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FDFA Dossier: Situation in LibyaLibya
The popular
uprisings at the beginning of 2011 in Tunisia and Egypt spread to Libya. To protect the civilian population the international community decided on military intervention. Although the victory of the
rebels led to the liberation of Libya, the country still faces a long period of transition to democracy. In addition, large sections of the country are strewn with unexploded remnants of war, which
frequently cause deaths and injuries.To ensure the most favourable conditions possible for the success of a transition towards democracy in North Africa, the Federal Council responded quickly and decided in March 2011 to substantially increase Switzerland's medium-term activity in this region.
The Swiss programme for North Africa for the period 2011–2016 responds to the priorities on the ground and focuses on three main areas:
- transition towards democracy and human rights;
- economic development and employment;
- migration and protection.
Switzerland also provided humanitarian assistance during the crisis in Libya.
| The Swiss Government's bilateral commitment | 2010 |
2011* |
2012* |
|---|---|---|---|
| SDC | |||
| Bilateral development cooperation | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1.50 |
| Humanitarian aid | 0.15 | 4.00 | 0.23 |
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|
|||
| Economic Cooperation and Development | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Federal Office for Migration (FOM) | .. | 0.50 | 0.50 |
| Political Affairs Division IV (PAIV) | |||
| Conflict transformation and Human Rights | .. | 0.23 | .. |
| Directorate of International Law (DIL) | – |
technical cooperation |
|
| State Secretariat for Education and Research (SER) | |||
| Total | 0.15 | 4.73 | 2.23 |
Bilateral development cooperation excluding program contributions to NGOs
.. = figures not available | – = nil or amount < 5'000 CHF
Switzerland's commitment
Medium-term commitment: the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) in the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) together with the Federal Office of Migration
(FOM) in the Federal Department of Justice and Police are currently developing a medium-term Swiss programme.
The FDFA’s Human Security Division has already decided on activities to support the political transition towards democracy in close coordination with the United Nations Special Mission in
Libya.
Any activities that Switzerland will carry out in Libya will be implemented in a coordinated, coherent and complementary fashion by the different Swiss actors. Switzerland’s support will be based on
partnerships targeted to identified needs. Equal treatment of men and women will be taken into account in each of the projects.
The Swiss embassy in Tripoli, reopened in October 2011, was reinforced by a human security councilor in January 2012.
Operational activities are currently as follows (as of December 2012):
Transition towards democracy and human rights
Support for various regional activities which may in some instances include activities in Libya:
- Support for possible activities in Libya in the framework of the regional programme of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), an internationally renowned centre of competence. – SDC
- Support for the establishment of a regional office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR). – SDC /Directorate of Public International Law (DPIL)
- Exploration of activities in Libya in connection with reform of the security sector in partnership with the Centre for the Democratic Control of the Armed Forces (DCAF) in Geneva. – SDC
Specific project - Technical assistance and targeted support for the transition authorities in the framework of legal assistance for the possible recovery of illicit assets that have been placed in Switzerland. –
DPIL and Directorate of Political Affairs (PD).
Specific project (fr) - Support for de-mining operations consisting of the removal and elimination of antipersonnel mines, cluster bombs and of all unexploded remnants of war. Funds have been allocated to the Mine
Action Service of the United Nations (UNMAS), which coordinates activities in Libya and raises the public’s awareness of the dangers of unexploded remnants of war. – PD
Specific project - Identification of areas and causes of tension that could threaten the political transition. – PD
- Awareness raising for and training of key actors in civil society in the area of mediation. – PD
- Identification of training needs for civil society and state actors in the humanitarian field. – PD
- Proposals for professional support in coming to terms with the past as well as in holding elections. – PD
Economic development and employment
- Implementation of a regional financial structure for projects designed to include marginalised populations by means of developing micro-finance and micro-insurance products and services. – SDC
Migration and protection
- Financial support for UNHCR and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) for the repatriation of people of non-Libyan origin who fled from Libya because of the conflict. – FOM and
SDC
Specific project - Multilateral and regional projects that could also contain activities in Libya are currently being studied. – FOM and SDC
Humanitarian support:
For the implementation of the humanitarian activities, a satellite office was opened in Benghazi in April 2011 (HA-antenna); in October a
humanitarian expert was stationed in Tripoli. The humanitarian situation is now under control. Switzerland is expected to end its humanitarian activities in the course of 2012.
Humanitarian aid activities in 2011:
- Financial support for UN specialised agencies and international organisations engaged in the urgent humanitarian response in Libya (UNHCR, IOM, OCHA, WFP, ICRC, Swiss Red Cross). – SDC
- Shipment of 2.8 t of medicines and medical material as well as 20 t of baby milk powder to Benghazi by boat. – SDC
- Training of employees of LibAid (Libyan Humanitarian Relief Agency) in Benghazi. – SDC
- Support for internally displaced families who spent the winter in camps near Tripoli. Goods were distributed by LibAid. – SDC
- Financial aid for the management of refugee camps along the Tunisian border. In collaboration with UNICEF and UNHCR, hygiene and sanitary measures were promoted in the camps in Shousha. – SDC
Information on Libya
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| Source: World Bank's World Development Indicators 2011 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Local SDC contact address:
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Libya (Tripoli) |
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Embassy of Switzerland |
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| Phone | +218 (0)21 361 41 18 |
| tri.vertretung@eda.admin.ch | |
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Additional Information and Documents Here, you will find more publications, links, documents and articles about Swiss development cooperation and humanitarian aid in this country. |