Abstract
Presentation Abstract for the 57th World Planning Congress, ISOCARP 2021 Doha-Qatar, November 2021 Stream: Inclusiveness and Empowerment Core Problem and Challenges: Post-conflict urban reconstruction, reconciliation, and peacebuilding at the local level in Libya. Background: Libya witnessed considerable civil unrest and violence during the past decade that resulted in large scale urban degradation/destruction as well as displacement of thousands of families between different urban centres as well as between urban centres and rural areas. In 2016, a nationally and internationally funded facility: the Stabilization Facility for Libya (SFL) was created ‘to work towards strengthening the means of implementation and revitalizing partnership and cooperation for sustainable development in Libya’. UNDP was entrusted with the management of SFL whose Output 2 focuses on ‘capacity surge for local authorities and aims at supporting the overarching SFL strategy by working toward agreed local stabilization goals, whose achievement will be supported through the provision of peace dividends for communities through the rehabilitation of critical infrastructure, building the capacity of local authorities to address the needs of their population, and enhancing local mediation and conflict resolution capacities’ . Case Study: Technical Assistance to empower the Libyan local authorities (municipalities) of Kikla, Derna, Bani-Waleed and Ghat produce local planning and development plans to contribute to the achievement of SFL goals, more specifically to the achievement of goals and objectives under SFL Output 2 (above). Additionally, the plans were aimed at maximising public participation as a vehicle for peacebuilding and reconciliation, at providing the four local authorities with a robust funding and PPP platform as well as providing a practical platform for enhanced planning and development coordination between local and central authorities. The presenter of this abstract was commissioned by UNDP in early 2019 to lead and guide this endeavour. In March 2020, the plan for Kikla was successfully produced and approved. Preparation of the other plans was launched in the middle of 2020 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2021. The proposed presentation will provide a short summary of the background and challenges to this mission, an overview of the priority-based and participatory plan preparation methodology used, the results achieved, and the lessons learned. The elements of ‘inclusiveness and empowerment’ will be highlighted through special focus on the innovative idea of building a joint municipal/local community ‘taskforce’ in each municipality to produce the plan and through the regular and systemic involvement of stakeholders during key plan preparation stages. The bottom-up planning approach was one of the cornerstones of the applied methodology and will also be highlighted in the presentation. The presentation will be in PP format consisting of 30-40 slides over approx. 20 mins. A Q&A session of suitable length can be arranged by the organisers. Author and Presenter: Muhammad Kadhim, PhD, MRTPI Independent Planning and Development Consultant. P O Box 841224, Amman 11181, Jordan muhammad.kadhim@gmail.com & m.kadhim@daralomran.com + 962 79 5509597 & + 44 758592978
