'Advisory Committee options are Libya's last chance for stability,' say youth in public consultation session
In a youth consultation with young women from across Libya on Sunday, UNSMIL discussed the recommendations of the Advisory Committee (AC) and what they wanted to see as the future political direction of the country.
The twenty-six young women, from the east, south and west of the country are part of the UN in Libya's Ra'idat programme, which focuses on developing the young women in leadership, communications, teamwork and advocacy skills.
'The Advisory Committee provided options that have not been seriously considered before,' said one participant. 'Its first recommendation — to hold simultaneous elections after unifying the government and adjusting presidential candidacy criteria — could be Libya's last real chance for political stability. If this effort fails, I fear there may be no meaningful opportunity for change anytime soon.'
Participants shared their concerns about the feasibility of the recommendations and the different challenges posed by the options. They highlighted the importance of youth voices being included in the political process.
'Whatever direction is taken regarding the AC options, it's essential that the process is transparent and inclusive—especially when it comes to youth participation,' said another participant. 'Young people have long been excluded from key decision-making spaces, yet they are among those most invested in Libya's future. A credible political process should open the door for fresh perspectives and meaningful engagement from the new generation.'
Discussing which of the options they preferred, many felt that option four would give Libyans more of a say in the process, but they felt it had to take into consideration a strict timeline, an accountability framework, and anti-corruption mechanisms.
UNSMIL published the Executive Summary of the Advisory Committee's Report in May, including its four proposed options to move the political process forward.
It also launched a public consultation and survey to ask people to put forward their recommendations and ideas and decided which of these options they would prefer:
Conducting presidential and legislative elections simultaneously;
Conducting parliamentary elections first, followed by the adoption of a permanent constitution;
Adopting a permanent constitution before elections; or
Establishing a political dialogue committee, based on the Libyan Political Agreement to finalize electoral laws, executive authority and permanent constitution.
More information on the youth consultations and how to get involved can be found here.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Zawya
3 hours ago
- Zawya
'Advisory Committee options are Libya's last chance for stability,' say youth in public consultation session
In a youth consultation with young women from across Libya on Sunday, UNSMIL discussed the recommendations of the Advisory Committee (AC) and what they wanted to see as the future political direction of the country. The twenty-six young women, from the east, south and west of the country are part of the UN in Libya's Ra'idat programme, which focuses on developing the young women in leadership, communications, teamwork and advocacy skills. 'The Advisory Committee provided options that have not been seriously considered before,' said one participant. 'Its first recommendation — to hold simultaneous elections after unifying the government and adjusting presidential candidacy criteria — could be Libya's last real chance for political stability. If this effort fails, I fear there may be no meaningful opportunity for change anytime soon.' Participants shared their concerns about the feasibility of the recommendations and the different challenges posed by the options. They highlighted the importance of youth voices being included in the political process. 'Whatever direction is taken regarding the AC options, it's essential that the process is transparent and inclusive—especially when it comes to youth participation,' said another participant. 'Young people have long been excluded from key decision-making spaces, yet they are among those most invested in Libya's future. A credible political process should open the door for fresh perspectives and meaningful engagement from the new generation.' Discussing which of the options they preferred, many felt that option four would give Libyans more of a say in the process, but they felt it had to take into consideration a strict timeline, an accountability framework, and anti-corruption mechanisms. UNSMIL published the Executive Summary of the Advisory Committee's Report in May, including its four proposed options to move the political process forward. It also launched a public consultation and survey to ask people to put forward their recommendations and ideas and decided which of these options they would prefer: Conducting presidential and legislative elections simultaneously; Conducting parliamentary elections first, followed by the adoption of a permanent constitution; Adopting a permanent constitution before elections; or Establishing a political dialogue committee, based on the Libyan Political Agreement to finalize electoral laws, executive authority and permanent constitution. More information on the youth consultations and how to get involved can be found here. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).
The National
6 hours ago
- The National
How Nato can play a positive role in the Middle East
For Nato, the past three years have been consumed by its focus on responding to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Although the war has been a priority for the alliance, this week's Nato summit in The Hague has already been largely overwhelmed by the repercussions of Israel's unilateral attack on Iran. And with the Saturday follow-up bombing of Iran by the Americans, the largest Nato member state has only deepened this diversion in focus. However, this shift in Nato's strategic focus is prompting a long-overdue consideration of how the bloc should address security challenges in the Middle East. Although any discussion of a role for Nato in the Middle East would challenge perceptions of the alliance's geographical and operational limits as a defensive force, Nato has emerged as much more than a North Atlantic bloc. For several years now, it has embarked on a more ambitious – but much-needed – campaign of 'out-of-area operations'. These have included elements of crisis response, peacekeeping and counterterrorism, each of which was more about meeting the needs of a changing security environment than simply seeking a wider mission or mandate for Nato. Such out-of-area operations have also reflected a broader and more sophisticated Nato focus on the Mediterranean as well as the Middle East and North Africa, and a deepening of Nato's Partnership for Peace engagement with countries across the former Soviet space. In this context, Nato is no longer limited to the North Atlantic. Looking to today's daunting security landscape in the Middle East, currently driven by the Israel-Iran conflict but also defined by the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, the imperative for Nato is to respond to security challenges and reject the strict constraints of geography. Nato engagement in the Middle East should not – and most likely cannot – take the form of a new military alliance. Rather, Nato should emphasise local self-sufficiency and capability in addition to forging and fostering regional co-operation among the Middle Eastern states themselves. Although the Israeli and American military strikes against Iran would seemingly challenge this opening for Nato, the need for de-escalation and the necessity to climb down from the focus on military responses to Iran's nuclear programme does offer an opportunity. Even for Iran, such Nato engagement would broaden the context away from co-ordinated Israeli-American pressure to possible multilateral diplomacy by bringing in European Nato members. And even for the US, such Nato involvement would help to address the security concerns about a future restart of a nuclear programme by an emboldened Iran by beefing-up compliance and enforcement of subsequent proliferation safeguards. For the future of security and stability in the Middle East, it is the largely European Nato member states (with a pronounced Turkish role) that will be key to driving Nato engagement The most obvious and natural pool of candidate nations for such Nato engagement comprises those countries with long-standing partnerships with the US, which Washington would be more inclined to support. A key partner in this project of Nato engagement would be Jordan, given the already-robust support for the alliance from King Abdullah II. In fact, the most recent sign of an opportunity for Nato in the Middle East came from Amman, when Jordan agreed earlier this month to establish and host a Nato liaison office in its capital. That decision, which followed a preliminary agreement between Jordan and Nato in July last year, marks the first Nato diplomatic presence in the Middle East. More broadly, Nato engagement would seek to counter sources of regional instability in the Middle East, with a focus on de-escalation of the Israel-Iran conflict and a smarter approach in finding a lasting resolution to the Palestine-Israel conflict. However, the current situation regarding Iran offers more peril than promise. As The National 's US affairs columnist Hussein Ibish recently warned in these pages, 'if [US President Donald] Trump joins Israel in striking Iran, the US will enter another forever war', adding that Mr Trump's 'alarming trajectory for his administration's policies' towards Iran, as well as Israel, does nothing to inspire confidence in Washington's management of this crisis. In fact, the US has been moving closer to the Israeli position in recent days, with Mr Trump's rhetoric more aligned with the Israeli leadership's hardline narrative. As much as Israel's attack on Iran was calculated to undermine Washington's diplomatic negotiations with Tehran, it was also designed to force the hand of Mr Trump into supporting the Israeli offensive. And given Mr Trump's decision to bomb Iran, it is now clear that this Israeli gambit was successful. Thus, for the future of security and stability in the Middle East, it is the largely European Nato member states (with a pronounced Turkish role) that will be key to driving Nato engagement. The timing of Nato's entry into the Middle East would be critical, in three distinct ways. First, it would follow a significant decline in power and influence of Iran's proxy forces, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza and the Houthis in Yemen. This further bolsters the chance for empowering these inherently fragile states after the demise and decline of local Iranian proxies. Second, it would come amid the strategic shifts in the Middle East's geopolitical landscape that began in December last year with the fall of Bashar Al Assad's government in Syria and which continues with the possibility of abrupt change within Iran. It is this context that reveals the game-changing nature of the current Middle East, although the volatility and unpredictability of such geopolitical changes present as many threats as opportunities. The third consideration of timing is rooted in the uncertainty regarding the US. With new questions hanging over America's commitment to its own security obligations, both to individual Nato allies and the alliance itself, Nato engagement in the Middle East would also be a response to a dangerous security vacuum. And the unilateral, 'go it alone' nature of the recent American military attack on Iran only demonstrates the danger of blind reliance on the US's commitment to Nato. As already demonstrated by the Trump administration's erratic 'America first' approach to Ukraine, Nato leadership has increasingly become more of an exercise in European strategic thinking, not because of the Americans but despite them. More broadly, Nato now faces a daunting vacuum, whereby geopolitics, like nature, abhors and resists any vacuum in power.
Middle East Eye
12 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
EU to provide financial support to Unrwa, PA
The European Commission will allocate $233m to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (Unrwa) and the Palestinian Authority to support Palestinians, the Palestinian news agency Wafa said. The funds come as part of a three-year package worth around $1.8bn that it had announced last April. The commission said that $173m has been allocated to support the Palestinian Authority in ensuring the delivery of key public services, including the payment of salaries of teachers, civil servants and healthcare workers. The PA has been accused by critics of corruption and bad governance. Unrwa received a contribution of $60m to support education, primary healthcare and relief assistance to Palestinian refugees across the Gaza Strip, occupied West Bank and hosting countries such as Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. EU Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Šuica said: 'We reaffirm our unwavering political and financial commitment. This is part of a broader EU package of assistance, underscoring our continued backing of UNRWA's role as both humanitarian and development actor.' He added: 'The EU is deeply concerned about the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza and the worsening conditions in the West Bank. We remain firmly committed to a just and lasting peace, grounded in a negotiated Two-State solution.'
