Assistance to Landmine Survivors

The project seeks to ensure that landmine survivors especially children and youth as well as disabled persons receive essential services thereby supporting their recovery and socio-economic reintegration into Colombian society. The project targets the rural areas most affected by poverty and the consequences of armed conflict in 10 departments of Colombia. In these regions landmine accidents are frequent and access to rehabilitation and reintegration services is limited. Support provided by the project includes: (1) increased access to services for civilian landmine survivors with a focus on children and youth; and; (2) increased capacity of the Colombian stakeholders engaged in victim assistance to respond to survivors' needs. Colombia is the second country after Afghanistan with the most landmines casualties. Landmines have been used regularly in Colombia’s on-going internal armed-conflict leaving hundreds of civilians maimed blind deaf or dead every year.

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) approximately 500 civilian landmine survivors (250 of whom are children and youth) in selected areas receive appropriate health and physical re-adaptation services; and (2) 700 people from the public and private sectors received training on the rights to assistance of civilian landmine survivors including the rights of children and youth.