As we close 2023, Project Masam’s Managing Director has reflected on the last year’s successes and has set out meaningful and achievable objectives for 2024.
A humanitarian landmine clearance project, Project Masam has been working in Yemen since June 2018 to rid the country of deadly remnants of war, including landmines, improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and other unexploded ordnance (UXO), educate the population of the risks of explosive ordnance and assist victims.
At the end of 2023, Ousama Algosaibi looked back on the achievements, and the humanitarian impact of Project Masam’s demining team’s work.
“Hard work, dedication and generosity are Project Masam’s approach. Enabling Yemen to be safe from landmines is a goal that we are approaching every day. The fruits of our mission will be reaped by Yemenis,” Algosaibi said.
The managing director added that, in December 2023 alone, Project Masam cleared 3,015 of landmines, IEDs and UXO.
Algosaibi stated that during December 2023, the project cleared 2,525 UXO and 444 anti-tank mines, adding that the project demolished 289 landmines, UXO and IEDs, as part of its relentless effort to save innocent lives from camouflaged explosive devices. He noted that the total area cleared during the period reached 822,725 square metres of liberated Yemeni land.
In a statement, Algosaibi said 2024 would be a new page for the project, which teams will face new challenges.
“Project Masam is committed to making this year a year of achievements at the level of combating landmines, through qualitative goals that will be documented by our experienced teams,” he added.
“The total cleared since the launch of Project Masam at the end of June 2018 has reached 426,809 landmines, unexploded ordnance, and explosive devices, planted by the Houthi militia randomly in various Yemeni governorates. The total cleared area has reached 52,866,744 square metres, since the launch of the project until today.”
Wrapping up 2023: A look back at Project Masam’s work
- GCC paise for Project Masam’s achievements
December 2023 brought several notable achievements towards Project Masam’s mission of a “Yemen without mines” that Algosaibi said needed to be highlighted.
In December, the managing director welcomed comments made by leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in the closing statement of their 44th session held in the Qatari capital Doha on 5 December 2023.
The GCC is a political and economic alliance of six countries: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman.
In a press release, Algosaibi extended his thanks to the Supreme Council, saying: “The content of the final statement issued by the summit in praise of the work of Project Masam in Yemen comes within the framework of the dedication of the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries to the interest of the Yemeni people, and their goal to bring security and stability in the Republic of Yemen.
“What was included in the statement is the best motivation for the project and all its personnel towards continuing Project Masam’s humanitarian mission. The chief goal of this mission is to help the Yemeni people get rid of the danger of landmines; planted by the militias in flagrant violation of the rules of international humanitarian law.”
- Ongoing clearance work in vital areas
During December, Project Masam continued its ongoing work to rid vital facilities in Yemen of the oppression of landmines, such as Usaylan Jabbah District Electricity Project, which is one of the vital projects that aims to provide electrical service to more than 20,000 in five areas of Usaylan District, and suffered a major disruption due to the landmines planted by Houthi militias on electricity transmission lines.
As a result, the project work was suspended and electricity delivery to the affected areas was delayed.
Project Masam’s teams began securing large parts of the power lines until work on the electricity project was resumed. Surveying, clearance, and mine-disposal operations have been successfully carried out in the past two weeks, which allowed the securing of electricity transmission lines, and the return of workers able to rehabilitate the system.
The leader of Project Masam’s Team 5 and the supervisor of the Masam engineering teams in Shabwa Governorate, Abdullah Salim, stressed that the demining teams have now secured large parts of the power lines in these landmine-contaminated areas, adding that work has resumed on the electricity project, which will enable more than five area in Usaylan to access vital electricity services, including Al-Salim, Jebah, Arah and the Al-Safra areas.
- Dedicated specialised training for Project Masam personnel
In December 2023, Project Masam also continued to work on raising the expertise of its personnel and demining teams through specialised training in both Marib and Aden sectors.
It is a routine programme that is repeated at least three times a year for each team, to ensure this project continuously refines the skills of its teams and constantly taking into account sector and local developments, field challenges and safety guidance required to complete its humanitarian mission in Yemen.
Managing director Algosaibi said: “Project Masam is keen to develop its teams through continuous training for all its staff, in addition to providing specialised courses for the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) technicians.
“We are determined to fulfil our mission related to clearing all the Yemeni lands of mines, explosive devices and unexploded ordnance planted by the Houthi militia. Project Masam will continue to serve the Yemeni community by removing mines and sponsoring many local and international programmess, events and awareness campaigns in order to create a preventive culture against this imminent danger and mobilise the ranks of international humanitarian organisations and call on them to follow Project Masam’s dedication to combating mines in Yemen. Project Masam is determined to share the voice of the innocent victims and survivors and convey it to all corners of the world, so that Yemen can reach safety and security in record time and with minimal human losses, and can also regain its development activity and sustainability at all levels.”
- Advocacy and policy work across Yemen
In December, Marib Governorate held a celebration on the occasion of the United Nations-sponsored Human Rights Day which marks the 75th anniversary of one of the world’s most trailblazing global pledges, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Within the framework of this celebration aimed at spreading awareness of human rights and remind people of their dignifying principles, two local Yemeni organisations honoured Project Masam with an award for its clearance work in a ceremony held in Marib Governorate.
In a speech, Al-Shaleef added Project Masam is a groundbreaking initiative due to the breadth of its clearance after liberating 52,240,488sqm of land from landmines, which endanger the lives of people in Yemen, and impede the passage of humanitarian relief for civilians in need.
For her part, Ilham Ali, President of the Yemen Human Rights Protection Network, highlighted how Project Masam’s efforts have helped improve the humanitarian situation in Yemen.
The same month, Project Masam, in partnership with the Hemaya Center for Human Rights, held in Taiz Governorate a symposium to shed light on the dangers of landmines and the challenges of displacement faced by women in Yemen due to the war.
Entitled “Yemeni women between the challenges of displacement and the dangers of landmines”, the conference coincided with the launch of the global campaign to fight violence against women.
The same month also witnessed Project Masam’s participation in a photographic and documentary exhibition entitled “Houthi Violations, Crimes against Humanity and Destruction of the Homeland” held in Al-Khawkhah District in Hodeidah Governorate, with the aim of conveying the voice of the innocents and those affected by the impact of landmines to the world.
