The French Ambassador to Libya, Ms. Béatrice Le Fraper du Hellen, signed an agreement with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative, Gerardo Noto, by which France commits 1 million euros to support UNDP’s ‘Promoting Elections for the People of Libya’ project, raising the total funds from France to the project to €1,850,000.
UNDP said in a statement that the project works to support the High National Elections Commission (HNEC) to prepare and hold national elections.
"Amongst capacity development assistance, UNDP works together with HNEC on strengthening the voter registration system. Among the project’s initiatives are the procuring of 12,000 ballot boxes and the issuing of voter cards to use as one of the prerequisites in voter identification at the polling stations to ensure a transparent process." The statement reads.
During the signing ceremony, ambassador Le Fraper du Hellen stated: “France is fully committed to support Libyan presidential and parliamentary elections on 24 December 2021. We applaud the commitment of President Emad Sayeh of the High National Elections Commission and his whole team. We call on all actors to assist them in their mission and we thank once again UNDP for their commitment to work with and for the people of Libya.”
The ceremony was held in the presence of Dr. Emad Al-Sayah, HNEC Chairman, who affirmed that within the framework of the international support for a peaceful change in Libya, and aiming at achieving security and stability in the country, France's contribution will be helpful to raise HNEC capacity to implement elections on 24 December 2021.
Since the announcement of the decision of holding national elections on 24 December 2021 by the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum members in November 2020, UNDP has been able to raise €2.8 million to enhance the readiness of the Commission for elections.
