On Tuesday, the British Ambassador to Libya, Caroline Hurndall called on Libyan leaders to “Make the year 2023 a new step in Libya’s movement towards stability and peace.”
Hurndall added that the launch of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework 2023-2025 is a reminder of Libya’s potential to recover and flourish.
Earlier today, Tripoli hosted a high-level ceremony marking the launch of the UN framework.
The ceremony was attended by the Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity (GNU), Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba, and the Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), Abdoulaye Bathily.
Assistant Secretary-General, Resident, and Humanitarian Coordinator for Libya Georgette Gagnon, the Ambassadors of Britain, Spain, the European Union, Germany, and representatives of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the UN Development Program (UNDP), and UNICEF also attended the event.
Dbaiba expressed his support for “any international and local cooperation in the country, within a clear framework and objectives.” He stressed the need to “set the priorities and needs of the various Libyan institutions, and to organize the partnership and support file with the UN, according to specific timetables.”
Minister of Planning, Mohamed Al-Zaidani emphasised the importance of the event, which was organized in cooperation between agencies working with the United Nations, its organizations, and the Libyan government, in accordance with a tripartite plan.
Bathily expressed his appreciation for the “systematic cooperation between the United Nations and the Libyan government, within the sustainable development goals.”
During the event, Gagnon also gave a detailed presentation on the draft plan, and a review of its priorities.
Earlier today, Marc-André Franche, Resident Representative of UNDP in Libya said that the country has “already lost 20 years of its development investments over the last 10 years of war and political strife.”
In a tweet, Franche added that “it is time to come together, have elections, renew institutions, and invest in the future. Libyans deserve a country with education, health, and rewarding jobs.”
The UN official explained that Libya is “living on borrowed time.” He added that Libya has a “historical opportunity to come together and ensure the right investments for people before the inevitable decline of fossil fuels. Will the country seize the opportunity for human development and energy transition? Now is the time to ensure the livelihoods of future generations.”
He confirmed that he is “grateful to Sabadell Jose, the European Union Ambassador to Libya and all partners for the tremendous support and for sharing a sense of opportunity and urgency for a unified democratic and prosperous Libya.”
Libya has been in chaos since a NATO-backed uprising toppled longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The country has for years been split between rival administrations, each backed by rogue militias and foreign governments.
The current stalemate grew out of the failure to hold elections in December, and the refusal of Prime Minister Dbaiba, who is leading the transitional government, to step down. In response, the country’s eastern-based Parliament appointed a rival Prime Minister, Fathi Bashagha, who has for months sought to install his government in Tripoli.
