MISSING PIECES - Inter-Parliamentary Union
MISSING PIECES - Inter-Parliamentary Union
MISSING PIECES - Inter-Parliamentary Union
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THEME 3<br />
and efforts to raise awareness among government decision makers and communities.<br />
This means not only individual engagement at the local level but<br />
involvement in collective advocacy, including through civil society efforts<br />
to improve care.<br />
Donors—Particularly in low-income settings and in countries recovering<br />
from war, donors have an important role to play in supporting national<br />
responses to armed violence and the needs of survivors.<br />
BOX 12 THE USAID LEAHY WAR VICTIMS FUND<br />
Based on the vision of US Senator Patrick Leahy, the US Department for Aid<br />
and Development (USAID) has a programme for survivors of armed violence<br />
that is worthy of attention and replication. Through the provision of support<br />
and assistance to national and international organisations and NGOs, USAID<br />
distributes some USD 14 million to assisting survivors of war related violence<br />
every year. Named in honour of Senator Patrick Leahy, who advocated for<br />
its creation, the War Victims Fund focuses on cost-effective quality services<br />
for those injured in war in order to facilitate a return to work and social<br />
life. It places a strong emphasis on ‘orthopedic assistance within a framework<br />
of social and economic integration of the disabled’, and works to<br />
strengthen national policies on disability in a wide range of countries including<br />
Angola, Sri Lanka, Lebanon, Nicaragua and Senegal. The work of the fund<br />
particularly aims to include people with disabilities in both the development<br />
and implementation of activities. 47<br />
DEVELOPMENTS AT THE GLOBAL LEVEL<br />
“The issue of victim support is another area where more needs to be<br />
done. The matter is of significance due to the socio-economic implications<br />
that victims and in some cases their dependents have been made<br />
to experience. Therefore, we call on the international community to<br />
increase funding in this area.”<br />
—Zambian statement at the UN Review Conference, 27 June 2006<br />
The right to health is recognised and protected under international law,<br />
including in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in the <strong>Inter</strong>national<br />
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, to which<br />
over 140 states are party. Authoritative bodies have determined that this<br />
right includes “. . . medical care and necessary social services, and the right<br />
to security in the event of . . . disability . . . or other lack of livelihood in<br />
circumstances beyond his (sic) control”. 48 Further, in 1993, at the Vienna<br />
73