UNDP offers $ 4 million to Eliminate Mines [Archives:2007/1075/Local News]
SANA'A, Aug 6 )Yemen and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) signed last Thursday an agreement to fund the third stage of landmines survey project, which will cost as much as $4.3 million.
The cost-sharing agreement of the third phase of Mine Action project was signed yesterday by the Government of Yemen represented by the National Mine Action Committee (NMAC), with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The UNDP will grant Yemen with $ 1 million dollar to carry out the third phase of the project, which will start soon, so as to eliminate the impact of mines and explosive remnants of war.
Accordingly, the Government of Yemen will contribute with USD 300,000 to the Mine Action project. Worth-mentioning, the estimated total budget of the project is USD 6,000,000, some of which has been allocated through UNDP's contribution of USD 1,000,000. Also, the European Union is expected to contribute with Euro 2,000,000, while the remaining amount will be mobilized by UNDP. The duration of the project is for two and a half years.
The overall goal of the project is to assist the Government of Yemen to effectively deal with humanitarian and development problems of mines and fulfil Yemen's obligations under the Antipersonnel Mine Ban Treaty.
According to a press release issued by UNDP that the project will support Yemen to eliminate the impact from landmines as well as the Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) and to successfully integrate mine and ERW survivors in their communities.
In addition, the project will capitalize on capacities created during earlier phases and will further strengthen them. It will also support the Government of Yemen to successfully implement the priorities identified in the National Mine Action and Strategy Plan, through eliminating landmine impacts by 2009, addressing the needs of the mine victims, integrating them into the society and economy, enhancing mine risk education, and supporting community development in mine affected areas.
Since Yemen was the first country in the region to ratify the Ottawa Treaty to Ban Landmines, Yemeni Government represented by Yemen Executive Mine Action Centre (YEMAC) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) established Mine Action Support Project (YEM/98/002), in the year 1999.
In two different phases – phase I 1999-2003, followed by phase II – the project made several achievements in this field, such as clearing all high, medium, and low impacted communities, building capacities, raising awareness of the public, establishing YEMAC, and providing institutional support.
According to Landmine Impact Survey (LIS) that was carried out in Yemen during the year 2000, a total of 592 communities were identified impacted by landmines and Explosive Remnants of War (ERW, 14 of which, with a population of 36.000, were found highly impacted. The rest of communities, with a population of 731.400, were considered either medium or low impacted.
The LIS also recognized an estimated number of casualties as high as 5000 over the past 10 years, large numbers of which are believed to be women and children. Far from the humanitarian destructive aspect of landmines, they can be considered a barrier to the economic growth in Yemen because the impacted agricultural lands are blocked and so are the impacted irrigation sources.
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