Libya suspends the implementation of gender equality agreement

Libya’s Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah in Tripoli, Libya on 21 November 2021 [Hazem Turkia/Anadolu Agency]

The Libyan Transitional Council of Ministers headed by Abdulhamid Dbeibah has suspended the implementation of an agreement with the United Nations on gender equality, Reuters reports.

According to the report, the decision was taken on the eve of International Women’s Rights Day at a government meeting last Sunday.

According to the official statement, the implementation was suspended due to the conflict of some of its articles with the provisions of Islamic Sharia (law).”

Libya has a Gender Inequality Index (GII) value of 0.172 (on a scale from 0 to 1), ranking it 41 out of 162 countries in 2018, according to UNDP report.

The empowerment indicators show that just 16.0 per cent of parliamentary seats are held by women.

A new government was sworn in before parliament last Thursday and its leader, Fathi Bachagha, is trying to give equal rights to women in Tripoli related to Sharia law.

READ: Libya’s Dbeibeh asks cabinet ministers to take their decisions with ‘courage’

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