EU to send $5.6 million for public services in Libya

The European Union will give another $5.62 million to the Stabilisation Facility for Libya (SFL) to improve basic public services, EU ambassador Bettina Muscheidt announced in Tripoli yesterday. She made the announcement following a meeting with the SFL’s board in the Libyan capital’s Corinthia Hotel.

The SFL is co-chaired by the Libyan Presidency Council’s Ministry of Planning and the UN Deputy Special Representative and was launched in April last year with the aim of rehabilitating crucial infrastructure at the local level. The focus is directed at areas of the country damaged as a result of fighting during and since the revolution in 2011.

Last year, around $32 million was donated, including a first batch of $5.62 million from the EU. This has since been used to fund a number of projects, including new ambulances, rubbish collection trucks, solar panels, generators for hospitals, computers for schools and municipal internet services.

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“Libya’s people cannot wait,” Muscheidt told reporters. “Families across the country are in dire need of services. They want a return of normality.”

This is where the Stabilisation Facility can make a difference in helping the Libyan government to improve lives and alleviate the suffering in areas most affected by the conflict across regions of Libya. The priority is to facilitate the return of public services.

The SFL’s target is $60 million, half of which will come from the government of national unity (GNA) and half from foreign donors.