The Republic of Sierra Leone is responsible for landmine survivors, cluster munition victims, and survivors of other explosive remnants of war (ERW). Sierra Leone has made commitments to provide victim assistance through the Mine Ban Treaty and Convention on Conventional Weapons Protocol V, and has victim assistance obligations under the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Sierra Leone ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 4 October 2010.

Casualties

The total number of mine/ERW casualties and survivors in Sierra Leone is not known. The Monitor has not recorded any new mine/ERW incidents in Sierra Leone since the end of the civil war in 2002.[1]

Cluster munition casualties

Twenty-eight casualties were reported during cluster munition strikes in 1997.[2] No casualties from unexploded submunitions have been identified.

Victim Assistance

Sierra Leone has ongoing services for persons with disabilities, including survivors and victims of war.[3] There were three rehabilitation centers in the country. Some war victims—among whom there includes many amputees—receive assistance from local and international NGOs. Such programs involve reconstructive surgery, prostheses, and vocational training. However, amputees expressed concerns that they did not receive sufficient assistance compared with former combatants.[4]

Psychosocial support services are also available to persons with disabilities and amputees, including mine/ERW survivors, in particular through sports clubs.[5]

The Persons with Disabilities Act (2011) of Sierra Leone prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment and provision of state services; it also calls for free healthcare and education; equal access to government buildings, housing, and public transportation; and provision of rehabilitation services for persons with disabilities.[6] One of the key provisions of that act was also the establishment of the National Commission for Persons with Disability (NCPD), with the mandate, among other things, “To prohibit discrimination against persons with disability, achieve equity in opportunities for persons with disability and to provide for other related matters.” The Commission was constituted by presidential appointments, which were endorsed by parliament in July 2012.[7] The NCDP took into consideration a number of strategic priorities that include: awareness-raising and sensitization of the community and the labor market; providing equal education opportunities; and providing equal employment opportunities.[8] The commission's planning reflects the needs of war amputees, including mine/ERW survivors.

In 2015, the NCPD reported that it had prepared a post-Ebola budget to address issues affecting persons with disabilities, adding that disabled persons were adversely affected by the outbreak and that the budget would address the challenges facing those persons with disabilities who survived the disease, their families, and people who lost disabled relatives.[9]