehabilitation. While improvements in the quality and price of prostheses were reported at the CRAO in 2014, the number of prosthetics produced reduced by 45% during the year due to shortages of funding for equipment, supplies, and for the provision of services outside of Ziguinchor.[12]

Psychosocial support had been provided by the Kenya Psychiatric Center (Centre psychiatrique de Kenya) with the support of CNAMS, however, financial support from CNAMS to the center to offer their services outside Ziguinchor has not been provided since 2012.[13] The center was the only facility providing psychological support to mine survivors and other persons with disabilities for all regions of Casamance. In 2014, access to these services remained an issue as transportation in the region continued to be difficult and still too expensive for survivors.[14]

Throughout the period, efforts were made for economic reintegration and education opportunities for survivors, but overall this assistance remained inadequate because there were few programs targeting survivors and they had difficulties accessing broader programs for all vulnerable groups. While different activities and services targeting survivors were implemented every year, the question of sustainability and the long-term social and economic inclusion of victims had yet to be tackled by authorities.[15] Military survivors received separate services provided exclusively by the Ministry of Armed Forces, which were mostly free of charge and superior to those offered to civilians, but still had gaps.[16]

Assessing victim assistance needs

In 2013, CNAMS hired a consultant to work on the mid-term evaluation of the implementation of the National Victim Assistance Action Plan 2010–2014 (Plan d’action national pour l’assistance aux victimes, PANAV). In 2014, the consultant submitted the report that allowed for an assessment of the work done to date and the remaining needs. It also provided data on survivors and NGOs providing assistance, in order to improve services.[17] This report and its results were presented to the public, including NGOs.[18] The report was also intended to inform the revision of the PANAV or the drafting of a new action plan after 2014. However, those activities did not start during the year.[19]

No needs assessment was conducted in 2014.[20] During 2013, ASVM conducted a survey to identify mine/ERW survivors and assess their needs. All data gathered was collected in a database that was used to guide the development of local action plans and adaptation of activities and services provided by ASVM and its partners to better respond to the expressed needs of survivors.[21]

Victim assistance coordination[22]

In 2014, there were no coordination and planning meetings on Victim Assistance gathering all stakeholders.[23] CNAMS held several internal meetings, as well as bilateral meetings with NGOs.[24] The CRC held several meetings throughout the year[25] but, according to at least one NGO, those were not held on a regular basis and were not well attended.[26] The CRC, established in 2011, brings together CNAMS with local and international organizations working in the region under the chairmanship of the governor of the Casamance region.[27] However, the focus of the CRC is on mine action more broadly; national organizations noted that while victim assistance was sometimes discussed and debated during these meetings, no coordination meetings were organized in 2014 that focused specifically on victim assistance.[28] Regular coordination meetings took place in 2014 between representatives of CNAMS and of ASVM.[29]

Senegal’s PANAV included a mechanism for monitoring and evaluating progress in its implementation, though no reports had been made available that compared victim assistance progress against the PANAV through the end of 2014. CNAMS launched a mid-term evaluation of the PANAV and its impact in 2013.[30] The results of this evaluation were finalized and made public in 2014.[31]

Senegal did not provide updates on victim assistance at the Mine Ban Treaty Third Review Conference in Maputo, Mozambique in June 2014. As of 1 October 2015, Senegal had not submitted its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report for the 2014 calendar year.

Inclusion and participation in victim assistance

Mine/ERW survivors were involved through ASVM and international organizations in the design of victim assistance programming.[32] In 2014, survivors participated in regional victim assistance coordination meetings through ASVM.[33]

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities in 2014[34]

In 2014, reduced funding led to a reduction in services provided, especially in rural areas.[35] Although the security situation in the northern part of Casamance improved throughout 2014, access to all services for survivors in this geographic area, as well as transportation, remained an issue. A number of initiatives focused on ensuring physical accessibility of public buildings.[36]

In 2014, Senegal launched, in accordance with a new Social Orientation Law passed in 2012, a new “Card of equality of chances” (“Carte d’égalité des chances”) aimed at providing free medical care to all persons with disabilities.[37] However, at least one NGO noted that this measure was not yet effective in 2014.[38]

In 2014, there was a decrease of the number of prosthetics produced in Casamance. The CRAO, the only public provider of rehabilitation services in the region, reported a decrease of 45% of the number of prosthetics produced in 2014 compared to 2013.[39] Due to lack of funding and availability of equipment and materials, the CRAO ceased to provide mobile rehabilitation services and victims had to come to the center for services. While a partnership between the CRAO and CNAMS allowed for a reduction of 20% of rehabilitation costs since 2013, it was underlined that prices were still too high for many victims, especially those coming from rural areas.[40] In 2013, ICRC SFD’s partnership in Senegal was put on hold pending a renewed commitment from the authorities concerned.[41] In 2014, no support had been provided by ICRC SFD.

Funds that had been provided by CNAMS to the CRAO rehabilitation center in 2011 to finance survivors’ physical rehabilitation and other medical services continued to be used in 2014 but little remained. The CRAO expressed concerns as this financial contribution had not been renewed in 2013 and 2014 and was not expected to be in 2015.[42]

The Kenya Psychiatric Center continued providing psychological support to mine survivors in 2014. However, because of lack of funding by CNAMS since November 2011, services that were formerly provided through outreach visits in rural areas were not available in 2014. The center continued therapy sessions, including ergotherapy, and through art for mine/ERW victims.[43]

In 2014, an inclusive education project by HI aimed to ensure that children with disabilities, including mine/ERW survivors, were able to attend school ended.[44] CNAMS continued to deliver educational materials and supplies to child survivors of mines/ERW.[45] However, due to a lack of special education training for teachers and facilities accessible to children with disabilities, authorities enrolled only 40% of such children in primary school.[46]

The government managed regional centers and provided grants for persons with disabilities to receive vocational training and offered funding for establishing businesses.[47] ANAMIS reported that there was an increase in support to socio-economic integration services for veterans and their family members, especially with regards to access to agriculture.[48]

Legislation prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to healthcare, transport, and the provision of other state services. The government did not enforce these provisions adequately in 2014. The law also mandates physical accessibility for persons with disabilities, but there remained a lack of infrastructure to assist them.[49]

Through to the end of 2014, national implementation mechanisms for the CRPD had not yet been approved.