Annual report 2009 - Handicap International

xz Landmines and cluster munitionsxz Key events of 2009Risk education trainingCountry: Algeria.Staff numbers in 2009: 2 national staff.Funding bodies: UNPD, France MoFEA.A legacy of the war of independence, Algeria is still pollutedby almost three million anti-personnel mines, hamperingthe activities of its nomadic population and farmers and thecountry’s socio-economic development. The mine risk educationproject began in March 2009 with the training andnetworking of eight disabled people’s and mine victims’ organisations.A wide range of awareness-raising tools, includingposters, leaflets, picture boxes, CD-ROMS and schoolexercise books, were produced in both Arabic and French.A directory of available services has also been compiled tofacilitate victim assistance.Inclusion of mines victims and their familiesCountry: Cambodia.Staff numbers in 2009: 8 national staff.Funding body: European Union.The region of Battambang in the west of Cambodia is infestedwith mines and the rural population suffers from malnutritionat least five months of the year. Since 2008, HandicapInternational, in partnership with a local association,has helped mines victims, their families and, more generally,people with disabilities, who are often unemployed, to setup their own businesses. By the end of 2009, almost 500people had been helped to set up a business. Market studies,funding and professional training were among the serviceson offer. According to a survey of 207 of these people,86% had been able to increase their income and 95% hadimproved their food safety situation.Clearance operations prior to reconstructionCountry: Lebanon.Staff numbers in 2009: 44 national staff and 4 expatriates.Funding bodies: UNRWA and Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).In 2009, in the north of Lebanon, almost 12,000 unexplodeddevices, including bombs, grenades, mortar shells, munitions,mines and explosive booby traps were removed fromrubble in the Palestinian camp of Nahr el-Bared, destroyedby bombing. The clearance operations were launched byHandicap International in 2008 under the auspices of theUNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for PalestineRefugees in the Near East). Slowed down by the discoveryof the remains of a Roman city, they were nearingcompletion at the end of 2009. The association also carriedout awareness-raising actions on the risks of landmines andcluster munitions for everyone working on the site. Lastly, atthe request of the Norwegian NGO, NRC, the associationalso worked on a site adjoining the camp to demine an areaof land destined to house Palestinian refugees.Demining areas of socio-economic valueCountry: Senegal.Staff numbers in 2009: 35 national staff and 3 expatriates.Funding bodies: French embassy, German cooperation (GTZ), UKembassy, American State Department (PMWRA), Unicef (for minerisk education).Handicap International has been the only humanitarian deminingoperator in the region of Casamance since 2008.In 2009, it trained a second team of deminers. A total offifteen sites covering 50,000 square metres of land of socio-economicvalue for the population (access path to thevillage, school, orchards and plantations) were cleared ofmines, and some one hundred anti-personnel mines weredestroyed. In partnership with the Senegalese mine victimsassociation, a mine-risk education programme funded byUnicef was also launched in schools. Twelve awarenessraisingsessions were organised in December for some 800children, who were able to pass on the prevention messageto their families.Identifying the causes of armed violenceCountries: Sierra Leone and Liberia.Neighbouring states Sierra Leone and Liberia have sufferedyears of civil war during which many child soldiers wererecruited. Despite the demobilisation and disarmamentprogrammes implemented in both countries, quantities oflight weapons are still in circulation. A study performed byHandicap International in the autumn of 2009 highlightedthe major causes of violence: unemployment, encouraginggroups of young people to carry out armed attacks, andthe return of displaced persons, giving rise to conflicts overfarmland. Following this study, a project is now being consideredfor the Mano River region, on the border between thetwo countries, which would include income-generating activitiesand training to help a generation scarred by memoriesof extreme violence.Caring for the victims of violenceCountry: Sudan.Staff numbers in 2009: 27 national staff and 6 expatriates.Funding body: ECHO.Four years after the signing of a peace agreement in 2005,the threat of violence still hangs over the population ofsouthern Sudan. In 2009, more than 2,500 people werekilled and 350,000 persons forced to flee their homes. Despitethis crisis situation, Handicap International continuedits actions to assist the victims of violence in the province ofJonglei. A mobile team was formed to provide rehabilitationservices to people with disabilities or the injured in remote16 ı Annual report 2009