i. pROJECT cONTEXT AND dEVELOPMENT cHALLENGESaFTER A DECADE OF CONFLICT; yEMEN’S CITIES HAVE BEEN VERY BADLY IMPACTED; WITH WIDESPREAD DESTRUCTION OF URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE; A BREAKDOWN OF BASIC GOVERNMENT FUNCTIONS; AND INTERRUPTION OF BASIC URBAN SERVICES INCLUDING SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT (swm) SERVICES. aUTHORITY IN yEMEN IS FRAGMENTED; WITH PARALLEL INSTITUTIONS OPERATING IN GOVERNMENT AND OPPOSITION-HELD AREAS. aT THE SUB-NATIONAL LEVEL (GOVERNATE LEVEL); INDEPENDENT PUBLIC SECTOR ENTITIES CALLED cITY cLEANING AND iMPROVEMENT fUNDS (ccifS) PROVIDE swm SERVICES.tHE CONFLICT HAS SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECTED swm SERVICES BY LIMITING ccifS’ FUNDING; THE DESTRUCTION OF INFRASTRUCTURE AND EQUIPMENT; AND CONTRIBUTING TO STAFFING CHALLENGES AND FUEL SHORTAGES. dESPITE A REDUCTION OF PER CAPITA GENERATION OF msw OVER THE PAST DECADE; MANY CITIES HAVE EXPERIENCED AN INFLUX OF INTERNALLY DISPLACED PEOPLE AND ASSOCIATED WASTE GENERATION; ADDING FURTHER STRAIN ON THE SOLID WASTE COLLECTION SERVICES. wASTE SEPARATION; SORTING AND FURTHER PROCESSING IS CARRIED OUT BY THE PRIVATE – AND MOSTLY INFORMAL – SECTOR; BUT ANY RECYCLING YARDS/SORTING PLANTS THAT EXISTED BEFORE THE CONFLICT THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY ARE CURRENTLY NOT OPERATIONAL.gIVEN THIS SITUATION; AN ESTIMATED 330;000 TONS OF UNCOLLECTED PLASTIC WASTE (10 PER CENT OF TOTAL LEAKAGES; BASED ON LATEST AVAILABLE NATIONAL AND CITY-BASED DATA ON WASTE GENERATION; COMPOSITION; AND COLLECTION COVERAGE) END UP ON yEMEN’S STREETS AND THE ENVIRONMENT EVERY YEAR; RESULTING IN CLOGGED DRAINS; AIR POLLUTION FROM BURNING WASTE; AND PLASTICS POLLUTION IN THE OCEAN.tHE yEMEN iNTEGRATED uRBAN sERVICES eMERGENCY pROJECTS (yiusep i; p164190) AND yiusep ii (p175791; INCL. TWO ADDITIONAL FINANCING (af) ROUNDS) ARE PART OF THE bANK’S HOLISTIC EMERGENCY RESPONSE IN yEMEN WITH THE OBJECTIVE TO RESTORE ACCESS TO CRITICAL URBAN SERVICES; INCLUDING swm; AND STRENGTHEN RESILIENCE TO SHOCKS IN SELECTED CITIES IN THE COUNTRY. unops ACTS AS THE IMPLEMENTING AGENCY. iN THE swm SECTOR; yiusep ii INVESTMENTS INCLUDE SUPPLY CONTRACTS FOR EQUIPMENT AND VEHICLES; REHABILITATION OF WASTE TRANSFER STATIONS; AND CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT AND DIRECT INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT TO ccifS IN SELECTED CITIES. uNDER THE sECOND af; A rESULT-bASED fINANCING (rbf) SCHEME INCENTIVIZES ccifS IN sANA’A; aDEN; AND mUKALLA TOWARDS INSTITUTIONAL IMPROVEMENTS; THE EXPANSION AND IMPROVEMENT OF SOLID WASTE COLLECTION SERVICES; IMPROVED FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY OF swm SERVICES; INCREASING THE NUMBER OF WOMEN IN TECHNICAL ROLES AND THE ROLLOUT OF PUBLIC INFORMATION CAMPAIGNS.dESPITE THE ACTIVITIES UNDER yiusep ii; THERE ARE TWO KEY DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES:1. lACK OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE swm SECTOR IN CITIES BEYOND sANA’A; aDEN; AND mUKALLAwHILE A SOLID WASTE SECTOR ASSESSMENT FOR sANA’A; aDEN; AND mUKALLA HAS BEEN CARRIED OUT TO INFORM THE ABOVE-MENTIONED rbf SCHEMES AND INVESTMENTS; THERE IS A LACK OF SECTOR KNOWLEDGE AND NEEDS IN OTHER yEMENI CITIES. tHIS KNOWLEDGE IS REQUIRED TO SYSTEMATICALLY INFORM INVESTMENTS UNDER yiusep ii/POTENTIAL FUTURE afS AND/OR OPERATIONS.2. lACK OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT yEMEN’S PLASTICS AND OTHER RECYCLABLES VALUE CHAINStHE WASTE SECTOR ASSESSMENT FOR sANA’A; aDEN; AND mUKALLA HAS CONFIRMED THAT SOURCE SEPARATION; SORTING; AND SALE OF RECYCLABLES TO INTERNATIONAL MARKETS TAKES PLACE THROUGH A NETWORK OF INFORMAL WASTE PICKERS AND AGGREGATORS. hOWEVER; THERE IS A LACK OF DETAILED KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE RECYCLING SECTOR IN yEMEN. tHIS PREVENTS THE TARGETED SUPPORT FOR INFORMAL WASTE SECTOR INITIATIVES AND SCALING UP COLLECTION; SORTING; AND RECYCLING EFFORTS IN THE COUNTRY; AND REDUCE (OCEAN) PLASTICS POLLUTION. wHILE yiusep’S CURRENT FOCUS IS ON RESTORING BASIC WASTE SERVICES; INCREASED KNOWLEDGE ON PLASTICS POLLUTION AND THE PLASTICS VALUE WOULD INFORM THE ccif’S ONGOING PUBLIC INFORMATION CAMPAIGNS AND HELP THEM PREPARE FUTURE INTERVENTIONS THAT (RE)BUILD BASIC COLLECTION AND SORTING INFRASTRUCTURE FOR PLASTICS AND OTHER RECYCLABLES. ii. oBJECTIVEStHE OBJECTIVES OF THIS CONSULTING ASSIGNMENT ARE TO I) IMPROVE KNOWLEDGE OF THE SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT SECTOR AND ITS CHALLENGES AND PLASTIC VALUE CHAINS IN SELECTED CITIES IN yEMEN; II) DEVELOP A ROADMAP FOR REFORM AND INSTITUTIONAL IMPROVEMENTS; AND III) IDENTIFY POTENTIAL INVESTMENTS AND; TAKING THE COUNTRY CONTEXT INTO CONSIDERATION; INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS. tHE OUTPUTS FROM THIS CONSULTING ASSIGNMENT WILL BE USED TO INFORM THE ONGOING yEMEN iNTEGRATED uRBAN sERVICES eMERGENCY pROJECT AND COULD FORM THE INFORMATIONAL BASIS FOR ROLLING OUT POTENTIAL rbf SCHEMES IN CITIES BEYOND sANA’A; aDEN; AND mUKALLA OR PREPARING POTENTIAL FUTURE wORLD bANK OPERATIONS IN yEMEN.