UN Women Transparency Portal

Region:Asia Pacific Current UN Women Plan Period Afghanisthan:2018-2022

World Bank Income Classification:Low Income

Least Developed Country:Yes

Gender Inequality Index:0.575

Gender Development Index:0.723

Population:209,497,025 Male:19,976,265 (9.5%) Female:189,520,760 (90.5%)

Disclaimer

outcome XM-DAC-41146-LBY_D_7.1

By late 2022, core government functions, Libyan institutions and Civil Society will be strengthened, at all levels; and better able to respond to the needs of the people (Libyans, migrants and refugees) through transparent, accountable and inclusive gender-sensitive decision-making and peacebuilding processes abiding by the democratic principles of division of power and rule of law (UNSF Outcome 1)

The outcome was partly achieved. First, progress was made towards the outcome as Libyan institutions and civil society are growing stronger. Members of the Presidential Council, which holds the mandate for national reconciliation in Libya, strengthened their capacity to better incorporate the needs of Libyan women in inclusive peacebuilding processes. In June, the head of the Office for Women and Youth from the Presidential Council met with 22 diverse Libyan civil society activists, academics, and women politicians who shared their priorities on the national reconciliation process . The participants came from diverse regions (including Tripoli, Benghazi, Misrata, and Murzuk), and five (5) were under 30 years of age, one (1) was over 65, and three (3) were women with disabilities. The priorities identified include (i) a regionally diverse and inclusive national reconciliation commission including a women’s empowerment unit and advisory board of academics, religious leaders, and former fighters; (ii) specific support for the return of internally displaced persons; and (iii) a fact-finding component to identify missing and disappeared persons. UN Women contributed by organizing the workshop and moderating the discussions between civil society actors and Presidential Council. Following the workshop, UN Women shared the priorities with the Presidential Council and the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), both of whom are working on the national reconciliation process. Moreover, civil society became more empowered, with two diverse women-led civil society coalitions strengthening their ability to contribute to and lead peacebuilding initiatives. The Libyan Women Network for Peacebuilding (LWNP) made major progress in electing leadership from the West, East, and South of Libya and identifying its strategic priorities for joint work, including around issues of women’s political empowerment and ending violence against women. 22 LWNP members participated in a 5-day workshop for strategic discussions, during which they also enhanced their capacities on strategic peacebuilding and project management. According to the workshop’s pre- and post-tests, the participants enhanced their knowledge on project proposal development and writing (66% pre-test, 100% post-test) and results-based management. This will greatly support the LWNP in ensuring the sustainability of their work through resource mobilization. Moreover, specifically, 16 of the 25 LWNP members led community-level dialogue initiatives with 256 people to reduce community tensions. In Ubari, LWNP members launched an initiative to reduce electoral violence and build trust between Libyan women married to non-Libyans and municipal officials. In a historic meeting arranged by LWNP in Murzuq, women from disputing tribes engaged in dialogue. Children from the Tebu and Ahali communities in Murzuq also engaged in dialogue. UN Women has supported the LWNP since its inception and contributed in 2022 by hosting the workshops in May and November, including the technical expertise of a trainer. Clingendael Institute provided the training on mediation and negotiation. A new women-led civil society coalition, the ‘Women’s Alliance for Peace and Justice in Libya’ (Alliance) was launched in 2022. Its 21 women board members adopted their guiding strategy in September. The Alliance represents a wide range of stakeholders, including civil society, academics, women municipal councillors and women’s unions. To ensure that its strategy is diverse and representative, the board consulted over 400 individuals in dialogue sessions to feed into the development of the workplan during a three-day strategy workshop. The workplan identifies areas for joint activities to tackle the lack of women’s participation, the lack of reliable data, and the impact of armed conflict and violence against women in Libya. Two Alliance members attended the UN Global Conference on Women’s Leadership for Sustainable Peace held at the UN Palais in Geneva in November, and discussed challenges facing Libyan women civil society actors, including the Alliance’s priorities as identified in their workplan. Additionally, in October, UNSMIL’s new Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) requested guidance from the Alliance on their priorities for a roadmap towards elections in Libya. This involvement strengthens a bottom-up approach in the political track of the peace process in Libya and contributes to alliance-building across different civil society actors involved in community-level conflict resolution. UN Women contributed by organizing the strategy-building workshop in response to demand for support by the Alliance, providing the expertise of a strategy-building expert, and leveraging its coordination mandate to invite UNSMIL and the international community to the workshop’s closing event. Second, media professionals increased their ability to do their work in a way that promotes women’s representation in the media and their equal participation in inclusive decision-making and peacebuilding processes. In 2022, 22 media professionals (16 women, of which two are women with disabilities; 6 men) from diverse Libyan media outlets and different regions strengthened their capacity and understanding around concepts and perspectives sensitive to women’s rights, intersectionality, power relations between men and women, violence against women, women’s representation in the media, and violence against women in politics (VAWP), especially in elections. Pre-test results for the five-day training programme showed that for 15 of the participants, it was their first time to receive a training on media reporting that is sensitive to women’s rights; three of them identified violence against women as discrimination between men and women, and one participant linked this to the concept of social roles for men and women. Post-test results demonstrated that participants gained a deeper understanding of women’s issues including socially-constructed ideas of women’s roles, the concept of intersectionality and the ability to analyse power relations between men and women. It also showed that these media professionals better understand the effects and various forms of violence against women, and the role the media plays in reinforcing or challenging the social norms and stereotypes underlying those issues. The 22 participants also had the unique opportunity to engage directly with the High National Elections Commission (HNEC) and learned about facts and figures on women's participation in the past elections and the postponed election of 2021, including information about the available communications channels with the HNEC and its media centre, and initial findings from HNEC’s Online Violence Against Women (OVAW) monitoring report. This strengthened the media professionals’ capacities to monitor and report on VAWP. UN Women contributed to this by organizing a five-day training programme in collaboration with HNEC. UN Women built the capacities of media professionals to conduct media reporting with a special lens on women’s issues and perspectives, to understand intersectionality, and to foster critical journalistic skills to effectively report on VAW in elections. HNEC focused on enhancing the knowledge of these media professionals around HNEC’s role in conducting electoral processes, its cooperation with the media, the differences between national and local elections, and OVAW. Based on the progress made, the strategy and theory of change are largely still applicable. UN Women will continue to diversify its engagement with civil society by focusing on youth and persons with disabilities as well as leveraging its coordination function to link civil society initiatives with decision-makers. If this strategy is successful, impact-level changes in the lives of women and girls in the areas of inclusive reconciliation and participation of women are expected within five (5) years.

outcome XM-DAC-41146-LBY_O_1

UN Women is an accountable and trustworthy development organization that manages its financial and other resources with integrity and in line with its programmatic ambitions and fiduciary obligations.

During the reporting year, the Libya CO upheld it's accountability and turstworthiness by ensuring effective and robust results-based management, financial management controls, internal and external transparency of financial data, timely and accurate donor reporting, responsive and secure information systems, environmental sustainability and a reduced carbon footprint, and physical security. In Tunisia, marked by political and socio-economic challenges that demanded high-level technical and coordination expertise deployed from UN Women, the CO took the lead in developing high-level analyses and briefs on the situation of women in Tunisia to inform executive decisions on the UN's role in the country. It also continued to implement its coordination role by mainstreaming gender within UNCT as the chair of the Gender Theme Group (GTG) and by co-chairing the Gender Coordination Group (GCG), which consists of international stakeholders, governmental officials, and representatives from civil society. As a result, the UNCT-SWAP Gender Equality Scorecard was carried out successfully and a UNCT action plan developed. Moreover, thanks to the active engagement of the Embassy of Spain in the GTG, Tunisia was included in the ‘Safe Cities’ with an expected budget of 400,000 EUR. The CO received funding from several donors (Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF), and the Governments of Japan, Canada, Finland, Sweden, SIDA, France and Switzerland) to implement various programmes in WPPL, WPS, WEE, EVAW and gender statistics, covering programme, administrative and operational costs. Financial reporting to those donors, and reporting on budget and resources allocations to HQ have been completed on time and in line with corporate rules and regulations. Furthermore, these funds were properly managed in line with its programmatic ambitions and fiduciary obligations with respective program teams and responded to the identified needs. In Libya, the leveraging of regular resources has allowed for UN Women to have an excellent reputation and the position of one of few resident agencies operating inside Libya. Despite challenges on the ground due to increasing resistance from conservative groups, UN Women continued to ensure that women’s needs, and voices are placed in the centre of Libya’s reconciliation processes. UN Women played a key role to ensure that women’s empowerment was duly mainstreamed throughout the new United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework 2023-2025, including as the co-chair of Pillar 1 (Peace and Governance). Moreover, UN Women capitalized on its normative and advocacy mandate to leverage international support for women in Libya. During the presentation of the reports of the Fact-Finding Mission for Libya at the Human Rights Council, UN Women delivered a statement highlighting the disproportional impact that the protracted conflict has on women and girls in Libya, including the need to prevent and combat violence against women at all levels, including online spaces. UN partners showed their support by joining and leading campaigns, for example during the ‘16 days of activism.’ The CO received funding from several donors (Japan, Finland, Norway, France, and Germany) to implement various programmes in WPS, WPPL and EVAW, covering programme, administrative and operational costs. Financial reporting to those donors, and reporting on budget and resources allocations to HQ have been completed on time and in line with corporate rules and regulations. Furthermore, these funds were properly managed in line with its programmatic ambitions and fiduciary obligations with respective program teams and responded to the identified needs.

outcome XM-DAC-41146-LBY_O_2

UN Women effectively leverages and expands its partnerships, communications and advocacy capabilities to increase support for and financing of the gender equality agenda, while securing sustainable resourcing for the delivery of its own mandate.

During the reporting year, UN Women Libya leveraged and expanded its partnerships, communication and advocacy capacities for financing for gender equality, as part of the process of developing its new Strategic Note (2023-2025) and Biannual Work Plan (2023-2024). Libya CO analyzed new opportunities for partnerships and resources, and focused on forging new alliances with new government stakeholders and media stakeholders through the supporting stakeholder consultations that were attended by 110 men & women including women with disabilities and youth participants from civil society, UN agencies, bilateral partners, national institutions and ministries. Through its work to end online violence against women in Libya (OVAW), UN Women leveraged its diverse partnership network from the UN, national institutions, the private sector, the media, and civil society to increase awareness of and develop strategies for a way forward to address OVAW. UN Women organized a Training of Trainers (ToT) for 14 women who went on to increase knowledge about OVAW and how to combat ICT-facilitated violence for 410 Libyans (373 women; 37 men) including persons with disabilities, staff from the High National Elections Commission (HNEC), and media personnel, from 9 cities (Tripoli, Benghazi, Sabha, Misrata, Sirt, Marej, Tubruk, Kufra and Zintan). After UN Women’s advocacy, the Ministry of Interior requested UN Women to conduct training sessions for the Office of Family and Child Protection personnel on how to prevent and combat OVAW. Moreover, the General Authority for Monitoring Media Content raised recommendations of key actions to eliminate OVAW in Libya. In March, UN Women organized a listening session between women human rights defenders (WHRDs) in Libya and Facebook/Meta. The sessions provided a unique opportunity for duty-bearers to listen to women’s first-hand challenges when reporting cases of OVAW due to gender-blind reporting mechanisms, and the continuum of violence that often starts online and continues offline. This led to Women partnering with HNEC, to develop a mapping of the social media platforms women activists use that demonstrated that women in public office receive significantly more attacks/negative comments than men and 35% of comments are considered “offensive” and caused negative reactions. UN Women leveraged its coordination mandate to support the inclusion of women’s issues in Libya’s 2023-2025 UNSDCF. UN Women co-drafted Pillar 1 (Peace and Governance) and contributed to Pillar 3 (Social and Human Capital Development), as well as provided suggestions for the remaining Pillars to improve the UNSDCF’s responsiveness to the specific needs of women. In October, UN Women Libya organized a training workshop in collaboration with the UN Women Lebanon country office, who delivered the training sessions on ensuring humanitarian response efforts adequately address the needs and rights of crisis affected women and girls during a 3-day in-person Training of Trainers (ToT), for 16 focal points from 9 UN agencies, 1 international NGO and 1 Libyan NGO. In 2022, UN Women as co-chair of the GTG organized and hosted two (2) meetings with 39 members from 20 UN agencies and produced a joint statement on International Women’s Day. The CO also developed and shared an online survey that was completed by 10 UN agencies on their priorities for reform of the GTG, that included increased inter-agency collaboration, capacity building, and dialogue with external stakeholders. Based on these suggestions, as well as new guidance issued by the UN Development Cooperation Office, UN Women as the chair of this coordination group, and UNFPA and UNSMIL as co-chairs have begun the group’s reform process to align with the new GTG Standards and Procedures.

outcome XM-DAC-41146-LBY_O_3

UN Women strategically plans for and transforms its business model to deliver impact at scale, through agile and ethical leadership rooted in a continuous improvement culture.

2022 remained to be challenging in Libya due to its constantly evolving country context and an orchestrated campaign led by conservative groups that followed the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding between UN Women and the Ministry of Women's Affairs to develop a roadmap for the adoption of a National Action Plan on UNSCR 1325 (NAP) in 2021. As a response, UN Women adopted a low-profile approach and continued working on the UNSCR 1325's pillars without advocating for a NAP, by continuing to promote and advocate for women's meaningful participation in peacebuilding processes as protection, prevention of violence against women and relief and recovery. Despite the backlash, the office continued to make significant achievements, for example, strengthening civil society and linking its members to decision-makers with recommendations and demands for improved participation in processes from reconciliation and politics to economic development. The Cluster Office (CCO) modality has also brought significant added value to UN Women's business continuity amidst Libya's volatile context. In a context where internal movement is not possible due to the conflict, UN Women often holds events with women from different parts of the country in Tunisia, allowing the collaboration of women from diverse backgrounds. In parallel, the CCO continued to expand its presence on the ground and has two office spaces in the UN compound in Tripoli, as well as in the process of finalizing the recruitment of national staff to be based in Libya. The on-the-ground presence strengthens the partnership with government officials, with regular meetings with line Ministries such as the Ministry of Women's Affairs, Ministry of Planning, Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as HNEC. The Libya CO was more rigorous around the recovery of costs, made full use of opportunities for inter-agency collaboration and streamlined operating practices, including through shared services. Knowledge management was improved through Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) related to operations procedures (eg: procurement, finance, HR transactions) to support more efficient and effective delivery of programmatic results. The lessons learned on new ways of working imposed by COVID-19 served the CO well to respond with agility to the challenges associated with the ongoing conflict in Libya. The CO leveraged partnerships with CSOs, the international community, and focused on higher-level outcomes related to knowledge production, gender mainstreaming and coordination that increased the effectiveness and efficiency of our results.

outcome XM-DAC-41146-LBY_O_4

With its unique and inclusive culture, UN-Women is an employer of choice with a diverse and highly performing cadre of personnel that embodies UN values.

During the reporting year, the Conflict Cluster Office (CCO) provided several trainings and capacity development activities related to programme and operations functions for the staff, to increase performance awareness, promote a culture of accountability, advance their knowledge and further develop their skills to better manage programmes and integrate the organization’s overall strategic directions into implementation and operations. A challenge remained the high staff turnover due to unattractive salaries and lack of professional career development within the office, which led to operational and programmatic bottlenecks and the increased workload for ad-hoc temporary, in-house substitutes. As a response, the office developed an online learning platform that contains standard operating procedures (SoPs), training materials, and induction sessions which supported the quick onboarding of newly recruited staff, and technical support was provided to strengthen programme officers' capacities to deliver quality, results-based monitoring throughout the year, to ensure institutional knowledge with current programmes.

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