Tripoli: The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) has announced its recent efforts in holding consultations with nearly 100 women both inside and outside Libya. These consultations, which took place last month, involved young women, women with disabilities, and women from marginalized regions and groups. The initiative is part of UNSMIL’s preparations to establish the Libyan Women’s Forum for Structured Dialogue.
According to Libyan News Agency, the Mission emphasized that women will make up at least 35 percent of the dialogue members, a commitment announced by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Hanna Tetteh, to the Security Council last October. The Libyan Women’s Forum aims to advocate for and support the shared priorities of the broader Libyan women’s community. It will enable dialogue members to engage with women outside the structured dialogue, formulate common positions, and access technical support.
During both in-person and online consultations, UNSMIL, in collaboration with UN Women and the UNDP, facilitated discussions on women’s priorities and recommendations across four key areas for the structured dialogue: governance, the economy, security, and national reconciliation and human rights.
The women involved highlighted the necessity of reforming laws and implementing previous commitments regarding women’s quotas in legislative and executive bodies, as well as in security and economic institutions. They stressed the importance of prioritizing constitutional work and integrating human rights considerations across all areas of the structured dialogue. Additionally, they recommended establishing robust mechanisms to ensure the implementation of the dialogue’s recommendations, as noted by the Mission.
Special Representative Hanna Tetteh remarked on the gradual progress being made, acknowledging the systemic obstacles that women in Libya continue to face, which hinder their participation in political institutions and decision-making processes. She affirmed, “We are committed to ensuring that women’s participation reaches at least 35 percent across all four tracks of the structured dialogue. However, beyond focusing on numbers, we want to ensure that women’s priorities and recommendations outside the dialogue are brought to the table.”