But Hatim and his peers realised that with their complementary expertise and experience working with different institutions in Libya, they could provide much-needed support to municipalities and the national government on topics related to local governance. So, they decided to set up their own NGO.
“We already worked together with DRI Libya on project planning and public policy, and we thought it important to continue our work as a civil society organisation,” said Abeir Imneina, another member of the group.
Abeir, who is a university lecturer in the Department of Public Administration at the University of Benghazi, added that there are not a lot of NGOs or CSOs in Libya that focus on local governance.
According to Abeir, there are a lot of problems within the municipalities and the national government that are contributing to the political instability in the country.
“If we talk about local governance, the main problem is corruption, and there is also a lack of human resources and expertise. But there is no political will to improve the situation. It is better than in the past but there are still so many things that we can do,” she said.
The group is now in the last stage of registering the NGO, which will be named Libyan Organisation for Local Governance, and are estimating to acquire official status by November of this year.
Hatim said he wanted the organisation to be registered sooner. “But it is not easy with bureaucracy in Libya,” he explained. Nevertheless, the group has already signed an agreement with the network of mayors — a network that has also been supported by DRI Libya as part of the ISAL project.
DRI Libya is currently working on securing funds for the group to support them in their advocacy work. “We want to ensure the sustainability of this project, and with funding, we can help them to organise meetings with councils and push for recommendations on local governance,” Asma explained.
Abeir said they want to focus on introducing budget transparency in municipalities, addressing the shortage of human resources in local governments, as well as starting to include a gender-sensitive approach in local governance.
“If you look at the problems in Libya, they seem like big issues that are impossible to solve. But if we try to tackle the smaller problems one at a time, starting with local governance in the municipalities, I believe that we can do it,” concludes Hatim.
