Several assistance activities are carried out to help Ex-Servicemen and War Victims. It should be pointed out, first, that all the activities to be implemented with regard to social assistance for Ex-Servicemen and War Victims are governed by Article 21 of Decree N°2012/387 of September 14, 2012 to lay down the organization and functioning of the Secretariat of State for Defense in charge of Ex-Servicemen and War Victims.  This article unambiguously states that the Social Assistance Service is responsible for analyzing and monitoring all matters relating to the moral, psycho-social and physical assistance of ex-servicemen and war victims  or their claimants. Specialists agree on the definition of assistance as help, support or backing that can be given to a person. At the Secretariat of State to the Ministry of Defence in charge of Ex-Servicemen and War Victims, this assistance has been provided in various forms since its creation: funeral assistance; multi-faceted aid and assistance; moral and psychological assistance; listening and counselling. Each year, the budget earmarked for funeral assistance enables the Secretariat of State to the Ministry of Defence in charge of Ex-Servicemen and War Victims to meet a large number of requests for support to the claimants of deceased Ex-Servicemen and War Victims.

As a reminder, article 15 of decree no. 2012/387 of September 14, 2012 stipulates that the personnel, pension and chancellery service is responsible, among other things, for processing cases in the first instance relating to the pensions of Ex-Servicemen, War Victims and their claimants.

Thus, three categories of people can benefit from this service (claimants):

retired military personnel;

widows of retired servicemen;

children of retired military personnel.

The following conditions must be met in order to receive this funeral support:

• For retired military personnel :

death certificate ;

retirement pension decree or retirement decision;

retired serviceman’s birth certificate.

• For widows :

1. death certificate ;
2. marriage certificate;
3. spouse’s pension decree or retirement decision.

• For children:

1. death certificate ;
2. child’s birth certificate;
3. retirement pension decree or retirement decision.

Moral and psychological assistance.  For this purpose, they are given a protocol for their mental health management, and even the facilities capable of accommodating them in the event of mental health problems. An article devoted to the problems of managing the mental health of servicemen appeared in this year’s “Ancien Combattant” magazine, and dwells extensively on this topic.

Multifaceted aid and assistance.  Financial and medical assistance is provided on request, depending on the availability of funds by the Secretary of State to the Ministry of Defence in charge of Ex-Servicemen and War Victims.

Finally, in terms of listening and counselling, Ex-Servicemen and War Victims are able to find solutions in their homes, while some are referred to other institutions such as the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, etc., depending on the specific nature of their concerns.