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Key developments since May 2000: The Landmine Impact Survey was completed in July 2000 and the Yemeni government approved a five-year Strategic Mine Action Plan based on the survey data in February 2001. The Survey identified 592 affected villages and 1,078 mine sites covering 923 million square meters of land, affecting 828,000 Yemeni civilians. An additional 4,286 antipersonnel mines were destroyed from stockpiles in February 2001. In 2000, 447 antivehicle mines and 4,897 UXO were cleared from an area of land covering 666,445 square meters. There were at least twelve mine casualties in 2000, and three mine incidents by mid-2001.
The Republic of Yemen signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997, ratified on 1 September 1998 and the treaty entered into force on 1 March 1999. In June 1998 the Parliament issued, and the President signed, Law 8/98 which mandates that the government “will enforce the ban from the day the law was issued.” However, Yemen has not taken any action to introduce specific legislation implementing the treaty. The government is concerned about the adequacy of the existing legislation and says it hopes to benefit from the experiences of other countries.[1]
In September 2000, Minister Dr. Mutahar al-Saidi, Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, represented Yemen at the Second Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty.[2] Yemen attended the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in December 2000 and May 2001. From May 1999 to September 2000, Yemen served, together with Germany, as co-rapporteur of the now disbanded Standing Committee on Technologies for Mine Action. Since September 2000, Yemen has served as co-rapporteur, together with Germany, of the Standing Committee on Mine Clearance and Related Technologies. Yemen voted in favor of the November 2000 UN General Assembly resolution in support of the Mine Ban Treaty.
Yemen submitted its initial Article 7 transparency report on 30 November 1999, covering the period from 4 December 1997 to 30 November 1999. It then submitted its next report on 14 November 2000, covering the period from 30 November 1999 to 14 November 2000.[3] Yemen has not yet submitted the annual Article 7 report that was due 30 April 2001 (to cover calendar year 2000).
Yemen states that it has never manufactured or exported antipersonnel mines. The last reported use of mines was 1994.[4]
After submitting its initial Article 7 report in November 1999 (which reported 59,000 antipersonnel mines in stock), Yemen discovered an additional 20,000 antipersonnel mines and this was included in the subsequent Article 7 report. The additional mines consisted of 6,000 PP-MI-Sr-2 and 14,000 POMZ-2 and were found among different army units.[5] Yemen has indicated it will retain 4,000 antipersonnel mines as permitted by Article 3.[6]
On 22 February 2001, Yemen destroyed 4,286 stockpiled antipersonnel mines, including 2,800 PP-MI-Sr-II, 525 PMN, and 961 PMD-6. The destruction, which was funded by the US government, took place in Al Wahat in Lahej Governorate.[7] Previously, Yemen destroyed 5,050 antipersonnel mines on 14 February 2000. Yemen still has 65,664 mines in stock awaiting destruction.
In order to complete the destruction of its mine stockpile, Yemen has said that it needs funding and explosives; it would like to complete destruction by the end of 2001, and has prepared the rest of its stock for destruction, but has no explosives.[8]
Initiated in July 1999, the Landmine Impact Survey undertook the nationwide task of documenting the location of landmines and studying the socio-economic impact of the mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) throughout Yemen. The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) offered to facilitate the conduct of the survey for the Yemen National Demining Commission (NDC). The US-based Survey Action Center (SAC) was contracted by the UN to carry out the survey; they in turn contracted the implementation of the survey to the Afghan-based NGO, Mine Clearance Planning Agency (MCPA). The year-long study employed 102 Yemeni nationals, twenty percent of whom were women.[9] Following guidelines and protocols set by the Survey Working Group (SWG), MCPA completed the survey in July 2000. The survey is the first of its kind conducted in accordance with Survey Working Group Protocols for Impact Survey, and provides a comprehensive set of Socio-Economic Mine Impact data.[10] In August 2000, the United Nations Certification Committee certified the survey as having been conducted in accordance with UN Impact Survey Certification Guidelines.[11] On 24 September 2000, the results of the Landmine Impact Survey were presented to Prime Minister Dr. Abdul Karim Al-Iryani.
The Landmine Impact Survey identified 592 affected villages located in nineteen out of Yemen’s twenty governorates (Al-Mahweet Governorate was the only governorate to be declared mine free). One thousand and seventy-eight mine sites were located within a total reported surface area of 923 million square meters. These sites were most heavily clustered in the central and southern regions of Yemen. Approximately 828,000 Yemeni civilians (1 out of every 16 Yemenis) are affected by the presence of mines and UXO.[12] The survey determined that the mine sites are the result of antipersonnel mines, antitank mines, and UXO planted in the 1960s through the 1980s and during the 1994 war.[13]
The Landmine Impact Survey for Yemen cost a total of US$1,650,000. [14] Funding was provided by Canada, Japan, Germany, the United States and the United Nations Foundation.
The Yemen Mine Action Program cost approximately $5.5 million during the last two fiscal years (May 1999 through April 2001). According to the Yemen Mine Action Program, the following donors have contributed to mine action programs in Yemen:[15]
Republic of Yemen $3,250,000
UNDP $500,000
Japan $488,000 (mine awareness and victim assistance)
Canada $430,000 (victim assistance)
USA $290,000 (in-kind)
Norway $278,000
Germany $140,000 (in-kind)
Switzerland $100,000 (in-kind)
Landmine Monitor notes that the government of Italy has reported contributing $718,000 and the government of the Netherlands $80,000 to mine action in Yemen in 2000.
The US reports that it donated $1.817 million to demining in Yemen between October 1999 and September 2000. This included $736,000 provided through the US Embassy, $430,000 in equipment and supplies, and $70,000 for EOD training.[16]
Approximately $460,000 was budgeted for mine awareness and victim assistance from April 2000 to April 2001.[17]
The NDC held a conference for donors in March 2000. Many donors expressed an interest in contributing to the National Mine Action Program in the future.[18] In June 2000, the Chairman and Executive Officer of the NDC conducted a successful fund-raising tour in Europe, with meetings in Belgium, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, while local follow-up meetings were held with embassy officials in July and August 2000.[19]
To date, two significant funding pledges were made in 2001. On 13 March 2001, the United Kingdom pledged 285,000 sterling pounds (US$403,249) for the Yemen Mine Action Program. The announcement was made during a meeting between the United Kingdom’s FCO Minister Brian Wilson and Dr. Mutahir Al Saidi, Yemeni Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs.[20] In May 2001, Saudi Arabia announced a donation of $3 million to Yemen for its Yemen Mine Action Program. The money will go directly to the National Demining Committee bypassing the UN and UNDP.[21]
From April 2001 to June 2001, the following contributions were pledged to the Yemen Mine Action Program:[22]
Saudi Arabia $3,000,000 (in installment over three years)
United Kingdom $403,249 (285,000 Sterling Pounds)
Canada $98,490 (CAN$150,000)
Sweden $45,905 (500,000 Kroner)
The government of Yemen is developing a national mine action capacity capable of planning and managing all mine action activities.[23] The inter-ministerial National Demining Commission (NDC) is the supervising authority for implementation of the Yemen Mine Action Program.[24] Under the NDC’s guidance, the National Technical Executive Unit in Sana’a (also known as the National Mine Action Center) is responsible for planning and coordination of mine action activities while the Regional Technical Executive Unit in Aden (also known as the Regional Mine Action Center) is responsible for executing national mine action plans.
The NDC established a Mine Awareness Advisory Subcommittee in 2000 under the leadership of the Deputy Minister of Information. The subcommittee’s main task is to formulate a national mine awareness plan to be discussed and approved by the NDC.[25] Two NGOs, Yemen Mine Awareness Association (YMAA) and Rädda Barnen, are members of the subcommittee. There are other subcommittees on victim assistance and survey.
As part of a twenty-five year strategy, mine action specialists designed the government-approved Five-Year Strategic Mine Action Plan (from 2001 to 2005), a program in mine awareness, mine marking, mine clearance, and victim assistance, based on the findings of the Landmine Impact Survey, which focuses integrated mine action in the most highly affected communities.[26] During this period, Yemen Mine Action Program will double in size to a total of eight Mine Action companies of 100 personnel each, eight Technical Survey Teams of 10 persons each, and eight Mine Detection Dog Teams, with four dogs per team.[27] Over the five years, the estimated annual cost will average $5.5 million, of which the government of Yemen will provide approximately $1,625,000 per year.[28]
In 2000, 447 antivehicle mines and 4,897 UXO were detected, cleared, and destroyed from an area of land covering 666,445 square meters.[29] A unit of the Engineering Department of the Ministry Defense and a separate body, the Mine Clearance Unit of the Regional Technical Executive Unit, undertake mine clearance in Yemen. At the beginning of 2001, the Yemen Mine Action Program had 400 fully trained mine survey, clearance, mine awareness and victim assistance personnel organized into four Mine Action companies.[30] All personnel are retired military and function under civilian control. No NGO or commercial companies engage in mine clearance. There is also a National Training Center that conducts initial and refresher safety training for mine action personnel.
A mine database has been established at the National and Regional Executive Technical Unit to assist in the landmine clearance effort and a technical five-month training course was conducted for an eight-person team to enable them to analyze and utilize the data.[31] Three survey field teams have been established in Aden to provide Level Two Survey support (to determine the perimeter of a mined area and fence it) to the Regional Executive Technical Unit. Metal detectors from Australia, UK, Germany, and the United States were tested to determine the most effective design for the terrain.[32]
In 2001, mine clearance is focused on Technical Survey (Level Two), area reduction, and clearance concentrating on those communities defined by the Landmine Impact Survey as the most at risk or affected.[33] Four hundred deminers divided into seven mobile teams are clearing mine-affected areas in Aden and Lahej. Upon completion of the mine clearance project in Aden and Lahej, the deminers will move on to Ibb and Al-Dhale.[34] In 2001, two additional Mine Action Companies will complete training and be fully equipped by the end of 2001 and a Mine Detection Dog capability will begin.[35] The NDC is currently considering opening a regional unit in Mukalla/Hadramout.[36]
The Yemen Mine Awareness Association and the Mine Awareness Education department at the Regional Technical Executive Unit in Aden designed a new poster depicting common mines and UXO and a mine awareness game for children called Al-Salama (Safety). In July 2000, the new mine awareness materials were used as part of the mine awareness education at summer camps in Aden, Lahej and Abyan. A total of 130 children and 25 teachers participated in the training and provided comments on the new materials, which were then taken into consideration during the final development stage. Together Rädda Barnen, the Mine Action Program and the government of Norway paid for the printing of 20,000 posters through a US$31,000 grant given to the Yemen Mine Awareness Association.[37]
Mine awareness is mainly conducted through field visits and presentations in villages close to mined areas where posters are distributed.[38] As of April 2000, the Regional Technical Executive Unit and the Yemen Mine Awareness Association had made 201 field visits to 47 villages to distribute 160,000 new posters.[39]
Part of the grant money provided by the Norwegian government is being used in conjunction with the Regional Technical Executive Unit’s advocacy work around the Mine Ban Treaty. A quarterly newsletter is being produced that features current mine action activities, progress of the Mine Action Centers, international events on landmine issues, and stories of landmine victims and survivors. Five issues of the “Al-Aman” newsletter have been circulated to media, mine action center staff, National Deming Committee members, concerned Ministries, embassies, and community members involved in mine awareness education.
As the result of a regional Mine Awareness Education workshop held in Aden in November and December 1999, two additional workshops using the Child-to-Child approach were held in Jordan and Lebanon. On 16-18 April 2000, Shafiqa Mohamed Saeed, a Yemen Mine Awareness member and chairperson of the Child-to-Child Association, facilitated a Mine Awareness Education workshop for youths in Tyre, South Lebanon. In Aqaba, Jordan, Aisha Saeed, Chair of the Yemen Mine Awareness Education Association and a Rädda Barnen Programme Officer conducted a Mine Awareness Education workshop for supervisors of youth centers on 8-17 August 2000. Rädda Barnen and Save the Children US provided the funding for the Lebanon workshop while Rädda Barnen and Landmine Survivors Network paid for the Jordan workshop.[40]
In July 2000, a Review of the Mine Awareness Program in Three Yemeni Governorates: Aden, Lahej and Abyan was published by Rädda Barnen. In 2000, Yemen Mine Awareness Association received US$25,000 from Rädda Barnen to fund its activities.[41] Two members of the YMAA attended the Regional Seminar on Landmines held in Cairo, Egypt from 9-11 April 2000. Then in November 2000, three members of the YMAA participated in the Djibouti conference on Landmines in the Horn of Africa and Gulf of Aden.
The YMAA received a grant of $22,440 on 4 April 2001 from the US Embassy and is using this support for mine awareness activities in two high-risk areas in Qataba and Ebb.
The UNICEF Mine Awareness Education Guidelines have been translated into Arabic to provide unification of the mine awareness education being implemented in mine affected areas of Yemen.
The Mine Awareness Department at the Regional Technical Executive Unit does not follow the community-based approach to its mine awareness education program used by the Yemen Mine Awareness Association and has difficulty reaching villagers. It has requested the assistance of the YMAA to implement its mine awareness programs because the YMAA are better able to directly involve community members. The YMAA also has a much easier time reaching women because half of the YMAA team members are women many of whom are trained as teachers, whereas the department’s team consists only of men.
In the year 2000, the Victim Assistance Department of the RTEU recorded twelve mine victims, of whom six died. Two of the landmine survivors were girls under the age of 16, who were injured while herding in their villages in the Qa’ataba District. Of those who died from their injuries, four were boys under the age of 16 and two were adult males. In January 2001, two mine accidents were reported, which resulted in the loss of upper and/or lower limbs of the victim. In February 2001, a young boy lost a hand and an eye to a mine accident in the Lahej Governorate.[42]
The Landmine Impact Survey collected data on recent mine casualties and on casualties to date, which are markedly higher than any statistics previously collected.[43] The Survey recorded 178 “recent” casualties (57 deaths and 121 injuries) and an overall total of 4,904 casualties (2,560 deaths and 2,344 injuries).[44] This can be compared to figures from Ministry of Interior contained in Landmine Monitor Report 1999 of, “a total of 723 victims in Yemen between 1992 and 1996 (an average of fifteen victims each month), of which 204 have died of their injuries.”[45] The Landmine Impact Survey reported that most mine/UXO accidents occurred in the governorates of Ibb, Al-Dhale, Al-Baida, and Lahej and found that of the 592 communities surveyed, 488 had a history of mine accidents injuring one or more persons.[46]
Mine Victim Survey[47]
|
Time Period
|
Communities Involved
|
Deaths Among Victims
|
Injured Victims
|
Total Victims
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Recent Victims
(under 1 year) |
78
|
57
|
121
|
178
|
|
Victims of less recent date
|
474
|
2,503
|
2,223
|
4,726
|
|
All Victims
|
488
|
2,560
|
2,344
|
4,904
|
|
Had No Victims
|
104
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
In January 2001, Handicap International Belgium (HI-B), in partnership with Ministry of Insurance, Social Affairs, and Labor (MOISA) and the Ministry of Public Health established the Aden Rehabilitation Center. Movimondo and HI-B are training Yemeni physiotherapist assistants and nurses.[48] A physiotherapy training course was held in Aden and Sana’a from 18 November 2000 to 30 January 2001. Participants included four physiotherapists from Aden and ten nurses from Ibb, Al-Dhale, and Al-Baida Governorates. These trainers are expected to support other nurses who are trained in physiotherapy and to establish departments of physiotherapy in their local district hospitals.[49]
Some landmine survivors are provided with rehabilitation services and prosthetics through the rehabilitation centers in Aden, Sana’a, and Taiz.[50] The Aden workshop has not started manufacturing prosthetics, but staff from the Taiz and Sana’a workshops were sent to Ethiopia for training in production of lightweight prosthetics. Although these workshops provide valuable assistance to landmine survivors, they lack an adequate recording system of their clients. The centers have no records of treating landmine victims in the year 2000, despite the fact that victims were treated in their facilities.[51]
Despite the distribution of prosthetics, Jane Brouillette, Rädda Barnen’s community based rehabilitation advisor in MOISA, mentioned the need for local wheelchair manufacturing and functional devices for survivors who have had their hands or arms amputated. [52] Often spare parts for broken wheelchairs are not available; therefore, the manufacturing of wheelchairs in Yemen is a high priority. This action will assist in the procurement of terrain-adapted wheelchairs at a lower cost, provide jobs for people with disabilities, and grant access to spare parts and maintenance for wheelchair users.
The Ministry of Insurance and Social Affairs reorganized their Community Based Rehabilitation Program (CBR) in 2000 to be more responsive to the needs of landmine survivors. In 2000, the Mine Action Program joined Rädda Barnen and ADRA in supporting the CBR program. Any future expansion of this program will depend on the results of the Landmine Impact Survey.
In November 2000, the CBR Program organized training workshops funded by the Mine Action Program for CBR workers and volunteers in the mine-affected areas. A mobile team was established consisting of the most qualified CBR workers to respond to severely affected mine survivors and to respond to the rapid expansion of CBR services in mined areas.
A vocational center was established in 1990 through an agreement between the UNDP and the Ministry of Insurance, Social Affairs, and Labor and to date, 150 disabled persons have received vocational training through the center.[53] In May 1999, the clients of the center formed an association to promote awareness of the disabled in Yemen. Since its establishment, the association has developed a small loan project to promote job opportunities for the disabled.
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[1] Interview with Rashida Al-Hamadani, Secretary, National Demining Committee, Sana’a, 7 November 2000.
[2] Statement by Dr. Mutahar al-Saidi, Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, Geneva, 11 September 2000.
[3] This report, due 30 April 2000, was late because the government had hoped to receive funds for the destruction of its stockpile of antipersonnel mines prior to its submission. Interview with Mansour Al Azi, Executive Officer and General Coordinator, Yemen Mine Action Program, Sana’a, 8 November 2000.
[4] See previous Landmine Monitor Reports for more details on past use and importation of mines.
[5] Article 7 report, Form B, 14 November 2000.
[6] Article 7 report, Form D, 14 November 2000: 1,000 each of PMN, POMZ-2, PMD-6 and PPMiSR-2.
[7] Telephone interview with Mansour Al Azi, Executive Officer and General Coordinator, Yemen Mine Action Program, 24 February 2001.
[8] Statement by Mansour Al Azi, Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction, Geneva, 10 May 2001; Article 7 report, Form F, 14 November 2001.
[9] US Department of State, Office of the Spokesman Press Release, Successful Completion of the First Landmine Impact Survey in Yemen, 4 October 2000.
[10] United Nations, “Portfolio of Mine-related Projects,” April 2001, p. 247.
[11] Interview with Mansour Al Azi, Sana’a, 8 November 2000; email from UNMAS to Landmine Monitor (HRW), 31 July 2001.
[12] Survey Action Center, Landmine Impact Survey Republic of Yemen Executive Summary, p. 3.
[13] Interview with Mohmaed Faiz, Supervisor of Level One Survey in southern Yemen, MCPA Office, Sana’a, 8 November 2000.
[14] Survey Action Center, Landmine Impact Survey Republic of Yemen Executive Summary, p. 3.
[15] Interview with Scot Pilkington, Chief Technical Advisor, Yemen Mine Action Program, Sana’a, 8 November 2000.
[16] US Department of State, Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs, “FY00 NADR Project Status,” 27 December 2000.
[17] Interview with Scot Pilkington, Chief Technical Advisor, Yemen Mine Action Program, Sana’a, 8 November 2000.
[18] Ibid.
[19] Interview with Rashida Al-Hamadani, Secretary, National Demining Committee, Sana’a, 7 November 2000.
[20] M2 Presswire, “UK Government: FCO Brian Wilson says Britain will give quarter of a million pounds to support demining in Yemen,” London, 13 March 2001.
[21] “US $3 For De-mining,” Yemen Observer, 19 May 2001.
[22] Conversion to US dollars by Landmine Monitor, 28 June 2001.
[23] United Nations, “Portfolio of Mine-related Projects,” April 2001, p. 248.
[24] For more details on the NDC and its membership see Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 911.
[25] Interview with Fadhle Garama, Director, Regional Technical Executive Unit, Aden, November 2000.
[26] United Nations, “Portfolio of Mine-related Projects,” April 2001, p. 247.
[27] Ibid, p. 249.
[28] Ibid.
[29] Telephone interview with A. Raqeeb, Director of the Operations Department, Mine Action Center, Sana’a, 20 June 2001.
[30] United Nations, “Portfolio of Mine-related Projects,” April 2001, p. 246, 248.
[31] Interview with Mohmaed Faiz, Supervisor of Level One Survey in southern Yemen, Sana’a, 8 November 2000.
[32] Interview with Mansour Al-Ezzi, Sana’a 8 November 2000.
[33] United Nations, “Portfolio of Mine-related Projects,” April 2001, p. 248.
[34] Ibid.
[35] Ibid.
[36] Interview with Col. Kassim Al-Shaibani, Director, National Technical Executive Unit, Sana’a, 8 November 2000.
[37] Interview with Aysha Saeed, Chairperson, Yemen Mine Awareness Association, Aden, 15 December 2000.
[38] Interview with Mohamed Abobker, Director of Mine Awareness Education Department at the Regional Technical Executive Unit, Aden, 27 November 2000.
[39] Ibid.
[40] Interview with Aysha Saeed, Aden, 15 December 2000.
[41] Interview with Abdul Karim Ahmed, Senior Programme Officer in charge of Aden office, Rädda Barnen, 15 November 2000.
[42] Interview with Al-Khader Abdulla, Director of Victim Assistance Department, Regional Mine Action Center, Aden, 28 November 2000.
[43] This can be attributed to several factors including: underreporting for fear of questioning by the police or the army or due to other reasons, many injured or killed never reach the hospitals and are therefore not registered and record-keeping by government ministries cannot reach as deep into all communities at village-level as the Landmine Impact Survey was able to, mainly because of a lack of resources.
[44] Recent victims are defined as mine victims from the past 24 months starting from when the victims were reported to survey teams by villages visited by the teams. The survey team visits started in November 1999 and were completed in June 2000 so the period for the recent 178 victims is approximately in the period from November 1997 to June 2000. The 4,726 less recent victims are those reported by villages to survey teams from periods before the past 24 months. Survey Action Center, Landmine Impact Survey Republic of Yemen Executive Summary, p. 15.
[45] United Nations Mine Action Service, Joint Assessment Mission Report: Yemen, 21 September 1998, p. 9.
[46] Survey Action Center, Landmine Impact Survey Republic of Yemen Executive Summary, p. 15.
[47] Ibid.
[48] Interview with Roberta Contini, Movimondo, Aden, 30 January 2001.
[49] Interview with Muriel Gevaetts, HI Physiotherapist trainer at Aden Rehabilitation Center, 27 November 2000.
[50] Interview with Al-Khader Abdullah, Victim Assistance Department, Regional Technical Executive Unit, Aden, 28 November 2000.
[51] Interview with Muriel Gevaetts (HI), 26 November 2000.
[52] Interview with Jane Brouillette, Rädda Barnen, CBR Advisor to the Ministry of Education and Insurance of Social Affairs, Sana’a, 15 November 2000.
[53] Laila Bashumila, Director, Aden Vocational Training Center interview in Al Ayam newspaper, Issue 3247, 9 December 2001.
