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Assisting the victims

  • The Convention’s preamble records the wish of the States Parties “to do their utmost in providing assistance for the care and rehabilitation, including the social and economic reintegration of mine victims.”This wish is translated into the obligation of “each State Party in a position to do so” to “provide assistance for the care and rehabilitation, and social and economic reintegration, of mine victims.”
  • The States Parties have therefore agreed that providing assistance to mine victims include the following six pillars:
    • Data collection and information management to understand the extent of the challenge faced
    • Emergency and continuing medical care
    • Physical rehabilitation, including physiotherapy, prosthetics and assistive devices
    • Psychological support and social reintegration
    • Economic reintegration
    • The establishment, enforcement and implementation of relevant laws and public policies
    • The Convention’s preamble records the wish of the States Parties “to do their utmost in providing assistance for the care and rehabilitation, including the social and economic reintegration of mine victims.”
  • States Parties with victims in areas under their jurisdiction or control will endeavour to do their utmost to provide appropriate, affordable and accessible services to mine victims, on an equal basis with others. In order to realise this commitment, States Parties with a significant number of victims under their jurisdiction or control will take the actions 33-41 under the Oslo Action Plan.

 

  • Dozens of States Parties have indicated that they have significant numbers – hundreds or thousands – of landmine survivors for which they must provide care.
  • Many of these countries are some of the poorest on earth and thus face significant challenges in fulfilling their responsibilities.

Progress made

  • The Convention itself is a major gain: For the first time a disarmament / arms-control convention contains measures to assist the victims of the weapons in question. 
  • The Convention has served as a catalyst for drawing attention to the plight of landmine survivors – and hence the challenges of all persons with disabilities – in some of the world’s poorest countries.