Annual report 2009 - Handicap International

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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
xz landMinEs 2009rural areas. As it travelled around the region, the team alsoraised awareness of communities to accidents linked tomines and light weapons, which cause disabilities. In theBor regional hospital, health staff received training in preventingthe disabling complications of injuries.Giving the victims a voiceCountries: Thailand and Colombia.Funding bodies: France MoFEA (Victim assistance programme/agreement), Norwegian MoFA, European Union (developmenteducation project).In preparation for the Cartegena Summit on a Mine-FreeWorld, a South East Asia regional conference was held inBangkok, Thailand, from 1 to 3 April 2009, to raise awarenessof civil society, government representatives andfunding bodies to the need to incorporate more effectivecase-management of victims into national public policies.This question was central to the discussions held in Cartagena,Colombia, a country which sadly holds the recordfor the number of new mine accident victims. The strongattendance at the summit - almost 1000 people from 130countries - revealed the continuing commitment of the internationalcommunity to the fi ght against these weapons,including, for the fi rst time, the notable presence of a delegationfrom the United States, which had observer status.Despite the emerging hope that the US will sign the OttawaTreaty, there was a distinct lack of enthusiasm for fundingdemining and victim assistance actions on the part of thestate parties. In the face of pressure from Handicap International,France may change its position, with a promise ofmore funding in the future.© Handicap International © A. Leymat / Handicap InternationalCambodiaThis woman stepped on a mine while she was looking for wood.The basketwork business she set up with help from HandicapInternational has enabled her to buy a cow and increase herfamily’s income.More than 50,000 signatures werecollected and 50 tonnes of shoes weredonated during the 15 th Shoe Pyramidon 26 September 2009: a sign of protestagainst mines and cluster munitions, butalso of solidarity with the victims of theseweapons.LebanonIn the Nahr el-Bared camp, deminers carried out an extensivevisual inspection to eradicate explosive remnants of war.500,000 m 3 of rubble were painstakingly examined.Annual report 2009 ı 17
Page 2: EditorialContentsxz Presentation .
Page 5 and 6: n 60 countries43CIS: Community of I
Page 7 and 8: xz EMErgEncy 2009vulnerable people
Page 9 and 10: xz EMErgEncy 2009Supplying relief t
Page 11 and 12: xz dEvEloPMEnt 2009Mali x Morocco x
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Page 19 and 20: A word fromthe Treasurer2009: a yea
Page 21 and 22: Balance sheet at 31 st December 200
Page 23 and 24: CER 2009 (statement of utilisation
Page 25 and 26: Development Department operation. M
Page 27 and 28: Social missions and funds allocated
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Page 31 and 32: Board of Trusteesxz BurEauChairman

Annual report 2009 - Handicap International

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