NGO representatives themselves argue “[g]overnments remained largely unaware of the degree of the landmine epidemic until the end of the Cold War. Yet the devastating, long-term consequences of mines were becoming all too apparent to those NGOs who were putting prosthetic limbs on victims, removing the detritus of war from the ground, providing aid and relief to war-torn societies, and documenting violations of human rights and the laws of war.” During the Cold War, many NGOs did not have access to landmine-infested areas because of instability and politics, and accordingly were either unaware of the landmine problem or unable to properly assess the effects of landmine use.

These NGOs had determined that the human costs of landmines outweighed their military value and resolved to act together by forming the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) to have them banned. In 1997, the ICBL and its coordinator, Jody Williams, received the Nobel Peace Prize for demonstrating state behavior can be affected by NGOs in a clear and decisive manner--even when the major powers of the world oppose the changes being advocated.

The challenges for international organizations in positively impacting African communities affected by landmines were several. First, there was a lack of reliable data and survey schemes that leave most survivors empty-handed. Second, there was limited information-sharing and collaboration among service providers and local disability groups. Third, attention was focused on “limbs only” (prosthetics) with minimal attention given to other support services needed by survivors. Fourth, emphasis was placed on expatriate contacts with little consideration given toward capacity building in the early stages of project development.

To meet these challenges, governments and international organizations can undertake a range of victim assistance activities and initiatives. They can provide such assistance through NGO victim assistance programs earmarked for mine victim assistance, including ongoing treatment to aid in physical therapy, and mental and emotional rehabilitation of survivors and their families. Landmine survivors themselves have defined victim assistance as “emergency and medical care; access to prosthetics, wheelchairs and other assistive devices; social and economical reintegration; psychological and peer support; accident prevention programs; and legal and advisory services." LSN and other NGOs argued that these activities can also take the form of broader public advocacy for disability rights and judicial reform aimed at removing barriers that hinder persons with disabilities from integrating into society. For example, if a nation does not have the financial resources to provide direct victim assistance, it can satisfy its obligation to assist victims through policy changes enabling survivors to become more fully integrated into society’s economic and social realms. In this regard, States Parties can help NGO programming effectiveness by enacting and enforcing national legislation to promote effective treatment, care and protection for all disabled citizens, including landmine survivors.

Primarily through the efforts of NGOs involved in mine clearance such as the ICBL, the paucity of information regarding the actual numbers of African mine victims, their location, and their rehabilitation needs have now received international attention. Despite the increased awareness, the work of international organizations in Africa has met a range of failures and successes that is not commensurate with the notice garnered at the global level.

The extents and limits to which NGOs are capable of improving quality of life: The LSN Experience

LSN is the first international organization created by survivors for survivors. Its mission is to meet the growing needs of war victims around the world, including Africa. Today, the Network is working with a range of African survivors and local disability groups in several mine-affected countries to help war- wounded victims and their families heal from their trauma and become productive members of society.

Since LSN's founding in 1997, it has established survivor networks in five mine-affected countries: Bosnia, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Jordan, and Vietnam and provided assistance to thousands of families affected by landmines. During this time, LSN staff have made nearly 40,000 home and hospital visits to survivors and helped launch hundreds of survivor-owned businesses. Today LSN employs more than 40 staff at its headquarters in Washington, DC, and nearly 100 people abroad – most of whom are disabled. For example, in its Jordan Network, it employs full-time fourteen Jordanians and Palestinians, half of whom are disabled.From its headquarters in Washington, D.C., LSN has pulled together information form governments and private organizations that provide services to the disabled in African countries. It has conducted rehabilitation surveys describing the rehabilitation infrastructure and identifying services available to the disabled in Ethiopia and Mozambique. Thus far, it has empowered thousands of people in Ethiopia, Mozambique, and other African countries to reclaim their lives after suffering landmine injuries. Through its own intensive research, LSN has learned that recovery is an evolving process with three distinct phases – victim, survivor, and citizen.

Part of this approach is to promote effective victim assistance by empowering survivors themselves through an array of activities. For example, LSN provides guidance for survivors to access available support services, including established prosthetic workshops and other rehabilitation-related service-providers. It also facilitates the development of small groups for community-based action, including micro-credit programs, sports and fitness, and vocational training. For example, in 2007 LSN sponsored a series of rehabilitation trainings conducted by trainers within the system of local health clinics. A total of 240 individuals representing six clinics in Bo Trach and Dong Hoi participated in the trainings. These trainings reflect community-based rehabilitation methodology and have resulted in better rehabilitation services for landmine survivors and the community.

A key component is training mine victims to recover from their accidents and become socially and economically reintegrated back into society. The goal is not just for reintegration, but also for such individuals to be citizens empowered to help others battle to recover from the trauma inflicted by landmines. To make this program successful, it is critical to recruit qualified individuals, provide culturally sensitive training materials, and supervise and guide survivors through follow-up visits and on-going evaluation.

For an example of LSN’s on the ground work in Africa, LSN's network office in Addis Abba, Ethiopia is staffed and managed by Ethiopian persons with disabilities. They work with local disability organizations and landmine organizations to implement a range of advocacy and victim assistance programs. They have also organized annual advocacy workshops and orientation sessions to train advocates to work together to advocate Ethiopia to join the MBT. LSN Ethiopia has alsoinitiated a telephone campaign to lobby the government to sign the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and it has organized a media event to raise awareness of the issues facing persons with disabilities. The staff is now currently conducting advocacy activities to encourage the government to ban the use of cluster munitions and support assistance programs to victims of those weapons.