In Yemen, landmines don’t just tear into the earth—they tear into the fabric of communities. Fear takes root where schools once stood, and suspicion replaces certainty on once-familiar roads. In a place where years of conflict have frayed even the strongest bonds, trust isn’t assumed – it’s earned, slowly and deliberately.
At Project Masam, we’ve made that our mission.
Backed and entirely funded by Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief), we are more than a demining project. We are a long-term, humanitarian commitment to making Yemen safer – not only by removing deadly threats, but by working in partnership with those who know this land best.
Partnership at the core: Working with YEMAC and local deminers
Trust starts with collaboration. Since day one, we’ve worked alongside the Yemen Executive Mine Action Centre (YEMAC)—Yemen’s national mine action authority—to guide every aspect of our operation. This partnership is not incidental; it is grounded in a formal agreement between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the internationally recognised Government of Yemen, authorising and facilitating Project Masam’s presence and operations in the country.
This agreement underscores a shared commitment to humanitarian mine action and to upholding the principles of neutrality, coordination, and local empowerment. Through this official framework, YEMAC plays an important role in identifying priority clearance areas, coordinating field access, and supporting the deployment of local demining teams. Their deep-rooted presence and national mandate ensure that our work is fully aligned with Yemen’s broader recovery efforts.
Together with YEMAC, we’ve helped train, equip, and support more than 30 demining teams, with all team members being Yemeni nationals. These teams aren’t just technical experts – they’re trusted members of their communities. When they arrive to clear mines, they aren’t seen as outsiders; they are greeted as neighbours, friends, sons, and brothers returning to protect their own. Many of our deminers have direct experience with the impact of landmines – some have lost family members, while others have had friends severely injured by these explosive devices.
This collaboration with YEMAC ensures that Project Masam is not just a foreign initiative, but an integrated part of Yemen’s national humanitarian architecture – respected, regulated, and rooted in local ownership. It’s a partnership built on mutual respect and shared urgency.
Ground-level trust in the field
In Osilan district, Shabwah Governorate, our teams faced not only a dangerous concentration of landmines but also deep local skepticism. Years of neglect had made communities wary of any external presence. But by working through tribal leaders, engaging local authorities, and delivering on our commitments – week after week – our teams were able to gain trust. In one week alone, more than 1,200 mines were cleared, and a major road linking remote villages was reopened for the first time in years.
In Mawza district, in Taiz region, an elderly farmer wept as our team cleared anti-personnel mines from his field. He had lost a grandson years before to an improvised device buried near a well. “I never thought I would see this land safe again,” he told us. “You didn’t just come, you stayed.” That, to us, is the essence of trust: presence, persistence, and partnership.
And in Marib, where shifting frontlines have complicated clearance operations, our teams worked with local military authorities and YEMAC to safely access recently retaken areas. Coordination was essential – not only for security, but to ensure that displaced families could return without risk. Within two weeks, several homes were made safe again. What made it possible wasn’t just skill, it was the trust we had earned through months of dialogue and collaboration.
Explosive Ordnance Risk Education: Building trust through knowledge
At Project Masam, our commitment to safety goes beyond clearance operations. We know that the most powerful tool in protecting lives is knowledge. That’s why Explosive Ordnance Risk Education (EORE) is an integral part of our humanitarian mission.
In mine-affected areas across Yemen, we deliver targeted EORE activities to raise awareness, change behavior, and prevent tragedy. These sessions are held in schools, community halls, mosques, health centers, and even under trees in remote villages—wherever people gather, we bring the message of safety.
Our trained facilitators – often local community members themselves – use illustrated materials, real-life stories, role-play, and open discussion to help people recognise:
- What explosive remnants of war (ERW) and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) look like
- How to identify warning signs of contamination
- Which areas to avoid
- What to do when a device is found
- How and where to report it
EORE is especially critical for children, farmers, herders, and internally displaced persons (IDPs)—those most at risk of encountering explosive hazards in daily life. In one case in Al-Durayhimi, a schoolboy who had attended our session reported a suspicious object on a footpath his siblings used daily. It turned out to be an anti-personnel mine. His quick action, made possible by what he learned, saved lives.
We also tailor sessions to women and girls, whose daily tasks—fetching water, collecting firewood, tending fields—can put them in danger. In Lahij, a group of women requested EORE training for their community after multiple accidents in nearby farmland. We responded with female-led, culturally sensitive sessions that gave them practical tools and the confidence to protect themselves and others.
We also had requests from UN agencies to conduct EORE sessions with UN staff member responsible for visiting remote communities, this in order to inform their staff member on the dangers they can face in the field and how to deal with these situations.
Beyond education, EORE is a trust-building tool in its own right. It shows communities that we are present—not only to remove danger, but to empower them with the knowledge to protect one another. It creates space for dialogue, honors local wisdom, and reinforces the human relationships that sustain our work.
Moving forward together
Trust doesn’t happen overnight, and it doesn’t happen by chance. It comes from showing up consistently, listening to local voices, and acting with integrity – especially when the work is difficult.
At Project Masam, we are proud of the partnerships we’ve built across Yemen – with YEMAC, with brave local deminers, with tribal leaders and governors, and with the families who invite us into their villages. These partnerships are the foundation of everything we do.
Because when trust takes root, peace has a chance to grow.
