ReliefWeb

SITUATION AT A GLANCE

• 6.6 MILLION Estimated Population of Libya UN – November 2018

• 823,000 MILLION Estimated Number of People in Need of Humanitarian Assistance in Libya UN – July 2021

• 212,593 IDPs in Libya IOM – June 2021

• 643,123 Registered IDP Returns IOM – June 2021

• 610,128 Migrants in Libya IOM – September 2021

• Humanitarian actors reached 63 percent of the 451,000 individuals targeted for humanitarian assistance in 2021, the UN reports.

• Incidents of bureaucratic impediments decline but continue to adversely affect humanitarian operations in September.

• USAID/BHA partner IOM continues to provide critical health services to vulnerable populations as rates of COVID19 cases in Libya decline.

KEY DEVELOPMENTS

Humanitarian Response Reaches 63 Percent of Target Caseload

Improving security conditions following the cessation of large-scale hostilities in late 2020 and early 2021 enabled humanitarian actors to reach nearly 286,000 individuals with assistance from January to May, representing 63 percent of the 451,000 targeted by the UN—including internally displaced persons (IDPs), migrants, and refugees—for humanitarian assistance in 2021; during the same period in 2020, humanitarian actors reached fewer than 200,000 vulnerable people. From January to May 2021, humanitarian actors provided more than 116,500 people with food assistance, nearly 70,400 individuals with outpatient health consultations, and approximately 42,560 people with relief commodities, including essential household items such as blankets and mattresses, the UN reports. The U.S. Government (USG) continues to support implementing partners to provide a range of humanitarian services for vulnerable populations, including health; protection; shelter; and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) assistance.

Bureaucratic Impediments Continue to Affect Humanitarian Response

Relief actors continued to confront constraints to the delivery of humanitarian assistance in September, with the UN recording nearly 130 access incidents during the month. While the figure represents the sixteenth consecutive monthly decline in the total number of reported incidents, bureaucratic impediments to the movement of agencies, personnel, or goods into and within Libya—which constituted 67 percent of all reported incidents during the month—significantly impeded humanitarian operations. In particular, the lack of official procedures for the registration of international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) and the processing of visas for INGO staff undermined humanitarian operations; one USAID/BHA partner reported that ongoing visa-issuance delays threatened programs and activities that target thousands of beneficiaries. USAID/BHA and partners continue to track and advocate for a solution to bureaucratic impediments. Protection was the sector most affected by access impediments during September, representing 11 percent of all reported access incidents during the month, though the mine action sector was also significantly affected, representing 8 percent of all reported incidents. Separately, Libyan authorities' suspension of humanitarian flights in early August continues to impede IOM and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) evacuation and resettlement operations for migrants and refugees.

COVID-19 Positivity Rates Decline in Libya as Immunizations Continue

New coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in Libya continued to decline in September, falling from nearly 55,600 cases during August to 29,500 cases in September, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) reports. Despite the improvement, the case positivity rate countrywide remained at more than 20 percent, or nearly four times the WHO-recommended threshold of below 5 percent. Community transmission of the disease remained present in all 13 Libyan districts. As of September 30, the UN had recorded 340,100 COVID-19 cases, as well as 4,651 associated deaths, in Libya since the outbreak began.

As of late September, nearly 1.4 million people—approximately 19 percent of the population targeted for immunization—had received one COVID-19 vaccine dose, while nearly 207,300 people— approximately 3 percent of the target population—had received two doses and were fully vaccinated.

With USAID/BHA and other donor funding, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) continued to provide COVID-19 assistance to IDPs and migrants in Libya, with IOM medical teams conducting 60 outreach and awareness-raising sessions and providing medical screening and outreach consultations to more than 2,400 IDPs and migrants from September 5 to 11.