UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Patrick J. Leahy War Victims Fund

The Leahy War Victims Fund, established in 1989 and managed by USAID, is an important source of U.S. assistance to civilian victims of conflict in developing countries. The Leahy War Victims Fund is a dedicated provider of financial and technical support for people with disabilities, particularly those who sustain mobility-related injuries from landmines, UXO, and other maladies resulting from conflict. To date, the Leahy War Victims Fund has provided approximately $389 million in assistance to more than 50 countries, including Burma, Colombia, Georgia, Haiti, Laos, Tajikistan, and Ukraine.

The Leahy War Victims Fund was originally tasked with delivering immediate care to civilians impacted by landmines and UXO, including the provision of prosthetics, orthotics, and rehabilitation services. Its scope has widened to accommodate the changing needs of vulnerable populations and to promote quality sustainable rehabilitation services in conflict-affected countries.

The Leahy War Victims Fund also supports the development of international rehabilitation standards, and training on those standards to ensure rehabilitation practitioners and institutions have sufficient capacity to provide high-quality services.

In Nepal, Leahy War Victims Fund supported the five-year, $4.8 million Strengthening the Rehabilitation in District Environs (STRIDE) activity implemented by Humanity and Inclusion (HI). HI partnered with five physical rehabilitation centers, the Ministry of Health (MoH), and local disabled persons organizations to strengthen the sustainability of physical rehabilitation services and foster integration of disabled persons into their communities. Program activities included:

• Physical rehabilitation services for 48,615 individuals

• Psychosocial support for 9,449 individuals and the development of livelihood activities for 4,318 individuals

• 274 mobile assessment camps in 53 remote districts

• Training over 60 rehabilitation professionals

The STRIDE activity worked with the MoH to strengthen the rehabilitation sector; develop a Nepal-specific Priority Assistive Product List; implement the Rehabilitation Management System to assess the quality of rehabilitation services; and lead research to strengthen evidence-based, best-practice interventions. Spending approximately $12 million in 2019, in addition to ongoing programs in 18 countries, the Leahy War Victims Fund launched two new activities in 2019. As a result of STRIDE’s achievement in Nepal, HI is implementing physical rehabilitation activity to establish a sustainable, integrated, public-private rehabilitation system to improve the mobility and functional independence of victims of conflict and individuals in need of rehabilitation services. Results for Development is implementing the Health System Strengthening Accelerator activity to connect locally-driven health system innovation with global knowledge to improve the institutional architecture for evidencebased and sustainable rehabilitation services in health systems in conflict-affected countries.

Photo caption: Nishan, 14, from Nepal, lost his leg at the age of five. Now he can walk again with support from STRIDE. Photo courtesy of HI.