A number of Arab studies and research centers in Cairo have recently honoured Project Masam with awards for its humanitarian role in saving lives of millions of Yemenis with its landmine clearance work in Yemen.
Held in the Egyptian capital, the awards ceremony was conducted by Sherif Abdel Hamid, head of the Gulf Center for Iranian Studies in Egypt, Muhammad Al-Wales Bahih, President of the Red Sea Center for Political and Security Studies in Yemen and Adel Al-Ahmadi, head of the Nashwan Center for Studies and Media in Yemen.
In a speech, Hamid said: “We are following in Egypt with satisfaction and happiness the ongoing successes made by the Masam project to save Yemeni lives“.
Al-Wales Bahih, saluted the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s direct support provided to Project Masam while Al-Ahmadi welcomed the support for Yemen’s reconstruction programmes along with support provided for the Yemeni government.
“We know very well and are confident that the KSA still has a lot of support for Yemen in all spheres and the next actions will prove that sincere Arab brotherhood,” Al-Ahmadi told the audience, adding that Project Masam has become “a role model for humanitarian work in the entire Arab region and one of the most prominent humanitarian projects in the world”.
The awards were received by Professor Khaled Al-Otaibi, Project Masam’s Assistant Director General, on the behalf of Osama Al-Gosaibi, the project’s Managing Director.
The ceremony was attended by Yemeni political figures including Sheikh Abd Rabbo Waze Al-Shayef, Yemeni journalist, Abdullah Ismail, Yemeni military expert Brigadier General, professor at the Faculty of Arts in Sana’a University Muhammad Al-Kumaim, and other Yemeni dignitaries.
The centres leaders highlighted Masam personnel lost in activity, including 33 deminers – five foreign experts and 28 Yemeni nationals – and 42 wounded deminers.
According to official information, statistics, and reports of regional and international human rights organisations, Yemen still has more than one and a half million landmines planted Houthi militias in all regions across Yemen.
So far, Project Masam has cleared 360,573 explosive devices in Yemeni liberated areas, including 5,672 anti-personnel mines, 132,637 anti-tank mines, 7,486 improvised explosive devices and 214,778 unexploded ordnance neutralised over 38,961 431sqm of land since mid-2018.
