Since 2015, Yemen’s ongoing conflict has significantly worsened mine contamination, causing high casualties, endangering millions and putting around 6.9 million people in need of mine action assistance. Widespread contamination not only restricts humanitarian aid and disrupts maritime trade but also hinders the broader peace process and solutions for displaced communities by limiting safe returns, housing and livelihoods.

Today, Yemen is among the top countries in the world with the highest number of landmine victims in need of assistance.

To address this critical situation, UNOPS launched a project funded by the government of the Netherlands and implemented on behalf of the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office in Yemen. The project provides an important and timely contribution to both coordination and operational mine action efforts. Focussing on surveying and clearing landmines and explosive remnants of war contamination in the most affected southern governorates, the project will also enhance coordination mechanisms to scale up mine action efforts.

Jeannette Seppen, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Yemen, said: “For the Netherlands, mine action is more than a way to improve security. It also contributes in various ways to the humanitarian-development-peace nexus, by creating the preconditions for humanitarian access and socio-economic reconstruction. We are glad to be contributing to these important goals in Yemen.”

As part of the project, UNOPS is collaborating with international non-governmental organizations operating in South Yemen and awarding three grants for survey and clearance operations. In addition, the project extends operational support to the Yemen Mine Action Coordination Centre to ensure the continuity of critical coordination functions.

"By strengthening the coordination and operational capacity of the national mine action institutions and fostering active engagement among all relevant stakeholders, this initiative contributes to a broader framework of shared and coordinated national and international efforts aimed at scaling up lifesaving humanitarian mine action operations in Yemen," said Muhammad Usman Akram, Representative and Director of UNOPS Multi-Country Office in Amman.

About UNOPS mine action operations
UNOPS, with the largest operational mine action capacity within the UN, is an integral part of the UN's response to the mine action problem. UNOPS is a member of the UN Inter-Agency Coordination Group on Mine Action (IACG-MA), a global body of 12 UN organizations that governs the coordination of mine action/explosive threat management activities globally. With nearly three decades of expertise in implementing complex mine action projects throughout the world, it serves as a key partner in over 15 countries and territories, working alongside UNMAS, UNDP, UNICEF, UNOCT and others.

To scale up mine action operations, a strategic reset was launched in July 2023 under the leadership of the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator. Funded by ECHO, UNOPS implemented the “Strategic Coordination of Ways Forward for Humanitarian Mine Action Interventions in Yemen” project, which concluded in September 2024. The project deployed two humanitarian mine action advisors to support national efforts and engaged key stakeholders.