Ban Advocates at the Africa Regional Conference

Berihu had the opportunity both to deliver a speech at the opening ceremony, and to present the situation of Survivor Assistance in Africa during the session 4 of the conference on National implementation, Cooperation and Assistance.

Berihu's opening speech

Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As a cluster munition survivor and Ban Advocate, I'm glad to be here at the Conference on Cluster Munitions in Pretoria. I thank the organisers for giving  me the chance to say a word at this opening session.
I am Berihu Mesele and in 1998 I survived a cluster munition strike on the Ayder School in Mekele, my town in the Northern part of Ethiopia. Since the regional Conference on Cluster Munitions in Livingstone in 2008, I
asked states to ban cluster munitions and to sign up to the Convention on Cluster Munitions. You know that 98 % of all cluster munition casualties are civilians.

In the meantime 104 states have signed the Convention and 30 have ratified. That means that cluster munitions are now considered to be illegal weapons. 38 African States already signed. But why not all African countries? And why only 6 African States have ratified this convention? What are they waiting for?
In Africa, at least five States are considered to be affected by cluster munitions. On my side, as a survivor, I do not want to see more African states to be affected and more Africans to become victim of cluster munitions.

African countries know what it means to be affected. They know, in one way or another, what it means to be a victim. Since I am active with other survivors in campaigning for the treaty, I understand even better than before that survivors of cluster munitions want to go on with their lives in a respectful way. They want to take responsibility for their own life, for their family and their community. They even want to take part in efforts concerning assistance to affected communities.

The Convention on Cluster Munitions and in particular the article on Victim Assistance can give them that chance.... if the states sign, ratify and implement it. Therefore I call upon all African states to sign and ratify without delay and to speak out at this conference with a clear commitment to do so. As a survivor from  Ethiopia, I hope that my country will sign and ratify the Convention. By doing so, Ethiopia can give their own citizens the clear message that the government has the greatest respect for the victims suffering from cluster munitions and that it wants to give them the support they need.
I thank you.
Berihu Mesele

Berihu's VA session speech

Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
1. (referring to the PPP)
2.
In June 1998, the Ayder School, close to my house in Mekele, was bombed. It was around 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Many people ran to the school to see what had happened to their children. I ran with them. When I arrived there, I
saw people lifting children into cars to bring them to the hospital. I saw blood everywhere. At that moment, I did not realize who was injured or dead, or whether my relatives were among them or not.
3.
We didn't expect that around 30 minutes after the first bombing, a plane would bomb the school a second time. As a result of these bombings, 53 people died, among them 27 were children. I was hit during that second bombing. I lost consciousness and got seriously injured. But in a certain way, I was lucky, I survived. I was brought to the hospital in my town. In that sense, I was lucky too. You know, that many survivors from cluster munition accidents in Africa and
elsewhere live far away from hospitals. Sometimes, it takes hours to bring them to the hospital. Many of them die on the way. In the hospital, when I woke up two days after the accident, I became aware of the fact that I lost my two legs. That was a very dark day for me.
4.
After 10 days my family, which lives in a village, came to see me. My mother started to cry. My family then, really supported me. At first, I thought I was a useless person, but after 3 months, when I was cured, I saw many people
using wheelchairs and other walking aids and I was lucky to receive a wheelchair myself and became mobile. Still some survivors don't receive the necessary physical rehabilitation.
5.
Maybe, you know Aynelem Zenebe from former conferences. She lost a leg during the bombardment in Mekele. She was seven years old then. She received several artificial limbs and will need more. This kind of support is a
long term support not all survivors can receive.
6 – 7
Aynelem could attend school but not all survivors have that opportunity because of their accident. I, myself could continue my studies in management and I could even find a job in the financial sector of the government in my town
in Mekele. Many survivors in Africa say that the economical situation worsened and that unemployment is so high that survivors or people with disabilities are the last to be chosen for a job. Therefore states should create job opportunities for victims of cluster munitions, landmines and other weapons.
8.
Aynelem received the necessary support from her mother. I myself had the support of my family. Mostly psychological support has been given by the family, friends or groups of survivors and to a much lesser extent by the government.
9.
In many ways I have been supported after my terrible accident and I would wish that all survivors receive the support they need. We are far from that. But I know from my experience that it can be done, so governments should just do it.
You can see me often smiling, but I can tell you it has been a great challenge for me to overcome what has happened to me and I don't want it to happen to anybody else.
Thank you.
Berihu Mesele