Project Summary

Armed conflict has weakened the social networks that ordinarily help maintain peaceful relation-ships within the families and communities of Yemen. Since March 2015, Yemeni health facilities have documented 8,757 conflict-related deaths and over 50,610 injuries. A range of human rights violations have been documented – affecting women and children in particular – with begging, child labour and forced marriage reportedly increased.

The Enhanced Security and Protection at the Local Level in Yemen project intervenes at several levels. At the individual level, the project provides legal support to disadvantaged people, including marginalised people and prison detainees. At the community level, it helps people and communities identify the issues and challenges that are most important to them, and plan and cooperate with legal institutions. At the institutional level, the project assists local authorities to improve local justice and policing services while also preparing for the quick deployment of community police in the event of a peace agreement.

Project activities are anticipated to result in communities and vulnerable community members who are safer, more secure and better protected, as well as – following a peace agreement – preparedness to train and redeploy police.

Objectives

The project is designed to realize four outcomes:

1. Local communities in urban settings are better able to cope with to insecurity and injustice.
2. Improved community policing approaches provide better protection to communities.
3. Justice sector actors are stronger and more reliable in delivering services.
4. Detainees are stronger and better protected.

Accomplishments

Community Safety

• The NGO Search for Common Ground has been granted of a project to identify justice and security gaps at community level (district level), to draft justice and security plans and to implement some of the priorities included into the plans.
• Carried out number of dialogues and consultations with local communities, and state and non-state actors to develop the priority action plans.
• Mapping of community justice and security needs competed and community action plans supported in 6 districts (Mukalla, Lahj, Aden)
• 8 community consultations organized to improve trust between the police and the public (Taiz, Mukalla, Shabwah, Aden) 

Community Policing

• Undertaken identification of several police stations for infrastructure rehabilitations. 
• Developed a training plan to support the police deployment in case of a peace agreement, as well as to strengthen human rights-based approach of the local security forces.
• Completed a series of community policing consultations in the following four governorates: Shabwah, Al Mukalla, Aden and Marib and Ansarullah controlled areas such as Ibb and Al Mahwit governorates. 
• Following the Stockholm agreement and the signature of the Ceasefire in Hodeidah, a plan for local security forces redeployment has been drafted and budgeted, in order to support the military forces’ withdrawal form Hodeidah city and port and transfer the security of these areas under the local security forces deployed by the parties. 
• The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ministry of Interior in Aden has been supported through the provision of forensic exploitation equipment to effectively gather evidence from crime scenes and preserve continuity of evidence for judicial prosecutions.
• Rehabilitation of 2 police station in Sana’a and 1 police station in Mukalla.
• Train 40 staff from the Civil Defence Authority in Sana’a on community policing, Countering-IEDs, human rights, and Gender-Based Violence.
• 4 bomb disposal teams trained on C-IED, 170 IEDs rendered safe (Hadramawt, Shabwah) 

Access to Justice

• Completed Rule of Law capacity assessment aimed to assess the capacity Rule of Law institutions and service providers in selected governorates, including Police, Emergency responders, Prosecutors and Judiciary to identify existing capacities and capacity gaps of authorities and actors providing community security and justice services to communities.
• Trained a total of 922 participants that consists of 257 judges, 321 prosecutors, 123 Administrative Cadres in the judicial system, 27 lawyer, 129 security officers, 45 NGOs staffs, and other participants on criminal provisions related to civil rights; and psychiatry and its role in enhancing justice.
• Capacity building of justice actors (1,260 trainees)
• Rehabilitation of 2 courts in Sana’a. 

Protection of Detainees

• Finalized assessments on the infrastructure of prisons in 5 governorates: Sana'a, Ibb, Dhamar, Aden and Hadramaut.
• Kickstarted the rehabilitation of 3 prisons for piloting infrastructure in Sana’a and Hodeidah.
• Provided vocational training and literacy courses for 675 detainees (96 women, 595 men) in Aden and Mukalla and monitored their access to labor market upon their release.
• Completed the development of Bill of Quantities (BoQ) for the rehabilitation of water and sanitation systems in 5 prisons.
• Completed the rehabilitation of workshops and labs in Aden and Mukalla central prisons.
• Provided basic need materials in form of 7,000 mattresses (3,000 Sana’a; 1,200 Dhamar; 2,100 Ibb; 700 Hodeidah) targeted for the correction facilities in Dhamar, Hodeidah, Ibb and Sana’a.
• Trained over 164 prison personnel (24% female) on Prison Management Skills and Dealing with High-Security Prisoners. The trainings took place in Al-Mukalla and Aden Al-Mansoura Rehabilitation Centers and attended by the participants from the following 9 governorates: Al-Mahra, Hadramowt, Mareb, Shabwah, Al-Dhalea, Lahj, Taiz, Abyan and Aden.
• Human rights capacity building of prison officers (164 trainees) 
• Equipped 26 labs and workshops  at Mukalla and Aden correctional facilities to allow to hold  vocational and literacy trainings
• Vocational and literacy training of detainees (400 trainees) 
• Rehabilitation of 1 prison in Sana’a and 2 prisons in Hodeidah 
• Installation of a water treatment system in Aden central prison

COVID 19 Response Activities

As an emergency response to prevent Coronavirus from spreading in Yemen UNDP Rule of Law programme distributed 2,100 COVID-19 hygiene kits; 15,000 gloves; 15,000 masks and installation of 3,500 handwashing stations for prisons, police stations, security districts, checkpoints, traffic police, and detention centers in Sana'a, Amanat Al-Asimah, Aden, and Mukalla.

Within the UNDP Rule of Law programme interventions, COVID-19 preparedness and response plan is currently being expanded to prisons in additional 18 governorates, as well as to additional police stations, checkpoints, CIDs across Yemen.

 

 

Download related documents

• Fast Fact sheet

Download related documents

• Fast Fact Sheet