{"id":48989,"date":"2019-03-21T10:19:05","date_gmt":"2019-03-21T10:19:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gbcghanaonline.com\/?p=48989"},"modified":"2019-03-21T10:19:05","modified_gmt":"2019-03-21T10:19:05","slug":"libya-stands-at-a-critical-juncture-un-mission-head-tells-security-council","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gbcghanaonline.com\/world\/libya-stands-at-a-critical-juncture-un-mission-head-tells-security-council\/2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Libya stands at a \u2018critical juncture\u2019, UN mission head tells Security Council"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Predicting that the \u201cdays ahead will prove foundational to the years ahead for Libyans and the region\u201d, the top United Nations official in the country told the Security Council on Wednesday, that it was no exaggeration to describe the oil-rich nation as having reached \u201ca crucial juncture\u201d.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Special Representative and head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) Ghassan Salam\u00e9, told Council members via videoconference from Tripoli, that the mission was working to both \u201cprevent recent developments and tensions on the ground from escalating\u201d, and \u201cpivot to stability and a political compact\u201d which would end the country\u2019s crisis.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">For most of the period since the 2011 overthrow of former dictator Muammar Gaddafi, the Mediterranean nation has been contested by various armed factions, leading to a breakdown of the economy, infrastructure and security across the country.<\/p>\n<div style=\"display: block; position: relative; max-width: 480px; max-height: 270px;\">\n<div style=\"padding-top: 56.25%;\"><iframe style=\"width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0px; bottom: 0px; right: 0px; left: 0px;\" src=\"https:\/\/news.un.org\/en\/sites\/all\/themes\/bootstrap_un_news\/localization\/webcast-player\/?videoId=6016109470001&amp;autoplay=1#t=00h00m00s\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Mr. Salam\u00e9 has been working to ease relations between the internationally recognized government of Prime Minister Faiez Serraj based in Tripoli, and the main rival authority led by the Libyan National Army (LNA) Commander, Khalifa Haftar in the east.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">But efforts by the LNA to bring more stability and security to southern and western Libya in recent months, had been met with armed opposition in some areas, and in the east, fighting around Derna had resulted in reported human rights abuses, and \u201cmany civilian casualties\u201d, Mr. Salame said.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Turning to the humanitarian situation, the Special Representative said that Libya\u2019s infrastructure was deteriorating \u201cat an alarming rate\u201d with basic services eroding with water production \u201cparticularly fragile\u201d.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Noting that some 823,000 people, including migrants and 248,000 children, need humanitarian assistance, he stated that a $202 million Humanitarian Response Plan for 2019 was launched on 5 February, to provide health, protection, water, and shelter to more than half a million of the most vulnerable people in Libya.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Election pledge, shows new \u2018sincerity\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">UNSMIL has supported two rounds of preparatory talks in its Tunis office between the advisors of Prime Minister Serraj and General Haftar, continuing a process that started in September 2017.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">What is new is the sincerity to turn these words into the end of the transitional period through election \u2013 UNSMIL chief<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">At the end of last month, in a meeting arranged by Mr. Salam\u00e9 in Abu Dhabi, both agreed to work towards holding a general election as a precursor to a unified democratic Libya, with civilian control of the military; a move welcomed by the UN Secretary-General. The parties also agreed to unify Libya\u2019s long-divided institutions and to schedule national elections before year-end.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cWhat is new is the sincerity to turn these words into the end of the transitional period through elections\u201d observed the UNSMIL chief.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Meanwhile after many months, the UN opened a hub in Benghazi \u201cto better deliver across the east of the country\u201d he said, adding that for the first time since 2013, UN programmes have begun operating in Sabha and discussions are underway for a hub there to support operations in the south.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>National Conference: A \u2018critical opportunity\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">A National Conference to be convened inside Libya from 14-16 April, \u201crepresents a critical opportunity\u201d to end the eight-year transitional period, Mr. Salam\u00e9 told Council members.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThere is much at stake\u201d, he spelled out, citing the risks of \u201cprolonged stalemate or conflict\u201d.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Special Representative argued that the Conference offers a real opportunity \u201cto step back from the edge of this precipice\u201d and for all parties \u201cto put aside their differences for the good of the country, to unite, to avoid war and to choose a path of peace and prosperity\u201d.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Moreover, it will decide whether to endorse the National Charter, which came from a consultative process; to chart a roadmap for concluding the transitional period; and to provide recommendations on how to deal with the Draft Constitution produced by the Constitutional Drafting Assembly.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Pointing to \u201ca notable uptick in the weaponization of media platforms as tools of incitement\u201d, he called on everyone to \u201crefrain from the use of inflammatory and alienating rhetoric\u201d and to \u201cavoid acts of obstruction and incitement\u201d.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cI also call on all in the international community to put the interests of the Libyan people first, and to act committedly and sincerely to pressure all parties to avoid conflict and conclude a peaceful formula to end the transitional period in Libya, for the sake of all\u201d, concluded the Special Representative.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_49006\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-49006\" style=\"width: 784px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-49006\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.akatanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Graffiti-on-one-of-the-walls-in-Benghazi-destructed-by-the-war-300x135.jpg?resize=784%2C353&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"784\" height=\"353\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-49006\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">UNOCHA\/Giles Clarke: Graffiti on one of the walls in Benghazi destructed by the war<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Predicting that the \u201cdays ahead will prove foundational to the years ahead for Libyans and the region\u201d, the top United Nations official in the country told the Security Council on Wednesday, that it was no exaggeration to describe the oil-rich nation as having reached \u201ca crucial juncture\u201d. Special Representative and head of the UN Support [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":48991,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,23],"tags":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gbcghanaonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48989"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gbcghanaonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gbcghanaonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gbcghanaonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gbcghanaonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48989"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.gbcghanaonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48989\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gbcghanaonline.com\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gbcghanaonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gbcghanaonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gbcghanaonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}