Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 17th Oct. Head of the UN support mission in Libya , Abdoulaye Bathily on Monday briefed the members of the UN Security Council stated that humanitarians delivered aid to over 146,000 floods victims in Libya.
He called Libya’s “unprecedented” flood disaster centred on the coastal city of Derna.
Abdoulaye Bathily noted the thousands of lives lost by the dam bursts which destroyed whole neighborhoods after Storm Daniel slammed the region on 10 September.
He told the Council members that despite the sense of national unity and compassion shown by ordinary Libyans, the disaster had revealed “severe governance deficits” across the divided nation, with its two rival administrations: the internationally recognized Government in Tripoli and the Benghazi-based parliament in the east.
“I saw first-hand the magnitude of the disaster and heard from families about their losses, including individuals who lost all their loved ones”, said Mr. Bathily.
“I saw an apocalyptic scene where large portions of the city were literally swallowed up by the water,” he shared with the Council.
UN with local and international partners responded to the crisis, providing life-saving aid and leading search and rescue operations. The focus now is on early recovery and reconstruction.
Mr. Bathily said the divided leaderships had supported rescue efforts well overall with the eastern-based Libyan National Army established an operations room to support rescue teams. Armed groups from both east and west “demonstrated remarkable solidarity”, he added.
He expressed concern over the clear divisions among Libya’s leaders regarding the reconstruction of Derna and the affected areas.
Mr. Bathily cautioned “Uncoordinated initiatives could lead to further disappointment for the citizens of Derna and all of Libya, who are hoping for a speedy recovery and efficient reconstruction of the affected areas”.
He noted some progress to hold national elections towards a new unity government.
He said a committee of representatives from rival administrations tasked to produce laws for the upcoming elections, completed its work. With certain reservations, they have published revised electoral laws acceptable to all sides.
Mr. Bathily warned that remaining disagreements over electoral laws may jeopardize the hard-won gains by the rival chambers and the compromise they have achieved so far.
He said a wider base of support was needed to safeguard progress towards the ballot box, called on all parties involved to meet and agree on a binding political settlement.
Mr. Bathily said that the “backbone of that will be a unified government to lead Libya to elections”assured of UNSMIL’s readiness to help.
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