The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Edited News | UNITED NATIONS
Continuity: High Level Meeting on Libyan Constitutional Track - Stephanie Williams 28 June 2022
The following is a translation of comments in Arabic by Ms. Williams to the Leaders of Libya's House of Representatives (HOR) and the High State Council (HSC) in Geneva on Tuesday 29 June 2022:
"Excellencies, Honorable Speaker of the Parliament, President of the High Council of State
Distinguished members of the delegations,
I am very pleased to welcome you here today in this United Nations Headquarters, the Palais des Nations, a historic and highly symbolic United Nations venue, which once hosted the League of Nations, and which I truly hope will be auspicious for this important meeting.
I would like to express my gratitude to our host, the Swiss Government, which has once again demonstrated its friendship to the United Nations and to Libya, welcoming us at very short notice with gracious hospitality.
Your presence here today is an example of responsible leadership and I want to thank you for accepting my invitation to convene soon after the conclusions of the third and final round of talks in Cairo.
The Joint Committee deliberated extensively in carrying out a detailed review of the Draft Constitution, settled disagreements, and achieved consensus on important issues. For the first time, since its adoption by the CDA in 2017, the House of Representatives and the High Council of State engaged in a serious consideration and review of the Constitutional proposal, agreeing on critical elements, safeguards and guardrails which are indispensable for the holding of national elections and therefore to end Libya endless cycle of transitions and interim periods. It is a commendable achievement and it has been a laborious and demanding task.
We are here today to discuss a final and equally important element which has remained outstanding during the talks in Cairo and which requires your leadership to reach consensus, the transitional measures: timelines, modalities and milestones to guarantee a clear path to the holding of national elections as soon possible, through joint work and a consensual outcome.
I have witnessed an unprecedented level of cooperation between the institutions and you have now reached a critical stage of what has been a long and difficult path.
It is now the time to make a final and courageous effort to ensure that this historic compromise takes place, for the sake of Libya, the Libyan people and the credibility of its institutions.
Thank you."
***
Arabic text:
في افتتاح الاجتماع رفيع المستوى – المسار الدستوري الليبي
جنيف -28 حزيران/ يونيو 2022
معالي السيد رئيس مجلس النواب المحترم
معالي السيد رئيس المجلس الأعلى للدولة المحترم
السادة المحترمون أعضاء الوفدين،
إنه من دواعي سروري أن أرحب بكم هنا اليوم في مقر الأمم المتحدة في هذا الصرح التاريخي – قصر الأمم – الذي يحمل دلالة رمزية كبيرة للأمم المتحدة حيث احتضن عصبة الأمم ذات يوم، والذي آمل أن يكون طالعَ خيرٍ لهذا الاجتماع الهام.
وأَودُّ أن أُعربَ عن امتناني للحكومة السويسرية، التي تُؤكد مرة أخرى صداقتها تجاه الأمم المتحدة وتجاه ليبيا باستضافتها السخيّة لنا رغم ضيق الوقت.
إنّ وجودكم اليوم هنا لـدَليلٌ على تَحلِّيكم بالقيادة المسؤولة، وأودُ أن أُعرِبَ عن امتناني لكم على قبولكم دعوتي لهذا الاجتماع بعد وقتٍ قصيرٍ من اختتام الجولة الثالثة والأخيرة من المشاورات في القاهرة.
لقد أجرت اللجنة المشتركة مداولات موسّعة ومراجعة مفصّلة لمسودة الدستور وعَكَفت على تسوية الخلافات وتَوَصَّلت إلى تَوافق في الآراء بشأن قضايا هامة. وللمرة الأولى منذُ اعتماد الهيئة التأسيسية لصياغة الدستور لهذه المسودة في عام 2017، انخرط مجلس النواب والمجلس الأعلى للدولة في دراسة ومراجعة جادّة لمشروع الدستور، واتفق المجلسان على عناصر غاية في الأهمية وضمانات ووسائل أمان لا غنى عنها لإجراء انتخابات وطنية، وبالتالي إنهاء دوامة المراحل الانتقالية والفترات المؤقتة التي مرت بها ليبيا. إنه لإنجاز جدير بالثناء، فقد كانت المهمة شاقةً.
نجتمع هنا اليوم لمناقشة أمر أخير وذي أهمية مماثلة ظلَّ عالقاً خلال المشاورات في القاهرة، ويتطلب من رئاستي المجلسين التوصل إلى توافق في الآراء، وهذا الأمر هو التدابير الانتقالية التي تشمل المواعيد والطرائق والمراحل الأساسية لضمان مسارٍ واضح لإجراء الانتخابات الوطنية في أقرب وقت ممكن، وذلك من خلال العمل المشترك والخروج بنتيجة توافقية.
لقد شَهدتُ مستوىً غيرَ مسبوق من التعاون بين المجلسين وقد وصلتم الآن إلى مرحلة حاسمة من طريق طويل وشاق.
حان الوقت الآن لبذل جهدٍ أخير وقراراً شجاعاً لضمان التوصل إلى حلٍ توافقي تاريخي من أجل ليبيا.
شكراً لكم
STORY: Continuity: High Level Meeting on Libyan Constitutional Track - Stephanie Williams 28 June 2022
TRT: 4 mins 08s
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ARABIC
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 28 June 2022 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Medium shot, Stephanie Williams, UN Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Libya, speaking at UN Geneva.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Gaza: Hospitals continue to overflow with people injured while seeking food - WHO
As besieged Palestinian civilians face widespread malnutrition and starvation, hospitals in the Strip are increasingly overwhelmed by the influx of victims of shootings and other injuries at food distribution areas, warns the World Health Organization.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR , WHO , UNMAS
Urgent help is needed to halt a deadly cholera outbreak that is sweeping across Sudan, UN agencies said on Friday, while warning that communities continue to be terrorized by parties to the conflict even as they flee violence.
2
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News , Images | UNEP
Negotiations got under way at UN Geneva on Tuesday to agree on a legally binding treaty to curb plastic pollution, with delegates from nearly 180 countries attending.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF
Gaza: Hundreds of trucks per day of free aid needed “for months”, in addition to commercial supplies - OCHA
Despite the tactical pauses Israel introduced last week to allow some safe passage for humanitarian convoys, the amount of aid that has entered Gaza remains by far insufficient for the starving population, and UN trucks continue to face impediments on their way to delivering aid.
1
1
1
Edited News | UN WOMEN
Aid agencies echoed wider warnings of growing signs of widespread starvation in Gaza on Tuesday, as UN-partnered international food security experts released their most dire assessment yet of the situation in the wartorn enclave.
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM , UNDP , UNHCR
Sudan: urgent help needed as more than 1.3 million war-displaced people begin to return home
As conflict rages on across parts of Sudan, pockets of relative safety have emerged in the past four month, spurring more than one million internally displaced Sudanese to make their way home, says the International Organization for Migration (IOM). A further 320,000 cross-border refugees have come back to Sudan since last year, mainly from Egypt and South Sudan, to assess the current situation before deciding to return to their country for good.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA , WHO
Gaza: SOS messages describe people fainting from hunger; UN health worker detained
Worrying alerts from United Nations staff in Gaza who have been fainting from hunger and exhaustion over the past 48 hours have increased fears for people’s survival in the devastated enclave, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR , UNOG
Over 11.6 million refugees risk losing aid access due to funding cuts, says UNHCR
Approximately one in three refugees and other vulnerable individuals normally supported by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) are expected to lose out from funding cuts, it said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, made the following announcement on the Office’s opening of a new mission in Bangladesh.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
“The surge in the number of Afghans forced or compelled to return to Afghanistan this year is creating a multi-layered human rights crisis requiring the urgent attention of the international community,” UN Human Rights spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday called for accountability and justice for the killings and other gross human rights violations and abuses in the southern city of Suweida.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNHCR
Syria: hundreds killed in Sweida, ‘widespread’ violations as civilians flee for their lives
Amid violent clashes in southern Syria’s Sweida governorate, a picture of grave human rights abuses and rising humanitarian needs is emerging by the hour, the UN said on Friday.