Suchergebnisse

The Gaza Strip was exposed to a long term and acute military operation which lasted for 51 days during the summer of 2014. At least 1,473 Palestinian civilians were killed, including 501 children and 257 women. Many fatalities involved multiple family members, with at least 142 Palestinian families having three or more members killed in the same incident, for a total of 739 fatalities. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, over 11,100 Palestinians, including 3,374 children and 2,088 women, were injured. Persons with disabilities (PwDs) are one of the most vulnerable groups in time of crisis, mostly marginalized and neglected to access emergency services. Handicap International3= supported by DFID, CDC, and RRA has launched an emergency response action in partnership with 4 disability service providers to meet the urgent needs of the most vulnerable groups affected by the crisis across Gaza Strip. Partners are: Baitona Society for community development in North Gaza, Palestine Avenir for Childhood Foundation in Gaza City; The National Society for Rehabilitation in Middle Area and in Khan Younis; and Society for Physically Handicapped People in Rafah. This report will shed the light on the emergency response action services delivered to the different beneficiaries.

This report looks at the challenges linked to the use of explosive weapons in the Syrian context for the provision of adequate immediate assistance and to plan for mid- to long-term assistance to the victims of explosive violence, to ensure their full recovery and inclusion into society. It is based on data and testimonies collected from humanitarian agencies, actors and patients across all areas of control in Syria. The testimony of Farah, a Syrian girl injured during the bombing of her school, and of her mother, is shared throughout the report to illustrate the challenges faced by victims. The report highlights the pressing need for a robust political declaration calling on all parties to conflicts to end the use of explosive weapons with wide area effects in populated areas. As urban warfare becomes increasingly common, an international political declaration with strong provisions for VA must continue to resist any normalisation of the use of EWIPA as an unavoidable aspect of armed conflict.

With this new report, we aim to complement these previous findings with deeper insights on how Syrian refugees have been driven out of their homes due to the use of explosive weapons, and were compelled to escape multiple times until they reached a safer place. Specifically, the study shows how women, persons with disabilities and injuries, and the most vulnerable persons are particularly impacted by this multiple displacement pattern in terms of social and psychological consequences. We hope that this study, carried out with the support of the Government of Ireland, the Government of Luxembourg, and the Government of Switzerland, will help deepen the understanding of the link between forced displacement and the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. The correlation between multiple forced displacements and the use of the explosive weapons was highlighted through a collection of testimonies and a survey conducted with Syrian refugees in Lebanon. Additional research includes an analysis of the vulnerability of the target environment and the civilian population in relation to explosive weapons. Our study does not cover other violent methods of war that are currently used in Syria and likewise have a high humanitarian impact, notably outside urban areas. Our focus on explosive weapons in populated areas certainly does not indicate a willingness to ignore these other methods, but rather special attention to a particularly acute phenomenon that causes significant human suffering. This report is meant as a contribution to the political process underway to address the harm caused to civilians by the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. As a founding member of the International Network on Explosive Weapons (INEW), Handicap International is involved in an international advocacy campaign to reach an international political commitment to end the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. Together we say: "Stop Bombing Civilians" (http://stop-bombingcivilians.org).

In the Indian context