ICBL Participates in Peru Victim Assistance Meeting

On 24 and 25 April, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) participated in a national victim assistance meeting in Lima, Peru. Photo © MineBanConvention ISU.

On 24 and 25 April, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) participated in a national victim assistance meeting in Lima, Peru.Objectives for the meeting included reviewing and revising Peru's national disability plan, or "Plan for Equal Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities," in line with a new disability law approved in December 2012.The meeting explicitly sought input from mine victims, for incorporation into the plan.

Participants included members from the national mine action center (CONTRAMINAS, the National Disability Council (CONADIS) mine victims, persons with disabilities and their representative organizations. Importantly, the meeting also included government and NGO participants from rural and remote areas of Peru to help with the task of decentralizing the issue of victim assistance and disability in Peru. I

n addition to the ICBL, international actors such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, the UN Development Program, the Polus Center, the UN Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights and representatives of the Mine Ban Treaty Implementation Support Unit also actively participated.

Following two days of hard work, participants shared proposals for how best to work for the rights of persons with disabilities, including survivors with disabilities, in the areas of health and rehabilitation, education, social protection and employment. The recommendations will be used to inform the revision of Peru's national disability plan.