Disasters, Conflicts and Migration
Natural Disasters |
||
---|---|---|
Type |
Occurs |
Comments / Details |
Drought |
Yes |
In 1945 an unprecedentedly severe drought caused the loss of thousands of head of cattle. |
Earthquakes |
Yes |
Earthquake occurred in 1963 in Al Jabal Al Akhdar (in north eastern Libya). There is seismic activity in Libya specially in the north. |
Epidemics |
Yes |
COVID-19 in 2020 |
Extreme Temperatures |
Yes |
On Sep 13, 1922, El Azizia made history after a weather station there recorded the highest temperature ever directly measured on Earth: a blistering 58 degrees Celsius. |
Flooding |
Yes |
2013-2015-2017, heavy rainfall caused severe floods. |
Insect Infestation |
Yes |
Locust |
Mudslides |
No |
|
Volcanic Eruptions |
No |
|
High Waves / Surges |
No |
|
Wildfires |
No |
|
High Winds |
No |
Extreme weather changes due to global warming. |
Other Comments |
|
|
Man-Made Issues |
||
Civil Strife |
Yes |
- 1st Civil War (2011) : full-scale revolt against Ghaddafi Regime. On 20 October 2011 the last heavy fighting of the uprising came to an end in the city of Sirte, where Gaddafi was captured and killed. - 2nd Civil War (2014-2015): between the Government of National Accord in West of Libya, and Libya National Army (LNA) lead by Khalifa Haftar controlling mainly east of Libya. -3rd Civil War (2019-2020): between the Government of National Accord in West of Libya, and Libya National Army (LNA) lead by Khalifa Haftar that tried to advance in western region and the capitol Tripoli. |
International Conflict |
No |
|
Internally Displaced Persons |
Yes |
212,593 IDPs and 643,123 Returnees. |
Refugees Present |
Yes |
41, 681 refugees and asylum-seekers who are registered with UNHCR. |
Landmines / UXO Present |
Yes |
Mainly in Benghazi and Sirte |
Other Comments |
|
For a more detailed database on disasters by country, please see the Centre for Research on Epidemiology of Disasters
Seasonal Effects on Logistics Capacities
Seasonal Effects on Transport |
||
---|---|---|
Transport Type |
Time Frame |
Comments / Details |
Primary Road Transport |
Winter (November to March) |
Although the rainfall in Libya is sporadic and rarely heavy, however a heavy rainfall in winters of 2013-2015-2017 in Tripoli and Benghazi caused a severe flood and thus, led to close of the roads, and Several major routes were impassable. This situation lasted for few days only. |
Secondary Road Transport |
Winter (November to March) |
Although the rainfall in Libya is sporadic and rarely heavy, however a heavy rainfall in winters of 2013-2015-2017 in Tripoli and Benghazi caused a severe flood and thus, led to close of the roads, and Several major routes were impossible. This situation lasted for few days only. |
Rail Transport |
N/A |
Libya has had no railway in operation since 1965, all previous narrow-gauge lines having been dismantled. |
Air Transport |
Winter |
Heavy rainfall in 2017 caused a severe flood. Due to this flood the departures in Mitiga Airport were experiencing disruptions from 1 to few days . |
Waterway Transport |
N/A |
The floods are not common in Libya, but the country has experienced number of severe floods in this millennium caused by the heavy rainfall and led to close the roads in Tripoli and Benghazi, and disruptions in the aviation at Mitiga Airport.
Seasonal Effects on Storage and Handling |
||
---|---|---|
Activity Type |
Time Frame |
Comments / Details |
Storage |
Winter (November to January) |
In case of floods the routes to the warehouse would be hard to access for few days. This is a rare situation, but it occurred several times in this millennium. |
Handling |
No |
There are no potential seasonal bottlenecks might affect the storage and handling process.
Capacity and Contacts for In-Country Emergency Response
GOVERNMENT
Libya is suffering from the political instability and a vacuum of effective governance, thus its capacity to respond to emergencies is very limited including the capacity of the military and civil defence. Until this point in time, the government hasn’t established a NDMO for emergencies. Although during early days of the Covid pandemic, the government established a Crises Committee to manage the crises headed by a senior military officer. Nevertheless, the government and through its different ministries (MOFA, Ministry of Displacement, MoH, MOE, Central bank…etc.) try to cooperate with the humanitarian community to ensure the smooth flow of the humanitarian services to the beneficiaries.
For more information on government contact details, please see the following link:
HUMANITARIAN COMMUNITY
In 2021, HRP partners aim to reach approximately 451,000 people, 36 percent of the 1.3 million people identified to need humanitarian assistance. These are people with the most severe needs because of a partial or total collapse of living standards and basic services, increased reliance on negative coping strategies, and widespread physical and mental harm.
The response will target five groups identified as particularly vulnerable—internally displaced persons, non-displaced.
Libyans, returnees, and migrants and refugees— across all 22 Mantikas in the country. Based on assessed needs, the response prioritizes provision of or access to critical services, such as education, health, protection, and hygiene and sanitation, as well as providing access to basic household goods and commodities including food and essential non-food items.
Libya continues to struggle to cope with the effects of ongoing conflict and insecurity, an economic and governance crisis, and the impacts of COVID-19. In 2020, around 2.5 million people have been the most affected, with 1.3 million people having the most severe needs and requiring humanitarian assistance. This is the result of a deterioration or partial collapse of living standards and basic services, an increased reliance on the use of negative coping strategies and widespread grave violations of human rights and significant impact on physical and mental wellbeing. “OCHA”.
Hundreds of thousands of people across the country are living in unsafe conditions and in volatile conflict areas, with little or no access to basic household goods and essential commodities, and with limited access to functioning basic services and utilities. This includes people exposed to violence and unable to access life-saving medical assistance, essential medicines, food, safe drinking water and sanitation, shelter and education.
The humanitarian organizations play a big role to relive the suffering of people in Libya. There are more than 70 UN agencies, INGOs and NGO are operating in Libya to provide the humanitarian assistance.
UNHCR is one of the UN agencies that operates many programs through the partners such as IMC and Cesvi to improve protection and life-saving assistance to displaced people, refugees, asylum-seekers and host communities. This includes supporting local public services which benefit the whole community, such as hospitals and schools.
IOM has a significant and wide presence on the ground, they distribute NFI, including clothes, shoes, and other necessities, as well as hygiene kits to IDP families and migrants, IOM has also provided immediate humanitarian assistance to several hundred migrants rescued at sea by the Libyan Coast Guard through the provision of specialized health care including psychosocial support, clothing, hygiene articles and other necessities.
IOM Libya is currently implementing a community stabilization program aims at promoting peace and stability for IDPs, migrants and local host communities in Libya, and to build local capacities and promote peace initiatives with local authorities, NGOs and CSOs through training activities and support inter and intra community dialogue.
IOM also established Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) with the purpose of providing accurate and timely information on the locations and movements of IDPs, returnees and migrants.
ICRC gives relief assistance for beneficiaries in Libya. They distribute aid in the form of food and essential household items such as mattresses, blankets, kitchen sets, jerry cans, buckets, diapers, and hygiene kits. ICRC teams also provides medical supplies to hospitals and health-care facilities, and support patients with physical disabilities.
The attached map shows the operational capacity of humanitarian organizations by Mantiqa (as of August 2021):
https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/libya_access_snapshot-august_2021.pdf.
For more information on humanitarian agency contact details, please see the following link:
4.2 Humanitarian Agency Contact List.