Delivered by: Mrs. Ameirah AlHefeiti, Deputy Permanent Representative

UNOFFICIAL TRANSLATION

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Mr. President,

At the outset, we welcome Mr. Abdoulaye Bathily, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Libya and Head of UNSMIL. We thank him for his valuable briefing and wish him all the success in his new duties. We also assure him of the UAE’s full support for his efforts as well as the efforts of UNSMIL, the mandate of which we look forward to extending for a year at the end of this week. We welcome Ambassador Taher Al-Sunni’s participation in today’s session.

Mr. President,

In aftermath of the heinous killings that took place in Sabratha, which claimed the lives of at least 15 migrants and asylum seekers, we stress the urgent need to work with countries of origin, destination, and transit to dismantle transnational organized crime networks.

I would like to emphasize in my statement today the following four important issues:

First, holding parliamentary and presidential elections remains a legitimate request of the Libyan people. Achieving this, however, requires the resumption of dialogue and continued consultations. We welcome the recent meeting between the parties in Morocco and we applaud the efforts of the kingdom of Morocco in this regard.  In addition, to pave the way for the elections, serious steps must be taken to achieve inclusive and broad national reconciliation. In this regard, we welcome the progress made by the Libyan Presidential Council on different tracks of the national reconciliation process.

This momentum creates common ground to reach a sustainable settlement for the Libyan crisis. We look forward to the convening of an inclusive conference of all Libyans, with the support of the African Union, and we take this opportunity to invite the Special Representative of the Secretary-General to make every possible effort to bridge the views of the Libyan parties in order to reach understanding and the desired consensus.

Second, we stress the importance of achieving the goals on the political track and taking sincere steps to unify security and military institutions. This includes starting the withdrawal process of all foreign forces, foreign fighters, and mercenaries from Libya in a simultaneous, phased, gradual, and balanced manner. We also emphasize the importance of maintaining the comprehensive ceasefire agreement which marked its second anniversary yesterday. In this regard, we look forward to the upcoming meeting of the 5+5 Joint Military Commission to be held under the auspices of UNSMIL, and we urge the Special Representative of the Secretary-General to work with all Libyan parties to address the causes of disorder, which affect the Libyan people the most.

Third, the economic and humanitarian tracks must be given their due importance. This requires decision-makers in Libya to focus on addressing the basic needs of the Libyan people and providing them with basic services. In addition, natural resources must be used for their intended purposes, and the revenues should be spent in a fair and transparent manner. Respect for independent economic and financial institutions in Libya must also be ensured.

Fourth, we stress the need to actively involve Libyan women in dialogue, negotiation and decision-making processes of in Libya. We commend here the efforts made by the United Nations in coordination with various Libyan authorities and institutions to empower Libyan women. We also commend the existing cooperation between the United Nations and social media institutions aimed ats combating misinformation and hate speech targeting women. In this regard, we express our concern about reports of intimidation, violence, and attacks against women taking part in public life.

Finally, we wish all the success to the Libyans in finding the right solutions, building a united and prosperous Libya, and realizing the legitimate aspirations of their people.

Thank you, Mr. President.