Due to different conflicts since the sixties, the Republic of Yemen is one of eighty-six countries in the world that were heavily affected by landmines.
Yemen government considers this issue one of its major tasks and realizes the danger that this deadly weapon can have on people's lives and properties.
The political leaders and officials are determined to take responsibility to locate and destruct landmine, assist mine victims and provide support for their families.
Obstacles:
The process of demining represents continuous concern and unrest for officials in Yemen due to:
-Lack of resources along side of huge obligations
-Technical obstacles such as rarity of appropriate equipments
-Severe lack of qualified experts
-Geographical and natural obstacles
Efforts and Achievements:
-The International appeal of 1996 with regard to mine has received full attention of Yemeni officials and political leaders.
Yemen participated directly on the following international conferences:
Ottawa Conference: October 1990
Vienna Conference: February 1997
Bonn Conference: April 1997
Bruxelles Conference: June 1997
Oslow Conference: September 1997
Ottawa Conference: December 1997
-Yemen signed Ottawa declaration to prevent production of mine anti-individual.
-Establishments of Yemen National Demining Committee (NDC), which is chaired by the Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs.
-A regional seminar was held on mine against individual on November 1997 in Sanaa.
-The landmine impact survey was conducted from July 1999 to July 2000 by the Survey Action Center (SAC) in conjunction with the Afghan based Mine Clearance Planning Agency (MCPA).
Based on the information and findings survey action center and mine clearance planning agency report, Yemen Landmine Impact Survey is a story of success.
The report has also pointed out that:
The Landmine Impact Survey conducted in the Republic of Yemen from July 1999 to July 2000 conclusively identified 592 mine-impacted communities and 1,078 contaminated areas. The survey covered at least 95 percent of the suspected mine-impacted communites in the country with a high degree of confidence. The data collected during this effort affords extensive opportunities for research and analysis, and with the completion of this survey, Yemen now has at its disposal the most comprehensive set of mine-related socio-economic impact data in the world. These data will allow Yemen to develop effective national plans that target areas focused effort and sustained funding, the impact of landmines in Yemen can be dramatically reduced and controlled.
Project overview: A landmine Impact Survey was conducted in the Republic of Yemen starting in July 1999 with fieldwork, and data collection finished one year later in July 2000. This survey was requested by the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) on behalf of the Yemen National Demining Committee (NDC), which is chaired by the Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs. The Survey Action Center (SAC) implemented the survey in conjunction with the Afghan-based Mine Clearance Planning Agency (MCPA) in accordance with the guidelines and protocols set forth by the Survey Working Group (SWG). Funding for the survey was provided by the governments of Canada, the United States, Germany, and Japan, and included partial matching by the United Nations Foundation. The survey was made possible through a contracting mechanism and with the support of in-country U.N. staff provided by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS).
Cost: Conducting teh Survey in Yemen cost a total of $1,650,000. Of this amount, $450,000 consisted of non-expendable equipment such as vehicles transferred to the NDC as part of a plan to expand national mine action capacity.
Scope of Problem: The 592 landmine-impacted communities indicated by the survey are distributed in 18 governorates, primarily in the south and central portions of Yemen. There are an estimated 828,000 Yemeni civilians, roughly 6 percent of the total population, living in these communities. This means that at least one in every 16 Yemenis lives or works near or is otherwise affected by the presence of landmines.
Yemen deeply appreciates all sorts of humanitarian activities in all fields and forward a message of thanks to all governments and international organizations involved in mine action programs in Yemen.
U.S. government demining assistance to Yemen:
Since FY 1998, U.S. government has provided humanitarian demining assistance to Yemen totaling over 6.8 million dollars. The U.S. contributed 1.8 million dollars in FY 2000 alone.
The U.S. humanitarian demining assistance has included:
-The deployment of U.S. Army Special Forces to train Yemeni humanitarian deminers in state-of-the-art demining skills.
-The purchase of demining equipment.
-Feasibility study for a mine-detection dog program.
-Support of mine awareness and mine survivor programs.
-Funding for the first Landmine Impact Survey in Yemen.
-A U.S. opthalmologic surgical team that was training Yemeni medical personnel also treated more than 100 landmine survivors.
The U.S. Department of State's press statement of October 04, 2000 entitled "Successful Completion of First Landmine Impact Survey in Yemen" has stated that a major advance in ridding Yemen of its estimated 100,000 landmines took place when the findings of the first-ever completed Landmine Impact Survey in Yemen were presented on September 24 to the Yemeni Government in the capital, Sanaa. New humanitarian demining efforts by the Government of Yemen and foreign donors can now be more efficiently focused in those communities, speeding the rate at which affected populations are safeguarded, their valuable grazing lands restored to productive use, and their safe access to water sources regained.
The U.S. embassy in Sanaa has also reported that with the Completion of the Landmine Impact Survey, Yemen now has the most comprehensive set of landmine impact data available to any mine-affected country on minefield locations, degree of socioeconomic impact, demorgraphics of mine victims, and types of mines (and unexploded ordnance). Over 800,000 people out of a population of over 17 million-approximately 1 out of every 16 Yemenis -are believed to be affected by the presence of landmines. Yemen's National Demining Commitee will use the survey findings to draw up a national plan that will more ratinally deploy mine clearance teams, concentrate mine awareness campaigns, and assist mine survivors.
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Last Updated: 03/31/04
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