Mine action support to settled and displaced populations in Sabir Al-Mawadim, Salah and Dhubab districts of Taiz governorate and Abyan, Lahj and Ad Dhale under Priority 2 With YHF funding, HALO will mitigate immediate and ongoing risk to lives and livelihoods for vulnerable communities living close to current and former frontlines in Taiz. HALO will deploy three teams to conduct priority allocation activities of non-technical survey (NTS) and explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) in Dhubab and Sabir Al-Mawadim districts. These teams will address immediate, life-saving protection needs by identifying explosive hazards in one of Yemen’s worst-affected governorates. They will respond to call-outs from affected communities to remove explosive ordnance (EO) to reduce the threat, or map and mark contamination for future clearance. 

Given this is the first time HALO (or any NGO) has delivered mine action activities in these districts, teams will also conduct extensive community liaison to support NTS and EOD activities. As explained elsewhere in this proposal, this will include a small amount of explosive ordnance risk education (EORE) activities, in part to address casualty rates but primarily as a tool for gathering community information on contamination (for survey) and as a platform for community reporting of EO (EOD call-outs). EORE delivery will be extremely cost-effective, with just $3000 (less than 0.5%) of the project budget dedicated to EORE materials.
 
Responding directly to HRP cluster objectives, teams will identify 1,000,000m2 of hazardous area through survey, respond to at least 48  EOD call-outs and deliver EORE to 16,500 beneficiaries during 11 months of operations after one month of mobilization and training. The two multi-task teams (MTTs) will be formed of incentivized (seconded) staff from the Yemen Executive Mine Action Centre (YEMAC), selected by HALO through a competitive process from a longlist provided by YEMAC management, in line with HALO Yemen recruitment policy. HALO will also conduct local recruitment with a focus on ensuring women’s participation in operational teams for reason of both gender equality and because it improves the project’s inclusion of women and girls whose information is of vital importance to project activities, particularly NTS. 

This intervention will answer Priority 2 of the 2022 1st Standard Allocation, addressing needs caused by recent displacement and conflict. Taiz is targeted for Protection activities under this priority, and based on recent needs assessment and the overall strategy of the national mine action sector, is in urgent need of mine action specifically. This project will also contribute to HRP Strategic Objectives 2 and 3 by reducing casualty risks, providing specialist protection services, mitigate the impact of EO on food and income security, and restoring safe access to essential services. 

Though conflict-affected communities will be targeted primarily, EORE will also target a high proportion of IDPs, who face higher risk from mine and EO accidents. HALO estimates 10% of beneficiaries will be people with disabilities (PwDs), who can be accessed by household EORE delivery during the NTS process with tailored messaging. 

NTS reports will contribute to the Yemen Baseline Survey (YBS): a systematic district-by-district survey of south Yemen managed by the coordination cell YMACC. The YBS will establish the extent, type and location of mine and EO hazards in south Yemen, and form the basis of future mine action response.