Our Donors
Contacts
Tajikistan National Mine Action CenterAyni 121
Dushanbe, Tajikistan,
www.mineaction.tj
Tel/Fax: (992 37) 227-0947,
221-66-87
Victim Assistance
Mine Victim Assistance is a core component of mine action and an obligation of States Parties under the Antipersonnel Mine Ban Treaty. Article Six of the Treaty states that "Each State Party in a position to do so shall provide assistance for the care and rehabilitation, and social and economic reintegration, of mine victims and for mine awareness programs." Protocol V on explosive remnants of war contains a similar provision in its Article 8. Victim assistance is a set of concrete actions to meet the immediate and long-term needs of mine/ERW victims, their families, mine-affected communities and persons with disabilities. Victim assistance includes, but is not limited to, information management systems; emergency and continuing medical care; physical rehabilitation; psychosocial support and social inclusion; economic reintegration; and laws and public policies that promote effective treatment, care and protection for all disabled citizens, including landmine victims, with a human rights perspective.
Tajikistan acceded to the Convention of the Prohibition of the Use, Production and Transfer of Antipersonnel Mines and on their Destruction (AP Mine Ban Convention – APMBC) in October 1999 becoming a State Party on 1 April 2000. At the First Review Conference of the APMBC in 2004, Tajikistan reported its responsibility for significant numbers of landmine survivors. Since that time, Tajikistan has been a focus of attention in the work of the Convention’s Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration (SCVA). Efforts undertaken by all Co-Chairs of the SCVA have sought to facilitate progress in applying the principles and understandings adopted by the States Parties at the national level and in achieving the aims of the Nairobi Action Plan 2005-2009. The principles and understandings adopted by the States Parties, including Tajikistan, at the First Review Conference was reaffirmed at the Second Review Conference in 2009. These principles and understandings include:
• Victim assistance efforts should not exclude any person injured or disabled in another
manner;
• Victim assistance should be part of public health, rehabilitation, social services and
human rights frameworks and efforts should be integrated into broader national policies,
plans and legal frameworks related to disability, health, education, employment,
development and poverty reduction; and,
• Victim assistance efforts should be guided by the principles of national ownership, equality, non-discrimination, full inclusion and participation, an integrated and comprehensive approach, a gender perspective, transparency, efficiency and accountability.
At the Second Review Conference, the States Parties adopted the Cartagena Action Plan (CAP) for the period 2010-2014. Through the CAP, all States Parties, including Tajikistan, have resolved to provide assistance to mine victims in accordance with applicable humanitarian and human rights law. The CAP includes 14 actions that are relevant to assisting the victims. These actions address issues of inclusion, coordination, data collection, legislation and policies, planning, monitoring and evaluation, the involvement of relevant experts, capacity building, accessibility including to appropriate services, good practice, awareness raising, resource mobilisation, inclusive development, and regional and bilateral cooperation. The States Parties to the APMBC recognize that the ultimate responsibility for meeting the rights and needs of mine victims rests with the affected State. States need to be provided with the space and support to define what can be or should be achieved, in concrete and measurable terms.
