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Treaty Status | Management & Coordination | Impact (contamination & casualties) | Addressing the Impact (land release, risk education, victim assistance)

Country Summary

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is contaminated with antipersonnel landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW), as a result of armed conflict involving neighboring countries, militias, and non-state armed groups (NSAGs) since the late 1990s.[1] In 2011, the DRC reported that mine/ERW contamination existed across the country, although ERW contamination was a more extensive problem than mine contamination. Cluster munition remnants contamination has also been discovered in the DRC, but these areas have not yet been surveyed. In 2018, a resurgence of armed conflict resulted in new ERW contamination, particularly in eastern and central regions.

In 2011, the DRC requested a 26-month extension to its Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 clearance deadline to understand the extent of remaining contamination, and in 2014 requested a further six-year extension to 1 January 2021. However, the DRC did not meet this deadline and submitted a third extension request in September 2020, for an additional 18 months. This was approved at the Mine Ban Treaty Eighteenth Meeting of States Parties, which was held virtually in November 2020.

Risk education in the DRC is carried out by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community volunteers, who conduct risk education sessions, mark hazardous areas, and convey alerts to the national authorities.

The DRC is responsible for a large number of mine/ERW victims, and reported 1,786 survivors as of the end of 2020.[2] Despite existing measures benefiting mine/ERW survivors—such as free access to medical care and prostheses, and tax exemptions for companies which employ a mine survivor—most survivors are not aware of these rights. Operators reported that funding for victim assistance was scarce.[3]

Treaty Status

Treaty status overview[4]

Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 clearance deadline

The DRC’s initial Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 clearance deadline was 1 November 2012, but a 26-month extension was requested to conduct national survey to better understand the extent of the remaining contamination, enabling the DRC to submit a follow-up extension request in 2014.[5]

The DRC did not meet its extended Article 5 deadline of January 2021, and submitted a third extension request in September 2020, which was approved, setting a new deadline of 1 July 2022.[6] The DRC has reported that it is on track to meet this deadline, provided that sufficient funding is available and security and health conditions improve.[7] This projection is based on a budget of US$3 million and a collaboration between three mine clearance operators and the Armed Forces of the DRC (Forces armées de la république démocratique du Congo, FARDC).[8] In February 2020, DanChurchAid (DCA) took responsibility for clearance of three quarters of the remaining contaminated areas.[9]

In July 2021, the DRC submitted a fourth extension request for a period of 3.5 years until 31 December 2025, to clear the remaining 33 areas of 0.12km².[10] This extension request is largely a repeat of the 2020 extension request, indicating little progress has been made.

Management and Coordination

Mine action

Mine action management and coordination overview[11]

The Congolese Mine Action Center (Centre Congolais de Lutte Antimines, CCLAM) was formed in 2012, with support from the United Nations Mine Action Coordination Center (UNMACC) and the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS). CCLAM took on responsibility from UNMAS for coordination of the mine action program in the DRC in 2016; though UNMAS continues to provide guidance and support.

Strategies and policies

The DRC’s National Mine Action Strategy for 2018–2019, developed with support from the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD), UNMAS, and the Government of Japan, has expired. The DRC reported in August 2020, and again in February 2021, that it was in the process of developing a new national mine action strategy.[12]

Priorities were established in the expired National Mine Action Strategy, and CCLAM issues mine action tasks according to these priorities.[13]

Mine action is integrated into the security governance section of the DRC’s National Development Plan.[14]

Information management

CCLAM assumed responsibility from UNMAS for information management in January 2016. The alerts received from mine action operators and local communities are recorded by CCLAM in the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) database.[15]

Gender and diversity

There is a Gender Unit within CCLAM’s advocacy department. It aims to ensure the mobilization and inclusion of women in mine action, to ensure the participation of both women and men in the implementation of all five pillars of mine action, and to promote the inclusion of women in both administrative and operational activities.[16]

Risk education management and coordination

Risk education management and coordination overview[17]

Coordination

The National Risk Education Program, led by the head of CCLAM’s risk education department, meets on a quarterly basis.[18]

Strategies

A National Risk Education Strategy was included within the National Mine Action Strategy 2018–2019, which has expired.[19]

Victim assistance management and coordination

Victim assistance management and coordination overview[20]

Note: ERW=explosive remnants of war; N/R=not reported.

*The National Mine Action Strategic Plan 2018–2019 referred to victim assistance in its first strategic objective. The plan has expired.

Laws and policies

The constitution of the DRC prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities and provides specific protections. However, the government did not enforce provisions effectively, and persons with disabilities often found it difficult to obtain employment, education, or government services. Laws do not mandate access to buildings or government services for persons with disabilities, and persons with disabilities suffer social stigmatization.[21] The Ministry of Social Affairs, responsible for persons with disabilities and other vulnerable persons, was established in August 2019.

The DRC joined the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in September 2015. However, the DRC has not adopted national laws to implement its provisions. A proposal for new legislation to protect persons with disabilities in the DRC, and promote their rights, was drafted in 2012 with the involvement of NGOs, but has not yet been adopted.[22] In 2019, a bill implementing the CRPD was submitted to parliament for adoption.[23]

In June 2016, the Ministry of Social Affairs adopted a National Strategic Plan for the Promotion and Protection of Persons with Disabilities.[24] The plan expired in 2020.

Impact

Contamination

Contamination overview[25]

Note: CHA=confirmed hazardous area; ERW=explosive remnants of war; and SHA=suspected hazardous area; ERW=explosive remnants of war.

Landmine contamination

The DRC is contaminated by antipersonnel mines and ERW as a result of armed conflict involving neighboring states, militias, and NSAGs, which has worsened since the late 1990s.[26]

Mine contamination limits movement of populations and access to water, food, shelter, and health services. Internally displaced persons (IDPs) and returnees are particularly vulnerable to the threat posed by mines/ERW.[27]

Remaining mine contamination in the DRC is low, but primarily affects the provinces of Ituri and North-Kivu, which are difficult to access due to the presence of NSAGs and the Ebola epidemic. The DRC also reported that some contaminated areas in North-Ubangi, Tanganyika, and Tshuapa provinces were difficult to access, and therefore will require more time and resources to clear.[28]

In addition, the Aru territory in Ituri province, and the Dungu territory in Haut-Uele province, are still to be surveyed.[29] These two territories were not surveyed as part of the national survey in 2013 due to security concerns.[30]

Improvised mine contamination was suspected in the provinces of North-Kivu and Ituri.[31] Surveys could not be conducted due to ongoing security concerns, and the extent of the contamination there is unknown.[32] Various types of improvised landmines have been reported in the DRC, with some devices described as ‘‘pressure-release’’ mines after survivors’ testimonies indicated some devices were activated by the contact or weight of a person.[33]

Cluster munition remnants contamination

The expired National Mine Action Strategic Plan 2018–2019 stated that in addition to mines/ERW, “some areas contaminated by submunitions have also been reported but the areas affected remain negligible.”[34]

In August 2020, the DRC reported that several areas contained cluster munition remnants, although these areas had not been surveyed and their size was not yet determined. Cluster munition remnants contamination has been identified in at least five provinces within the DRC: Ituri, Maniema, South-Kivu, Tanganyika, and Tshuapa.[35]

ERW contamination

The DRC is affected by ERW due to years of conflict involving neighboring states, militias, and NSAGs. These conflicts have also resulted in a large quantity of abandoned explosive ordnance.[36] ERW contamination severely limits access to agricultural land, hunting and fishing areas, water collection points, and roads.[37]

In 2020, explosive ordnance continued to pose a significant risk to civilians in the DRC, as armed conflict intensified in the east. Known ERW contamination covered a total area of 0.06km². ERW contamination was reported at firing ranges in Mbandaka, Kisangani, and Kitona.[38] A small area of ERW contamination, totaling 206m², was also identified in Tanganyika province in 2020.[39]

Casualties

Casualties overview[40]

Note: ERW=explosive remnants of war.

Casualties in 2020

In 2020, 13 mine/ERW casualties were recorded in the DRC. As in past years since 2010, children constituted a majority of casualties, with 10 of the casualties being minors. Ten of the incidents that resulted in casualties during 2020 involved ERW, while three occurred due to the explosion of an improvised mine.

Casualty data for the DRC significantly under-reports the true number of people killed and injured, due to the absence of a national data collection system for mine/ERW casualties and because parts of the country remain inaccessible due to lack of infrastructure and security constraints.[41] In 2021, CCLAM reported that identifying mine/ERW victims was challenging.[42] While CCLAM reported 14 mine/ERW victims in 2020, the Mine Action Working Group recorded 52 civilian mine/ERW victims in the first half of 2020 alone. This CCLAM total includes eight casualties from an incident in which a hand grenade was thrown. These casualties were not included in the Monitor total as it was not clear that it was an ERW item.[43] CCLAM reported a total of 2,936 mine/ERW casualties for all time, as of February 2021.[44]

Cluster munition remnant casualties

Unexploded cluster munition remnants have resulted in 207 casualties in the DRC, for all time.[45] The last unexploded submunition casualties in the DRC were reported in 2010.

Addressing the Impact

Mine action

Clearance operators[46]

Clearance

Land release overview[47]

Note: ERW=explosive remnants of war.

Land release

Landmines

There remains a need to conduct survey to determine the total extent of contamination in the DRC, particularly in areas affected by recent conflict.[48] In November 2019, the DRC and Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) launched a reassessment of confirmed hazardous areas (CHA) and suspected hazardous areas (SHA) across 12 regions.[49]

The DRC reported that 0.02km² was cleared in 2020, while technical and non-technical survey led to the release of 0.06km².[50]

Cluster munition remnants

During clearance operations in 2020, 51 cluster munition remnants were cleared and destroyed in the DRC. The DRC reported a need to strengthen the capacities of its coordination and operational personnel regarding the clearance of cluster munition remnants.[51]

The 2013 national survey had identified two areas contaminated with cluster munition remnants, in the provinces of Ituri and Tanganyika, covering 0.02km². These areas were subsequently cleared and a total of 2,688 cluster munition remnants were cleared and destroyed.[52]

Deminer safety

In 2020, several violent incidents involving deminers were reported in the DRC, including the murder of a team leader working for The Development Initiative (TDI) in North-Kivu province.[53]

Residual contamination

A capacity-building program, which began in 2011 in coordination with UNMAS and international clearance operators, aims to strengthen the capacity of FARDC and the Congolese National Police (Police nationale congolaise, PNC) to undertake demining operations.[54]

Border cooperation

Lindu—a mined area in Kongo Central province—is located about 2km away from the border with Angola. No agreement has been signed between Angola and the DRC for clearance of the area.[55]

Risk education

Risk education operators overview[56]

Note: IDP=Internally Displaced Persons.

*Other national organizations providing risk education in the DRC, not listed in the table, include: the DRC Red Cross, Development Action and Aid to the Destitute (Action de Développement intègre et d’aide aux Démunis, ADIAD), Synergy of Peasant Organizations for Integral Development (Synergie des Organisations Paysannes de Développement Intégral, SYOPADI), Concreate Action for Mine Action (Action Concrète pour la Lutte Antimines, ACOLAM), Congo Organization for Development, Education and Environmental Protection, Congo Organisation Pour le Développement, l'Education et la Protection de l'Environnemen, COODEPE), Development and Social Welfare Action (Agence de Développement Économique et Social, ADES), and the Association for the Development and Supervision of Peasants of South-Ubangi (Association pour le Développement et Encadrement des paysants du Sud-Ubangi, ADEPSU).

A network of NGOs and community volunteers ensures that risk education efforts in the DRC are sustainable, marks hazardous areas, and conveys alerts to national authorities.[57]

Beneficiary numbers

Beneficiaries of risk education in 2020[58]

Beneficiary numbers were collected according to the Standard Beneficiary Definitions.[59]

Implementation

Target groups

The primary target groups for risk education in the DRC are communities in conflict areas and in regions worst affected by mines/ERW, young people, women, refugees, IDPs and returnees, staff members of international NGOs, medical personnel, and members of peacekeeping missions.[60]

In the DRC, children are particularly vulnerable to mines/ERW, due to their curiosity and lack of awareness of danger. Women are also vulnerable, as their daily activities often include traveling and searching for goods and materials needed for survival of the household. IDPs and refugees are also at risk as they are often unaware of contamination in the areas where they have taken refuge.[61]

Delivery methods

In addition to risk education sessions, risk education was provided via text messages, social media, radio, and television. It was also integrated into demining activities, and presented an opportunity to identify victims. There was no assessment of the DRC’s risk education program in 2020.[62]

Major developments in 2020

The Mine Action Working Group reported that Tanganyika province, and most of Haut-Katanga province, were not covered by risk education and non-technical survey activities.[63]

Victim assistance

Victim assistance operators overview[64]

Major developments in 2020

The security situation in the DRC remained volatile and conflicts intensified in eastern provinces.[65] A surge in violence in the first half of 2020 resulted in further displacement, and left many people without access to basic services.[66]

The first reference center for physiotherapy and orthopedic services in the DRC, constructed with the support of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), was handed over to national authorities but had not yet started operating.[67]

The five ICRC-supported physical rehabilitation centers in the DRC—located in Bukavu, Goma, Kinshasa, and Uvira—suspended services in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.[68]

The DRC continued to report a significant decrease in funding for victim assistance in 2020, and the activities of several organizations providing victim assistance stopped. There has been little funding for victim assistance in the DRC since 2012.[69] New mine/ERW survivors, particularly in eastern areas, do not receive any assistance.[70] A rehabilitation and psychosocial support program run by Humanity & Inclusion (HI) in North-Kivu ended in February 2020 due to lack of funding.[71]

Some mine/ERW survivors in North-Kivu received support through the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (UNCERF) in 2019.[72]

Persons with disabilities continue to face obstacles in accessing basic services and information in the DRC. They suffer from stigma, discrimination, and social exclusion.[73]

Needs assessment

Identifying mine/ERW survivors in the DRC remained challenging, due to a lack of financial and logistical means to reach survivors and the unavailability of victim assistance services.[74]

Medical care and rehabilitation

Access to quality healthcare remained limited in the DRC.[75] The health system is weak, while the DRC lacks health infrastructure and basic social services.[76] The health system was further strained by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.[77] The costs of medical care and prostheses for mine survivors are covered by the state.[78]

Socio-economic and psychosocial inclusion

Providing psychological support remained a significant challenge in the DRC, as has been the case for several years. Psychological and socio-economic inclusion programs remained insufficient and were only available in North-Kivu province.[79]

The Polus Center for Social and Economic Development, together with partners and United States (US) funding, created a private-public partnership, the Lake Kivu Coffee Alliance, which provided vocational training within the coffee industry for mine/ERW survivors, physical rehabilitation, and prosthetics. The initiative also supports a local mine survivors’ association. In 2020, a coffee tasting lab and training center was under construction in partnership with the University of Buffalo.[80]

Although the Ministry of Education has increased its special education outreach efforts in recent years, fewer than 6,000 children with disabilities were reached in 2020.[81]

There is a tax exemption in the DRC for any company which employs a mine survivor.[82]

Cross-cutting

Few provisions exist to reach mine/ERW survivors living in rural and remote areas, and there was no specific assistance for child survivors.[83]