Context
Following the outbreak of civil war, the Government of National Accord (GNA) was established in 2015 in Libya as a result of a United Nations-led initiative. However, this government is weak and is challenged by rivals for power, particularly from the East. The conflict has caused a deterioration in basic services such as water supply and waste/wastewater management. While the decentralised governmental structure of Libya has been anchored in law since 2012, insufficient measures have been taken to establish this in practice. At the moment, mandates, roles and responsibilities of the actors in the provision of services at local level are yet to be clarified, and the interaction between the levels of government only functions to a limited degree. The GNA has identified the need to plan and implement an inclusive and systematic process of decentralisation and is working towards this.
Objective
National, regional and local stakeholders work in a decentralised government. Tasks and responsibilities for basic services have been defined and are being implemented.
Approach
With a flexible fund, the project is supporting national and sub-national Libyan stakeholders as well as municipalities and civil society organisations in developing strategies for the decentralised provision of basic services. The fund helps the local authorities to better advance their interests, for example by supporting applications for better coordination among one another. The fund works closely with all supported projects of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and its partner ministries, but above all with the ‘Support for Municipalities in Libya’ and ‘Promoting Decentralisation as a Contribution to the Stability of Libya’ projects in order to identify key sectors and action areas.
Last updated: 2020