Libya - On Monday 30 March 2015, IOM Libya signed an agreement with a Libyan NGO to support IOM activities within direct assistance components.

The NGO, Shaik Tahir Al-Zawi Charity Organization, will support the distribution of Non-Food Items (NFIs) to vulnerable migrants and internally displaced persons (IDPs) throughout Libya including the eastern and southern regions. For April, IOM, in coordination with local partners, will distribute NFIs and Hygiene Kits to more than 900 migrants and IDP families in Libya.

Before each distribution IOM receives a rapid assessment report from its counterparts on the ground clarifying the number of stranded migrants and vulnerable IDPs in different areas of Libya; based on those reports a work plan for distribution is developed jointly with the counterparts.

IOM is working with local NGOs to provide direct assistance (including NFIs). To date more than 2,600 families and 1,100 migrants have been approached by IOM counterparts within the NFI distribution plan.

"This is part of IOM Libya’s initiative to build the capacity of local NGOs and strengthen cooperation with our local partners in Libya," said Othman Belbeisi, IOM Chief of Mission in Libya. 

Funded by the EU, IOM counterparts have received series of training on humanitarian response and vulnerability assessment, with regular coordination meetings scheduled once a month either in Libya or in Tunisia to discuss the mechanism of coordination and cooperation among IOM and its counterparts.

For further information please contact Othman Belbeisi at IOM Libya, Tel: + 216 29 600 389, Email:obelbeisi@iom.int or Maysa Khalil, Mobile in Tunisia: +216 29600388, Email: mkhalil@iom.int