Every year, the International Day of Peace reminds us that peace is about more than the absence of conflict. It is also about whether societies have the institutions, opportunities and resilience to keep moving forward.
It is about institutions that people can rely on. Opportunities to build livelihoods and invest in the future. Communities able to work together around shared priorities. And confidence that progress made today can be sustained tomorrow.

This matters deeply for Libya.
Peace is built through many mutually reinforcing efforts. Political dialogue, credible and inclusive electoral processes, strong institutions and national reconciliation are fundamental. Alongside them, development helps create the conditions in which peace can take root and endure through economic opportunity, stronger communities, responsive institutions and greater resilience.
These dimensions are closely connected. Political progress can create space for development, while development can help make progress tangible and sustainable. Ultimately, the value of both is felt in people’s everyday lives: in the opportunities available to them, the institutions and services they can rely on, and their confidence in the future.
This is why peacebuilding and development cannot be treated as separate agendas. Lasting peace depends, in part, on whether progress across institutions, economies and communities can reinforce one another. Development has an important role in making those connections.

Consider cultural heritage.
At first glance, restoring a historic site may seem far removed from questions of peace or economic development. But look more closely.
Libya’s extraordinary cultural heritage is an important national asset and part of an identity that connects generations. Protecting it matters in its own right. But investment in heritage can also build skills and create work for architects, engineers, craftspeople and young professionals. It can support local businesses, bring economic activity into historic areas and contribute to the revitalization of cities and communities.
A restored historic site can therefore mean more than a preserved building. It can mean an opportunity for a young architect to develop new skills, work for a local craftsperson, new customers for a small business, and renewed pride in a place shared across generations.
The value lies in making these connections. A restoration project can preserve a building. A development approach asks what else that investment can unlock.
This is the thinking behind UNDP’s growing cooperation with Libyan and international partners in this area. Our partnership with Assorestauro, for example, creates an opportunity to connect Italy’s extensive restoration expertise with Libyan institutions, professionals and local priorities. The longer-term value is not simply in bringing expertise to Libya, but in strengthening Libyan capacity, creating economic opportunities and building connections that can continue well beyond an individual restoration project.

The same principle extends far beyond cultural heritage.
Development has the greatest impact when investments reinforce one another: when stronger institutions create confidence; when skills connect to jobs and markets; when better local services strengthen communities; and when political progress is accompanied by development opportunities people can see in their own lives.
This is where development can contribute to sustaining peace - not as a substitute for political dialogue, electoral processes or national reconciliation, but alongside them.
For UNDP, this is also what it means to be a development partner in Libya. Our role is not simply to implement individual projects, but to help connect national priorities, institutions, communities, expertise and investment around development challenges that rarely fit neatly within one sector.

Across our work, that means connecting support for livelihoods with stronger local economies; strengthening institutions alongside the services they provide; creating opportunities for young people and women to participate and contribute; and helping communities build the capacity to navigate pressures and adapt to change.
Because resilience is not an abstract development concept. It is the ability of people, communities and institutions to withstand pressures while continuing to move forward.
This matters particularly in times of uncertainty. Pressures on services, livelihoods and local economies can quickly affect people’s confidence in the future. Development therefore has to do more than respond to individual needs. It has to strengthen the systems, institutions and opportunities that allow progress to endure.

As UNDP marks 50 years of presence in Libya this year, this is one of the lessons that continues to shape our work. Sustainable progress rarely comes from addressing one challenge at a time. It comes from national leadership, sustained partnerships and the ability to connect efforts across institutions, sectors and communities around shared priorities.

Peace is advanced through dialogue, institutions and inclusive political processes. It is reinforced when people have opportunities, communities are resilient, institutions can deliver, and progress is visible in people’s everyday lives.