UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) along with United Nations Development Program (UNDP) held a three-day workshop with dozens of Libyan mediators and discussed mediation efforts and challenges, the mission said in a statement on Friday.
“The UNSMIL and the UNDP this week gathered over 60 local mediators to share experiences in facilitating peace and cease-fire agreements,” said the statement.
“During the workshop, participants identified the main challenges obstructing their work, such as: external interferences, lack of neutrality and politicization of some reconciliation actors, the absence of a unified reconciliation institution for Libya, and lack of coordination between the actors of reconciliation,” the statement added.
Weak involvement of youth and women mediation as well as the lack of government support and reparation were among the obstacles hindering mediation efforts in Libya, it revealed.
“After three days of deliberations, the participants suggested the creation of a unified and independent national body, called on the authorities to adopt a roadmap involving all the parties engaged in reconciliation, and urged for stronger coordination among all mediators throughout Libya,” the statement added.
Libya’s social and tribal mediators contribute to ending sudden tensions and armed conflicts, as tribal elders in chaotic and war-torn Libya are highly respected.
