Sustainable development in Libya is built through national leadership and partnership, particularly in challenging contexts. In 2025, this approach guided efforts across institutions and communities, reaffirming a well-established understanding: progress is built not through isolated actions, but through consistent work that strengthens systems, expands opportunity, and responds to people’s priorities.

Throughout the year, UNDP worked closely with ministries, municipalities, and national partners to support solutions that are practical, locally driven, and aligned with national development objectives. This included advancing policy frameworks and institutional processes in areas such as local planning, economic opportunity, and the sustainable management of energy, water, land, and environmental resources. Together, these efforts reflect a shared commitment to long-term development grounded in Libyan ownership.

At the local level, municipalities continued to play a central role in translating policy into action. Communities were engaged in shaping development priorities, improving services, and supporting livelihoods, while young people increasingly contributed ideas and skills that respond to both local needs and national aspirations. We also had the opportunity to meet directly with many of the people we serve, hearing their perspectives and discussing the development challenges that matter most to them. These engagements reinforced the importance of development approaches that are inclusive, responsive, and rooted in lived realities. 

This focus on systems and people is also reflected in how progress is understood and measured. Through the Human Development Report, UNDP works with countries to look beyond short-term outputs and consider how policies translate into expanded choices, improved well-being, and opportunity over time. In Libya, this perspective is increasingly shaping nationally led reflection on development priorities, including through ongoing work to prepare the country’s National Human Development Report. Together, these efforts reinforce a shared commitment to understanding progress in ways that are both evidence-informed and grounded in national context. 

Environmental sustainability remained a defining focus for the year. In a country facing growing pressure on natural resources, Libya took important steps to advance integrated approaches that link land, water, energy, and livelihoods. This included progress on environmental financing, with the approval of a Global Environment Facility allocation — the first in more than a decade — opening new opportunities to support long-term resilience and sustainable resource management.

Cultural heritage has remained an important dimension of resilience and recovery, reflecting the links between identity, place, and development. In 2025, Libya made progress in safeguarding historic sites and public spaces, including UNESCO’s decision to remove Ghadames from the List of World Heritage in Danger, a milestone that highlights how sustained national efforts to protect heritage can also support local development and social cohesion.

Equally important has been the continued strengthening of institutions. Effective development depends on coordination, capacity, and credibility. Over the past year, UNDP supported technical cooperation, dialogue, and institutional processes that enable national counterparts to implement priorities more effectively and sustainably, strengthening the systems that underpin long-term progress.

These advances are the result of strong partnerships. We thank Libyan institutions at national and local levels for their leadership and collaboration, and we are grateful to our international partners for their continued trust and support. Together, these partnerships have enabled progress that is balanced, responsive, and anchored in shared responsibility.

I would also like to recognize the UNDP Libya team, whose dedication, professionalism, and commitment made this work possible. Their sustained efforts, often under complex circumstances, have been central to delivering results and maintaining trust with partners and communities across the country.