North America

-United States

Central America

-El Salvador

South America

-Colombia

Southeastern Europe

-Bosnia and Herzegovina

Middle East

-Isreal/Palestine

-Jordan

Africa

-Ethiopia

-Mozambique

-Burundi

-Rwanda

-Uganda

Southeast Asia

-Vietnam

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United States

SAVE

Survivor Corps and the Statewide Advocacy for Veterans Empowerment Program (SAVE) had a partnership to support the approximately 30,000 US Veterans that have returned to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts after service in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

As part of the partnership, Survivor Corps trained SAVE staff in peer outreach and support techniques that have proven successful in five countries in Latin America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Survivor Corps and SAVE also collaborated to develop a first of its kind measurements for peer interventions with veterans in crisis.

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El Salvador

In the year 2000, Landmine Survivors Network opened a partnership office in El Salvador. This was the same year that a partnership office was opened in Ethiopia.

This office was able to assist 2,450 survivors and amputees. They conducted 18,958 peer support visits to those survivors in homes and hospitals. The office was able to also support 489 survivors in income generating activities and vocational skill training.

The El Salvador partnership office continues it's mission today as Red de Sobrevivientes y Personas con Discapacidad - El Salvador. Red de Sobrevivientes is involved in supporting those who suffered limb loss during conflict as well as amputation from other different causes.
http://www.reddesobrevivientes.org



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Colombia

Survivor Corps used sports programs and local service projects to involve survivors in their communities and create opportunities for former opponents to interact in positive ways. We provided job skills training and economic opportunities to help conflict survivors and their families achieve economic security and participation in society through work. Survivor advocates trained by Survivor Corps raised awareness about the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the importance of equal employment for conflict survivors and people with disabilities. Through participation in these programs, survivors were connected to one another and shared emotional and practical support.

Survivors Corps worked with the following organizations:
CIREC - In 2003, Landmine Survivors Network(now known as Survivor Corps) partnered with a rehabilitation center in Bogota, Colombia, Centro Integral de Rehabilitacion de Colombia (CIREC), to help survivors in remote areas. In addition to connecting survivors to health services, this initiative built employment opportunities by training healthcare workers and educating communities about the rights of people with disabilities. The program also worked to integrate survivors into their family, work life, and community through participation in support groups and other social training. This was a win-win partnership with a credible, capable organization represents an exciting model that Landmine Survivors Network duplicated in other mine-affected countries, extending our reach to needy communities worldwide.

Fundacion para la Reconciliacion (Foundation for Reconciliation) specializes in bringing together former enemies to build peace based on a foundation of forgiveness and reconciliation. Survivor Corps partnered with Fundacion para la Reconciliacion and introduced a new model of conflict resolution about adolescents. Conflict survivors, including former combatants, reach out to school aged youth, a target for recruiting by guerilla groups, to encourage them to forgive, break cycles of violence and promote a more peaceful future for Colombia.

Corporacion ConCiudadania General (Organization for Citizen Participation), based in Medellin, Colombia, promotes rights advocacy and citizen participation in local government. Survivor Corps had partnered with ConCiudadania to support their Pasos y Abrazos (Steps and Hugs) program. This program connected women who have suffered violence or poverty or lost family members as a result of ongoing violence in the country. The women support each other, work together towards community reconciliation and rebuilding and reach out to other women affected by violence.

Fundacion Arcangeles(Archangels Foundation) works to create a more inclusive and sustainable world through improved health conditions, empowerment of marginalized groups, public awareness campaigns, progressive and responsible development, and building social cohesion through sports. Survivor Corps worked with Fundacion Arcangeles on a program called Sports for Peace. The program was designed to increase the number of survivors of war and conflict participating in their communities through the creation of two quad rugby teams for athletes with disabilities in Cali and Bogota, Colombia. These teams competed in the paralympic games in Colombia and internationally.

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Bosnia and Herzegovina

Landmine Survivors Network opened a partnership office in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1997.

In the 13 years of existence they were able to assist 2,800 landmine survivors and amputees in more than 90 municipalities nationwide. They conducted over 60,000 peer support visits in homes and hospitals. Over 1,200 survivors were supported in income generated activities and vocational skills training.

The program in Bosnia and Herzegovina has a very active regional sports program. Each year, they organize the annual Princess Diana Memorial Sitting Volleyball Tournament, bringing together athletes with disabilities from throughout Southeastern Europe. An event such as this fosters physical fitness and rehabilitation, and provide a forum for reconciliation between former combatants and enemies who now play side by side on the same teams. Survivors they have worked with now play on the Bosnia and Herzegovina National Sitting Volleyball Team. The team has held the title of World Champions, and has won numerous medals including a silver medal at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing.

The partnership office also sponsors the Balkana Art Colony, an annual art workshop that convenes artists with and without disabilities in Southeastern Europe. The workshop and subsequent art exhibit provide an opportunity for the artists to showcase their skills, support one another, and learn about the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and how they can promote disability rights in their communities.

The partnership in Bosnia and Herzegovina is continuing its mission as Landmine Survivors Initiatives. Landmine Survivors Initiatives provides landmine survivors in Southeast Europe with improved access to medical care and prosthetics, job training and small business grants, and rights advocacy training. Landmine Survivors Initiatives is an advocate for Victim Assistance in Southeast Europe and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
http://www.ipm-lsi.org/

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Israel/Palestine

In 2008, Survivor Corps began a new program in Israel and the West Bank. The objective of the program was to bring together both Israelis and Palestinians to rebuild their communities and break cycles of violence. The program had a special focus on young people, many of whom were about to join the army, take part in elections and become community leaders. Former combatants, survivors of warfare and terrorist attacks, and refugees participated in peer support programs with the youth and inspired them to work towards alternatives to violence.

Through cooperation on Survivor Corps sponsored projects, Israelis and Palestinians made the region safer by clearing unexploded landmines; improving standards of living through joint sustainable water and energy projects; and building a more just society through cross-border human rights advocacy. In the process, they overcame prejudice and set a positive example for their peers, family members and communities.

Survivors Corps worked with the following organizations:
All Nations Cafe - The All Nations Cafe is a social and environmental hub for Israelis, Palestinians and visitors of all nationalities, located in a buffer zone between the Israeli Army checkpoint and the Palestinian Authority along the road from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. Survivor Corps helped the All Nations Cafe bring its message of peace and cooperation to a broad audience on both sides. Increased publicity for All Nations Cafe's successful cross-borders programs helped promote a culture of cooperation and peace.

Lighting Candles provided education and job skills training for people with disabilities and victims of conflict, with a special focus on women and children. Survivor Corps included Lighting Candles in a larger network of relevant Israeli, Middle Eastern and international organizations, and offer training programs and conferences to promote regional cooperation on disability and human rights issues.

Minerva Center for Human Rights at the Hebrew University's Law Faculty - The center's primary goal is to promote awareness, research and academic interest in human rights. Survivor Corps built a network with Minerva and relevant Palestinian and Jordanian organizations. We developed this growing network into a cross-border coalition on disability rights.

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Jordan

In 1999 Landmine Survivors Network opened a partnership office in Jordan.

In the 11 years of operations the partnership office was able to assist 2,800 landline survivors and amputees. They conducted an over 24,000 peer support visits to conflict survivors in homes and hospitals. The partnership office supported 350 survivors in income generating activities and vocational skill training.

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Ethiopia

In the year 2000, a partnership office was opened in Ethiopia. This was the same year that a partnership office was opened in El Salvador.

The partnership office in Ethiopia was able to reach out to and assist 2,200 survivors and amputees. They conducted 21,000 peer support visits to these survivors and amputees in homes and hospitals. The office was able to help 340 survivors with income generating activities and vocational skill training.

They also offered training to other governmental and non-governmental organizations in Ethiopia on peer support, group leadership and organizational development in order to strengthen their abilities to assist and empower survivors.

The advocacy and campaign efforts in Ethiopia have contributed greatly to the government's decisions to ratify the Mine Ban Treaty and sign the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

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Mozambique

The partnership in Mozambique was opened in 1998. It served to help countless number of landmine survivors with peer support visits and training. This office was unfortunately closed in 2006.

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Burundi

Survivor Corps created partnerships with multiple organizations in Burundi. The partnerships aimed to ensure that survivors experienced the benefits of peace, which is essential to preventing a return to violence. They did this by supporting the recovery of survivors and their communities, and by working to counteract one of Burundi's worst consequences of war - gender-based violence. They trained women who have experienced gender-based violence to provide peer support to other women in similar situations and to link them to health and legal services. They also trained former perpetrators of gender based violence to become active spokesmen against the practice.

Together, these survivor activists work within the government's Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration centers to educate former combatants and the public about the consequences of gender-based violence for women, their families and communities, and to encourage them to join forces in combating violence in their communities.

We trained survivor advocates to take part in the national campaign for stronger laws against gender-based violence and ensure that the rights of survivors are protected. We will also facilitate the participation of survivors and former combatants in the campaign for peaceful elections in Burundi in 2010. Participants in this program will receive training on civic participation and human rights, take part in a peace demonstration in advance of the election, and help organize a public debate between the presidential candidates.

Survivors Corps worked with the following organizations:
The Center for the Training and Development of Former Combatants (Le Centre d'Encadrement et de Developpement des Anciens Combattants - CEDAC) - Founded by a former government soldier and a former rebel who are now working together, CEDAC is an organization for former combatants, both men and women, who are committed to rebuilding their lives and a more peaceful Burundi. Of the current 20,000 demobilized soldiers in Burundi, 14,000 are active members of CEDAC. Survivor Corps and CEDAC trained 30 women survivors to provide peer support and leadership for other survivors of rape and gender-based violence.

Trauma Healing And Reconciliation Services (THARS) is a group of psychosocial practitioners and peacemakers who contribute to healing and peacemaking in Burundi and the Great Lakes Region of Africa.

Association of Women's Lawyers of Burundi (Association des femmes juristes du Burundi - AFJB) - The objectives of the AFJB are to promote the principles of law among women, both rural and urban, defend human rights, particularly those of women and children, and fight for women's access to professional activities.

The 30 women trained as peer outreach workers by Survivor Corps and CEDAC worked with THARS and the AFJB to provide peer support to survivors, with a special focus on female ex-combatants and survivors of sexual violence. They linked survivors to each other and to local medical services, legal support, economic opportunities, community service projects and advocacy work.

The Ministry of Defense for Burundi worked with Survivor Corps to incorporate peer support into their existing programs for reintegration of ex-combatants in Bujumbura-Rurale. Trained women survivors and THARS counselors will facilitate trainings for the staff and/or provide support directly to demobilized soldiers.

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Rwanda

Survivor Corps created partnerships with a few organizations in Rwanda. With these partnerships Survivor Corps worked with survivors of genocide who are testifying in front of the Gacaca courts, traditional local courts organized to hold perpetrators accountable and then foster forgiveness and reconciliation. These courts are considered to have great potential for reconciliation, but in many cases, the testimonies are yet another traumatic experience for survivors. Survivor Corps trained survivors of genocide to provide peer support to others in their communities who are testifying in the Gacaca courts, and to continue the process of reconciliation and healing after the Gacaca court hearings end.

Survivor Corps also worked with perpetrators of violence who are being released from prison or assigned to perform community service in lieu of a prison sentence. Without support and a new direction, many return to their communities only to commit further crimes and perpetuate the cycle of violence and retribution. Survivor Corps worked with these former combatants to involve them in meaningful service projects and help them build a new relationship with their communities.

Survivor Corps also worked with Rwandans with disabilities, who in the past had been excluded from the decision-making process and unable to access their human rights. Rwanda recently signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, but the effects are only beginning to be felt at the local level. Survivor Corps trained survivor advocates to stand up for the rights of persons with disabilities and hold the government accountable for fulfilling the obligations of the treaty.

Survivors Corps worked with the following organizations:
Association of Landmine Survivors and Amputees (ALSA) - ALSA is a network for landmine survivors and amputees in Rwanda. The organization links survivors to one another for support and provides programs in health, HIV/AIDS awareness, rights advocacy, and social and economic opportunity. Survivor Corps worked with ALSA to promote implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Rwanda.

Rwandan Association of Trauma Counsellors (ARCT-Ruhuka) - The ARCT provides counseling to survivors of the Rwandan Genocide, many of whom are struggling with post traumatic stress disorder, traumatic memories of the three-month genocide, and lasting physical injuries. Survivor Corps had trained ARCT workers in peer support. They now use the peer support technique with survivors and teach it to other trauma counsellors.

IBUKA is Rwanda's largest umbrella organization for survivors of the Rwandan Genocide. Survivor Corps worked with IBUKA to identify and train survivors who have the capacity and desire to help other survivors overcome their trauma through peer support. Survivor Corps trained at least 3 survivors to train others in peer support so that IBUKA can bring this program to other parts of the country.

Travaux D'Interet General (TIG - "Works of General Interest") - TIG is the program through which perpetrators of the genocide in Rwanda atone for their crimes through community service. Survivor Corps and partners trained TIG staff members from 10 reintegration centers to provide peer support to the perpetrators participating in their programs. The program then replicated in other camps in Rwanda. By engaging district governments, Survivor Corps and partners trained and help deploy 30 community-based peer outreach workers to provide long-term support to perpetrators once they returned to their communities. Survivors and perpetrators were encouraged to work together on meaningful community service projects to rebuild their communities.

National Unity and Reconciliation Commission (NURC) - The NURC is a government program in Rwanda dedicated to creating a peaceful, united and prosperous nation. Survivor Corps engaged the NURC to join and support survivor reconciliation projects. In addition, Survivor Corps promoted the ideals of survivor leadership and survivor rights within the NURC through the active involvement of survivors in its policy development.

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Uganda

The primary goal of the Survivor Corps program in Uganda was to support recovery and healing from the traumatic experiences of civili war in Uganda through peer support, and to promote reconciliation and to assist survivors in reintegrating into their communities through community service. Survivor Corps brought together diverse survivor groups in Uganda, including former adversaries, to work together on projects such as increasing the availability of public services or making public buildings accessible to people with disabilities. Through teamwork and joint achievements, survivors rebuild relationships that were destroyed by the ravages of war.

Survivor Corps also organized and train a coalition of survivor groups to advocate for their rights through participation in the Ugandan Peace, Recovery and Development Plan.

Survivors Corps worked with the following organizations:
Caritas Uganda is a social services and development organization that supports regional and continental initiatives such as democracy building, gender equality, and HIV/AIDS eradication.

African Centre for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture Victims (ACTV) - The ACTV provides hundreds of torture victims in Uganda, as well as refugees from neighboring countries in the Great Lakes region, with holistic treatment and rehabilitation services.

Survivor Corps worked with Caritas and the ACTV to provide peer support to survivors of torture and war trauma in Northern Uganda, including demobilized soldiers. Survivor leaders are trained in peer support methods, and they in turn provide peer support training to others. In collaboration with existing health care providers, trained peer support workers act as a community-based resource that links survivors to each other for support, and to information and services for physical and mental health.

The Ugandan Victims Foundation is a national group representing over 30 war victims groups. Survivor Corps helped to improve the collaboration among these diverse survivor groups to rebuild the social fabric of the communities in Northern Uganda. The newly formed survivor groups from our peer support outreach were encouraged to join those that already exist, particularly former adversaries, in addressing community issues.

The Advocacy Project is an international non-governmental organization that seeks to produce social change by helping marginalized communities to become advocates for social justice and claim their rights.

The Gulu Disabled Persons Union (GDPU) - The GDPU is a local Ugandan organization that aims to build the capacities of persons with disabilities for enhanced participation and access to quality social services. Their vision for society is one in which persons with disabilities are empowered, have access to social services and are living a dignified life.

Survivor Corps had partnered with the Advocacy Project to work with the GDPU on campaigns for greater accessibility to public facilities and health services in the districts of Gulu and Amuru. Survivor Corps, the Advocacy Project and the GDPU were also working together to ensure that sign language interpreters are available within the justice system to enable deaf persons to report abuses and claim their rights.

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Vietnam

In 2003 Landmine Survivors Network opened a partnership office in Vietnam.

This partnership office was able to assist 1,800 landmine survivors and amputees in 64 communes of Quang Binh province, Central Vietnam. They conducted 15,200 peer support visits to survivors in homes and hospitals. Around 690 survivors were supported in income generated acitivities and vocational skills training.

The partnership in Vietnam became a leader in national and international advocacy issues for survivors of landmines, cluster munitions, and people with disabilities.

The partnership in Vietnam is continuing its mission as The Association for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities. The Association for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities is a local Vietnamese non-profit organization working in Quang Binh Province. It aims to improve the quality of life of Persons with Disabilities in lasting ways through economic and social empowerment and access to health care. Its vision is an inclusive and barrier-free society where people with disabilities can fulfill their potential, enjoy equal opportunities, and contribute actively to their communities.
http://www.aepd.org.vn

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