What is the Working Group on Victim Assistance?
Article 6 Section 3 of the Mine Ban Treaty requires States Parties to "provide assistance for the care and rehabilitation, and social and economic reintegration of mine victims."
As part of the ICBL, representatives of over 40 NGOs have joined together with a shared commitment to increase the level and quality of programs designed to improve the situation of landmine survivors worldwide. This group is called the Working Group on Victim Assistance, or WGVA.
What do we mean by "landmine victim"?
The definition of "landmine victim" includes individuals who have been directly hit by a landmine explosion, their families, and communities. Specifically, we recognize that mine victims include those who, either individually or collectively, have suffered physical, emotional and psychological injury, economic loss or substantial impairment of their fundamental rights through acts or omissions related to mine utilization.
Specific goal areas of the WGVA:
- To secure increased levels of funding for Victim Assistance programs
- To promote a broad range of activities to meet the needs of landmine survivors
- To promote inclusion of landmine survivors in decision making, planning, and implementation of programs and activities which concern them
- To advocate for the rights of landmine survivors
- To facilitate information sharing about Victim Assistance among all relevant actors
WGVA Activities:
- Promote the use of the ICBL Guidelines for the Care and Rehabilitation of Survivors
- Participate in Intersessional Work in order to guide the activities in directions consistent with the ICBL and other Guidelines.
- Develop a Portfolio of Victim Assistance Programs as a tool to educate governments of mine-affected and donor countries on the range of activities needed and to encourage increased funding of appropriate programs.
- Maintain an open forum for discussion and information exchange via the egroup system to capitalize on the experience and expertise found among the WGVA members.
- Develop and implement strategies to persuade governments to assume their responsibility in supporting victim assistance programs.