Laying the foundation for an inclusive social contract

Conflict, political and institutional divisions, corruption and inequalities, notably of gender, have presented significant challenges to build responsive and representative public institutions. This has significantly impeded Libya's development trajectory. Lack of inclusiveness in decision-making at all levels, injustice and impunity and political divisions collectively undermine the ability of the people in Libya to live in safety and security and to have access to their rights, effective justice and democratic processes. UNDP believes that the cost of not urgently improving governance, rule of law and justice outweighs the political risks of investing now. It is critical to address the lack of citizens' trust in state institutions, protect vulnerable populations, and promote sustainable development to achieve peace and stability for Libya.

In line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) 2023-2025, UNDP invests in the democratization process, good governance, transparency, rule of law and access to justice to build an inclusive social.

In Depth

UNDP supports the organization of free, fair and timely national and local elections by:

• Supporting the High National Electoral Commission' and the Central Committee for Local Elections capacity and preparedness to conduct credible, transparent and inclusive elections.
• Raising electoral awareness of local partners and institutions, equipping them to perform their roles effectively on civic and voter education, electoral security and the electoral legal framework; including dispute resolution.
• Increasing women's participation in political processes, including increasing their representation in elected positions, supporting women's involvement in peacebuilding and conflict resolution efforts, and addressing the root causes of excluding women and youth from State-building processes.
• Developing, together with government partners, mechanisms to address misinformation and hate speech.

UNDP promotes rule of law, through supporting government actors at the national and local levels to increase access to justice, especially for those most in need by:    

• Building responsive, and responsible institutions by supporting ministries and other actors in the justice chain to collaborate, ensure transparent, gender responsive, effective, and efficient justice systems by supporting training institutes, training management and HR of ministries in good governance, more inclusive hiring, retainment policies, and coordination, creating witness protection systems in courts and supporting digitalization within the judiciary.
• Enhancing community-oriented access to justice and security, particularly for women and children and at-risk and vulnerable groups, by supporting communities and municipalities with locally-led solutions for justice, service provision and capacity enhancement. Including: opening legal aid service centres together with municipalities and CSOs, re-establishing domestic abuse hubs at a community level, support vocational centres at prisons and prison reform, and establishing local community-led justice plans.
• Creating an environment conducive to peaceful resolution of conflicts by working with CSOs, youth and women networks, including supporting Bar Associations and CSOs in long-term 'academy' training trajectories, and university graduates of law in finding better access to the job market.

UNDP fosters a more effective, democratic, inclusive, and accountable governance at the local level through:

• Promoting the process of decentralization, including supporting the newly elected municipal councils to introduce and adopt practices of inclusive citizen participation in the decision-making mechanisms of municipal councils during their mandate.
• Support the government to advance decentralization at the policy level through the provision of technical advice and expertise to ministries and other state actors involved in the decentralisation process.
• Support the government to advance decentralisation at strategic and implementation level by strengthening municipal councils’ capacities through coordination among line ministries on implementation of projects for local governance and at the same time, support municipal councils to acquire better skills through the provision of expertise for better performance of their duties at the local level.
• Support the preparation ad conduct of democratic, inclusive and credible local elections in view of completing the second-generation council elections and upcoming third-generation local elections - while supporting the newly elected municipal councils to introduce and adopt practices of inclusive citizen participation in the decision-making mechanisms of municipal councils during their mandate.

Women Empowerment

UNDP recognizes the importance of empowering women and girls for sustainable development and inclusive governance. To achieve this goal, UNDP has developed a Gender Equality Strategy and Women Empowerment Plan for 2023-2025.

The strategy and plan aim to promote gender-responsive governance, reduce gender inequalities, and increase women's participation in decision-making processes. UNDP will work towards strengthening the capacities of women leaders and civil society organizations to advocate for gender equality and women's rights.

Moreover, UNDP promotes women's participation in political processes, including increasing their representation in elected positions and supporting women's involvement in peacebuilding and conflict resolution efforts.

To achieve sustainable development in Libya, it is crucial to integrate gender equality into governance efforts. With this in mind, UNDP provides support for the organization of credible elections that involve the participation of women and youth. This will help ensure that the voices and perspectives of these groups are represented in decision-making processes, contributing to greater inclusivity and progress towards sustainable development goals. This will be achieved through:

• Building a body of evidence to identify and address the root causes of increased risks of excluding women and youth from state-building processes. 
• Ensuring women’s representation in unified, elected, legitimate and functional government institutions to contribute to political stability and reconciliation. 
• Enhancing the government’s capacity for gender-responsive, evidence-based planning and coordination. 
• Support the security sector and increasing their capabilities to ensure gender equality. Strengthening the justice and human rights institutions, as well as legislative reforms to tackle inequalities, improve the protection of the most vulnerable, particularly women and girls, and hold accountable perpetrators of human rights violations.