A brief overview of Victim Assistance

A brief overview of Victim Assistance
In the context of P.V of CCW

UN HQ-Geneva- November 10th

Firoz ALIZADA-ICBL

The lives of persons with disabilities including ERW and Landmine survivors often go hand in hand with poverty, isolation and despair. The use of landmines, ERW and cluster munitions increasingly increase the number of survivors and persons with disabilities and the results can be devastating, both to the survivors and victims and event to national economies.
Sometimes the lack attention to survivors leads to national insecurities, for example it is reported that nearly 80 percent of suicide attackers are persons with disabilities in Afghanistan, “Dr. Yusuf Yadgari an afghan citizen says these "outcasts" may become suicide bombers because it's a way to make money for their families” (www.survivorcorps.org). Although it is not officially confirmed by the government of Afghanistan, but I personally cannot deny this tragic.
As the experts described from different angles, The Mine Ban Treaty is the first multilateral disarmament treaty to call upon states to take responsibility in assisting victims of a particular type of weapon.
Due to lack of a clear plan of action, from 1998 to 2004 it was very difficult to measure the progresses on victim assistance, but since 2004 after Nairobi Plan of Action came into force, many of the affected states have been prioritizing victim assistance as part of their national development plans.
Now if we put a glance on the progresses made on victim assistance, we can claim that 19 out of 26 countries having significant number of landmine victims have made some improvement, which may prove positive changes on the lives and livelihoods of thousands survivors and victims’ on the ground. Of course, in comparison to the needs of survivors there is a huge need to be responded, and much attention is required to improve their situation.
“Think about it: without victims, there would be no mine action. It is only because people get maimed and killed that we clear mines” Mike Boddington says.
Addressing victim assistance is a significant part of reducing poverty. Empowering survivors and persons with disabilities can lead to improvement of your national economy, and more important that you have to keep in mind that assisting the victims is an investment it is a not a cost.
The 10 years lessons learned under the Mine Ban Treaty, leading to comprehensive victim assistance article in the convention to ban cluster munitions.
As conclusion, I would like to highlight the following points to be considered in assisting the victims:
- Put national sanctions to make sure the law is fully and properly implemented
- Ask the survivors what they need, what are their priorities and how they want to be assisted as first steps
- Develop SMART objectives and try to be as much realistic as possible
- Build the national capacity and take the ownership of the programs to make sustainable
- Consider victim assistance as part of long term national development programs, mainstream victim assistance into national development plans
- Lack of accessibility can weaken all your programs, so consider accessibility as one of the core parts of your plans
- Empower the survivors and persons with disabilities and their organizations, they are as capable as you are once they are given opportunities

Thank you UNMAS for organizing this program and thank you all for listening!