CURRENT PROJECT

Strengthening community safety in Yemen

This project aims to strengthen the safety of communities in Yemen through local dialogue.

Timeframe: 2018 - 2022

This project aims to enhance dialogue on, and understanding of, community safety in Yemen. It offers training and capacity building in the areas of community policing and community safety with the local police, community and judiciary structures. The project focuses on the local level, the main target groups being police and community structures. It is implemented in cooperation with local authorities at the municipal level.

The overall objective of the project is to contribute to the stabilization of the country through improved inclusive local security and community safety approaches.

The project has three specific objectives:

Initiating and supporting a Yemeni-led inclusive discussion on community safety principles, frameworks and concepts in four cities, and subsequently at the national level.
Strengthening capacities of key local security providers and selected community representatives to know about, assess, and plan for different options of inclusive community safety approaches, including the capacity to train security providers (judiciary, law enforcement) and community representatives.
Developing an information and coordination strategy – in cooperation with the EU Delegation to Yemen and other interested parties – to ensure that the Yemeni government(s) and other potential donors are informed about and encouraged to follow-up and strengthen inclusive local security (i.e. community safety) concepts in the future.

Project website: www.csyemen.org

Background

The conflict in Yemen has caused many people to lose their sense of safety and security as the general situation has created serious challenges for the provision of basic security services. The Strengthening Community Safety in Yemen project is based on the rationale that in order to feel safe, communities need both access to and knowledge of the legal system (irrespective of whether this is the statutory or customary law), a sense of fair conduct, and a police force which they can trust and which serves the law and is non-partisan. As the perception of the police and of local law enforcement is key, the starting point for any effort to increase the effectiveness of the police and legal system is to enhance trust, transparency and accountability of these service providers, taking the needs and concerns of local communities into account. This, in turn, will create trust on the part of communities towards the police and legal system.

Partners and funding

Our implementing partner is the Political Development Forum Yemen (PDF). Together, we contribute to supporting institutions and authorities to meet the security needs of citizens and enhance relationships and mutual trust in order to improve citizens’ sense of security and safety.

The project is funded by the European Union (EU) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of the Netherlands.

Activities

The community safety project seeks to implement initiatives and pilot projects on community safety through the formation of community safety committees as well as training on the concept of community safety and methods to achieve it. These committees will design and implement pilot projects or small initiatives on community safety in the targeted directorates of the project. To this end, we implemented the following activities:

Mappings and Assessments of Needs

In coordination with the concerned authorities in the targeted cities, specialized committees were formed composed of members representing law enforcement agencies (police, judiciary and prosecutors) in order to supervise the process of conducting questionnaires on the needs and challenges that prevent the provision of basic services to citizens as required. In particular, needs requirements related to capacity building in the field will be incorporated into the training provided by the project in its subsequent activities.

Local Workshops and Dialogues

A preparatory workshop was held in Sana’a (29-30 January 2019) to prepare the training manual for community safety in Yemen. The workshop included representatives of law enforcement agencies as well as representatives of civil society from Sana’a and Dhamar. Similarly, a workshop was held in Aden (6-7 March 2019) for representatives of the law and civil society organisations from Aden and Al-Mukalla. The concept of community safety was discussed in the Yemeni context, alongside details related to the training manuals.

Workshops

A consultative workshop was held in Addis Ababa (23-28 June 2019) to complement the discussion that began in the previous local workshops held in Sana’a and Aden. High-level representatives of law enforcement institutions and representatives of local authorities and civil society from Aden, Al-Mukalla, Dhamar and Sana’a attended the workshop. A general agreement on the concept of community safety in the Yemeni context was discussed, as well as preparatory and practical steps to support community safety in Yemen. Participants agreed on the content and the overall format of the training manual to be developed to enhance community safety in Yemen.

Training Manuals

In coordination and agreement with the concerned authorities, training manuals on community safety and their implementation mechanisms in Yemen were developed. These manuals target employees of the police as well as judges, prosecutors and civil society in order to raise their abilities and skills in this regard.

Training and Capacity Building

After the preparation of the training manuals, representatives and members of law enforcement agencies as well as representatives of local communities and community safety committees will be trained in the targeted directorates in Aden, Al-Mukalla, Dhamar and Sana’a.

Community Safety Committees

In coordination with the authorities concerned, community safety committees will be formed from members and representatives of the concerned authorities as well as representatives of civil society. These committees will design, implement and evaluate initiatives (small pilot projects) on community safety supported by the project.