Republic of Yemen

UNDP Practice Area: Crisis Prevention and Recovery

Project Title: Support to Eliminate Impact of Mines & ERW in Yemen - Phase III

Project number: 00047729

Duration: 2007 - 31 December 2012

Budget: USD 6,000,000

Delivery as of September 2011: USD 964,837.39

Project status: Ongoing

Partners:National Mine Action Committee (NMAC); Yemen Executive Mine Action Centre (YEMAC)

Responsible Programme Officer(s): Aleen Hamza

Location: Throughout the territory of Yemen

Brief Description:
This project represents the third phase of UNDP's support to the national mine action programme in Yemen. The programme will capitalize on the capacities built during the previous phases and will further strengthen these. It aims to assist the Government to effectively deal with the humanitarian and developmental problems of mines and Explosive Remnants of War (ERW), including resource mobilization, procurement and financial management to enable the Government of Yemen to plan, co-ordinate, implement and manage all mine action activities in the country.

Objectives:

• Reduce landmine/ERW victim rates to close to zero per year in Suspected Hazardous Areas (SHAs);
• Continue clearance, fencing or marking of SHAs that present a threat to the economic and social livelihood of mine contaminated communities;
• Ensure all landmine/ERW survivors receive medical care and have access to assistance that leads to full integration into community life; and
• Modify the existing mine action structure to meet the long term and reduced demands for mine action that is sustainable by national resources after the end of major international assistance.

Key Activities:

• Clear all mine impacted areas causing casualties by March 2015;
• Improve the safety of mine affected communities by reducing the landmine threat through the implementation of an integrated programme;
• Contribute to the Yemeni economy by safely returning additional mine free land to Yemeni communities for productive and other uses;
• Meet the emergency needs of mine victims and develop strategies for their socio-economic reintegration; and
• Further improve the Mine Risk Education (MRE)programme to reduce accidents and casualties among Yemeni citizens through awareness campaigns.

Key Activities:
Following are the programme's major achievements till September 2011:

• 782.8 million square meters of suspected land have been surveyed.
• 28.4 million square meters of affected land have been marked as minefields.
• 25.3 million square meters of affected land have been cleared and returned to the local users.
• 280,434 landmines and ERWs have been located and safely destroyed.
• Mine risk education provided in 856 villages covering a total of 1,420,858 individuals (699,566 females and 721,292 males).
• Medical assistance and support has been provided to 1,596 landmine victims.
• The programme successfully turned into national execution (NEX) in October 2003.
• The MDD unit has been technically managed by 100 percent national cadres since December 2009.

Evaluation: The project has been subject to the standard UNDP review, monitoring and evaluation guidelines.

2012 Additional interventions:

Developments in the national scene has necessitated expanding interventions under the mine action portfolio to include removal of Explosive Ruminants of War (ERWs) from conflict areas, specifically Northern Yemen and the governorates Abyan and Shabwa in the south. Therefore, in bridging between phases 3 and 4 of the Yemen Mine Action project, additional resources will need to be channeled to fund the expansions to remove the ERWs.

Furthermore, a serious mine risk education campaign is planned to increase awareness on risks for the displaced, conflict-affected, and potentially repatriating populations. A complimentary advocacy scheme is planned to help coordinate and marshal support for mine action activities among stakeholders.

Last Modified on 17/03/2012 05:34 am