Intersessional Daily Update 2

(Tuesday 13 May 2003 Geneva, Switzerland) The Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration met for one full day.

The session commenced with opening remarks by Co-Chairs Colombia (Sra. Fulvia Benavides) and France (Ambassador Gerard Chesnel). The two Co-Rapporteurs are Australia (Mr. Peter Truswell) and Croatia (Ms. Toma Galli). The Co-chairs noted that the Standing Committee faces a special challenge. Mine injury preventative measures such as mine risk education, mine clearance and stockpile destruction are the priority tasks for many mine-affected countries and donors to the detriment of victim assistance. The challenge is promoting awareness of the importance of implementing victim assistance programs to support the large and growing community of survivors who require care throughout their lives.

On behalf of the ICBL’s Working Group on Victim Assistance (WGVA), Becky Jordan presented the preliminary results of a victim assistance study initiated in 1998. The study uses data from the Government Canada as a baseline and supplements it with information from Landmine Monitor reports and country reports to the Intersessional Standing Committee meetings. The 21 countries examined thus far in the study are given a rating on six indicators:

• Indicator 1: The extent to which information on mine victims’ demographics and needs is available.
• Indicator 2: The extent to which a national disability coordination mechanism exists and recognizes mine victims.
• Indicator 3: The extent to which programs and services for the medical care and rehabilitation of mine victims are available.
• Indicator 4: The extent to which programs and services for the social and economic reintegration of mine victims are available.
• Indicator 5: The extent to which mine victims are protected and supported by effective laws and policies.
• Indicator 6: The extent to which there is a disability community advocacy network.

The survey, including country and indicator specific results, will soon be posted to the GICHD website at www.gichd.ch. Research is ongoing and a comprehensive and detailed report will be prepared for the 2004 Review Conference.

The following States Parties and organizations made interventions on the status of national implementation of victim assistance: Democratic Republic of Congo, Colombia, UNMACA, Raising the Voices, OAS, Djibouti, El Salvador, Cambodia, Nicaragua and South Africa.

The ten Raising the Voices participants from Afghanistan, Cambodia, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka participated in the meeting and made focused and substantive interventions in response to statements made by their country delegations. On behalf of the group, Zohra Quidsia of Afghanistan stated, “rehabilitation is not only a technical service. It is a complex and continuous process whose goal is to allow a person to achieve as much normalcy as possible. For amputees the process lasts a lifetime.” She focused on the need of survivors and other people with disabilities to have access- both physical access to public places and economic empowerment as a tool to ensure equal access to participate as full members of their societies.

Sheree Bailey of Handicap International Belgium presented the preliminary findings of the International Trust Fund (ITF) study on landmine victim assistance in the Balkans. The study aims to provide a fuller and more comprehensive picture of victim assistance in Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia and Montenegro. She noted that while some progress is being made in the area of victim assistance, the findings show that much more work is left to be done to ensure that the growing number of survivors receive assistance. The full study report will be presented at the Fifth Meeting of States Parties (5MSP), being held in September in Bangkok, Thailand.

The following states made interventions regarding regional efforts: International Trust Fund (ITF), Geneva Call and the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), represented by South Africa. Interventions regarding assistance and cooperation were made by: France, Sweden, UK, Japan, New Zealand, Austria, Luxembourg, Norway, UN, ICRC and Senegal.

Mexico and Landmine Survivors Network (LSN) provided background information about negotiations to achieve a convention on the rights of persons with disabilities, placing landmine survivors in a broader disability and human rights context. Kirsten Young of LSN noted that even if all rehabilitation efforts are 100% successful, survivors still face barriers to re-integration. Having a specific convention to ensure the rights of the disabled guarantees survivors the right to full re-integration.

During the lunch break, LSN and the Geneva Forum hosted “Rights not Charity,” a panel to discuss the need for and process to achieve a convention on the rights of persons with disabilities. Representatives from Mexico, Sweden, South Africa and Kirsten Young of LSN presented papers on various aspects of the movement to achieve a convention. Their papers all echoed the fact that persons with disabilities are mentioned in several human rights conventions but the rights of persons with disabilities are not explicitly enshrined in any United Nations human rights convention. All four presenters issued a call for a convention on the rights of persons with disabilities and urged participants to support treaty negotiations.