UNSMIL Stresses Importance of Advancing Women’s Meaningful Political Participation in Libya

The women who participated in the consultative session held in Tripoli. Photo: UNSMIL
The women who participated in the consultative session held in Tripoli. Photo: UNSMIL
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UNSMIL Stresses Importance of Advancing Women’s Meaningful Political Participation in Libya

The women who participated in the consultative session held in Tripoli. Photo: UNSMIL
The women who participated in the consultative session held in Tripoli. Photo: UNSMIL

Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General (DSRSG) for Political Affairs, Officer-in-Charge of UNSMIL, Stephanie Koury, has emphasized the unwavering commitment of UNSMIL and the larger UN family to supporting the key role Libyan women play in the political process.

"UNSMIL's mandate is clear: to work with Libyan institutions and authorities to ensure full, equal, effective, meaningful, and safe participation of women at all levels, including in leadership positions and in all decision-making relating to inclusive political processes, democratic transition, reconciliation efforts, conflict resolution and peacebuilding,” Koury said in a recorded message.

She spoke on Thursday at a consultative session hosted by UNSMIL in Tripoli and bringing together 28 prominent women from the House of Representatives, High Council of State, and Civil Society Organizations representing the western and southern regions of Libya.

The session, held ahead of the launch of an inclusive, intra-Libyan political process, focused on identifying key priorities to be addressed at the current juncture of Libya’s transition and ways to ensure effective representation and meaningful political participation of women, UNSMIL said in a statement.

The participants engaged in productive discussions with the UNSMIL team, drawing on good practice and lessons learned from previous political processes. They highlighted the importance of women's active involvement at all stages in political, economic, and security tracks, both in short-and-longer-term, the statement said.

In the coming days, a similar session is planned for eastern Libya to engage more women leaders and activists, it added.



Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Meets HTS Leader in Damascus

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Ministry headquarters in the Turkish capital Ankara Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Ministry headquarters in the Turkish capital Ankara Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP)
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Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Meets HTS Leader in Damascus

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Ministry headquarters in the Turkish capital Ankara Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Ministry headquarters in the Turkish capital Ankara Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP)

Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus on Sunday, Türkiye’s foreign ministry said, without providing further details.

Photographs and footage shared by the ministry showed Fidan and Sharaa, leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, which led the operation to topple Bashar al-Assad two weeks ago, walking ahead of a crowded delegation before posing for photographs.

The two are also seen shaking hands, hugging, and smiling.

On Friday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said that Türkiye would help Syria's new administration form a state structure and draft a new constitution, adding Fidan would head to Damascus to discuss this new structure, without providing a date.

Ibrahim Kalin, the head of Türkiye’s MIT intelligence agency, also visited Damascus on Dec. 12, four days after Assad's fall.

Ankara had for years backed opposition fighters looking to oust Assad and welcomed the end of his family's brutal five-decade rule after a 13-year civil war. Türkiye also hosts millions of Syrian migrants it hopes will start returning home after Assad's fall, and has vowed to help rebuild Syria.

Fidan's visit comes amid fighting in northeast Syria between Türkiye-backed Syrian fighters and the Kurdish YPG militia, which spearheads the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the northeast and Ankara regards as a terrorist organization.

Earlier, Türkiye’s defense minister said Ankara believed that Syria's new leadership, including the Syrian National Army (SNA) armed group which Ankara backs, will drive YPG fighters from all territory they occupy in the northeast.

Ankara, alongside Syrian allies, has mounted several cross-border offensives against the Kurdish faction in northern Syria and controls swathes of Syrian territory along the border, while repeatedly demanding that its NATO ally Washington halts support for the Kurdish fighters.

The SDF has been on the back foot since Assad's fall, with the threat of advances from Ankara and Türkiye-backed groups as it looks to preserve political gains made in the last 13 years, and with Syria's new rulers being friendly to Ankara.