Yemen

Cluster Munition Remnants

Anti-Personnel Mines

  • Article 5 deadline

    1 March 2028

  • Performance

    Poor

Performance Criterion Score
Understanding of anti-personnel mine contamination (20% of overall score) 4
National ownership and programme management (10% of overall score) 4
Gender (10% of overall score) 5
Information management and reporting (10% of overall score) 5
Planning and tasking (10% of overall score) 5
Land release system (20% of overall score) 4
Land release outputs and Article 5 compliance (20% of overall score) 6
Performance score 4.7

Key Developments

In 2022, Yemen’s internationally recognised government (IRG) requested and was granted a five-year extension of its Article 5 deadline until end-March 2028. A baseline survey conducted by the Yemen Executive Mine Action Centre (YEMAC) in Aden, which represents the IRG (YEMAC-IRG) identified 239 hazardous areas totalling around 52km2. In the north, three international demining non-governmental organisations (NGOs) visited Sana’a in February 2023 and negotiated a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the authorities in Sana’a that would provide a basis for them to operate in areas controlled by Houthi authorities but the MoUs remained unsigned as at August 2023. After nearly a decade of donor support, funding for a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) programme of emergency support for mine action ended in June 2023 with the UN recommending that donors should instead fund implementing partners directly. Since April 2022, the UN Mission to support the Hudaydah Agreement (UNMHA) has taken on a stronger coordination role in Yemen, especially the Hudaydah governorate, in support of the UN country team’s efforts, led by UNDP.


Recommendations for Action

  • All parties to conflict should act to halt continuing use of mines and improvised explosive devices.
  • The IRG and YEMAC should streamline procedures for the importation of demining equipment and issuance of visas and movement permits.
  • YEMAC-IRG and the Yemen Mine Action Coordination Centre (YMACC) in Aden should develop a mine action work plan setting clear targets for survey and clearance of mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW).
  • YEMAC-IRG and YMACC should release aggregated data on contamination identified by the baseline survey by governorate and district.
  • The Yemen Executive Mine Action Centre operating under the de facto authorities in Sana’a (YEMAC-DFA) should sign MoUs negotiated with international operators and with full support of all DFA authorities expedite the deployment of international NGOs (INGOs).
  • YEMAC-DFA should cease its dual role of regulator and operator and create a coordination centre to take over responsibility for tasking, information management, and quality assurance (QA)/quality control (QC).
  • YEMAC-DFA should conduct non-technical survey (NTS) consistent with international standards to establish a baseline estimate of contamination.
  • The United Nations should act expeditiously to replace the emergency programme previously coordinated by UNDP with a framework for financial and technical support to survey, clearance, information management, and QA/QC consistent with international standards.

Download the full "Clearing the Mines 2023" report for Yemen

Click here to download the "Clearing the Mines 2023" report for Yemen.