Libya
Expected Council Action
In October, the Council will hold its 60-day briefing on the situation in Libya. Special Representative and Head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) Hanna Serwaa Tetteh will brief the Council on recent political, security, and humanitarian developments in the country.
Additionally, the Security Council is expected to renew the mandate of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), which expires on 31 October.
Key Recent Developments
The political impasse in Libya continues between the UN-recognised Government of National Unity (GNU), based in Tripoli and led by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Mohammed Dbeibah, with advisory support from the High State Council (HSC), and the eastern-based Government of National Stability (GNS), led by Prime Minister Osama Hamad and backed by the House of Representatives (HoR) and the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) under the command of General Khalifa Haftar. The parties remain deadlocked over proposed legislation to hold national elections that would reconcile the country’s divided government. A key point of contention is over the formation of a unified interim government to organise the elections—a move favoured by the GNS and HoR but opposed by the GNU and some segments of the HSC. The prolonged stalemate between the rival governments has persisted since the indefinite postponement of the 2021 elections.
While the country’s rival governments remain deadlocked over nationwide presidential and parliamentary elections, Libya’s High National Election Commission (HNEC) has continued working on organising municipal elections. After the first phase of elections held in November 2024, HNEC organised a second phase of municipal elections in August, which started on 16 August with voting in 26 municipalities. There were attempts to disrupt elections in some municipalities in the western part of the country due to attacks on HNEC offices in Zawiya, Zliten, and Sahel Al Gharbi, causing the HNEC to postpone the vote in seven municipalities for 23 August. The elections saw a turnout of around 72 percent, indicating a significant engagement in the municipal process despite ongoing political and security challenges. No elections took place in GNS/HoR-controlled areas and many southern municipalities because the GNS suspended elections in these areas.
On 11 September, UNSMIL issued a statement welcoming the announcement by the HNEC of the results for 34 municipalities that participated in this round of elections. UNSMIL also called on all relevant actors to remove obstacles that are delaying the resumption of municipal elections in areas where they were suspended.
During the Security Council’s most recent briefing on Libya, held on 21 August, Tetteh presented the Council with a roadmap to lead Libya to national elections and unified institutions. The road map rests on three core pillars: (1) adopting a viable electoral framework for presidential and legislative polls; (2) unifying institutions under a new government; and (3) launching a structured dialogue on governance, economic, security, and reconciliation issues to pave the way for these elections and address long-term conflict drivers.
UNSMIL envisions implementation of the road map as a sequenced package, with each step enabling the next toward national elections within 12–18 months. Main priorities during this period will be reconstituting the HNEC board, ensuring its financial independence, and amending the electoral framework. According to UNSMIL, these steps could be completed before November 2025, if there is the necessary political will. After this, there would need to be an agreement on a unified government that would then create conditions for credible elections, while UNSMIL convenes a structured dialogue to tackle governance obstacles, shape a national vision, and advance reforms in security, the economy, and reconciliation.
UNSMIL has said that it will build safeguards into the process to counter obstruction, considering the August municipal elections when some actors sought to delay or derail progress. If obstruction occurs at any stage of the process, UNSMIL indicated that it will pursue alternatives and seek Security Council support to prevent further transitional deadlock.
On 3 September, Security Council members issued a press statement welcoming Tetteh’s 21 August briefing on the road map and urging Libyan stakeholders to fully engage in and make the compromises necessary to advance a Libyan-led and Libyan-owned process, facilitated by UNSMIL, while also calling upon the international community to support this process. The statement further urged all Libyan parties to respect the 2020 ceasefire and refrain from any actions that could endanger the fragile security situation. It welcomed the completion of municipal elections in August while noting the suspension of elections in several municipalities.
Human Rights-Related Developments
On 23 June, UN experts called on Egypt and Libya to ensure accountability for the reported unnecessary and disproportionate use of force by security forces and individuals in plainclothes against peaceful activists participating in the Global March to Gaza. The activists had gathered to express solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid. The experts urged the Egyptian government and de facto authorities in eastern Libya to immediately and unconditionally release any participants still arbitrarily detained.
According to the experts, activists were subjected to unlawful detention, mistreatment, and forcible deportation, in violation of their rights to liberty, security, freedom of expression, and peaceful assembly. Reports were also received of sexual and gender-based violence targeting women participants.
The experts stressed that Egypt, Libya, and all relevant authorities must carry out prompt, independent, and thorough investigations into these incidents. They emphasised the responsibility of both governments to ensure that fundamental freedoms are respected and that the right to peaceful assembly is protected.
Key Issues and Options
The most immediate issue for the Council in October is the renewal of UNSMIL’s mandate. The Council is likely to retain the mission’s core tasks as set out in resolution 2542 of 15 September 2020 and paragraph 16 of resolution 2570 of 16 April 2021. Council members may consider updating the mandate, however, to reflect recent security and political contexts, and to request periodic updates on the implementation of the road map leading to national elections and unified institutions.
Pursuant to resolution 2755 of 31 October 2024, which most recently renewed UNSMIL’s mandate, the Council requested the Secretary-General to submit a strategic review of the mission by the end of September. The recommendations from this strategic review are expected to inform the upcoming mandate renewal negotiations. Members may wish to discuss the recommendations following the briefing but ahead of the mandate renewal in a closed informal format such as an informal interactive dialogue with relevant parties.
When considering UNSMIL’s mandate renewal, another option for the Council would be to lengthen the reporting cycle on UNSMIL from the current 60 days to 120 days. Council members could consider convening closed consultations or a meeting under “any other business” as needed to respond promptly and effectively to ongoing developments that merit the Council’s attention.
Council Dynamics
Council members remain united on the need for a Libyan-led, inclusive political process resulting in elections that will help to restore political, security, and economic stability to the country. They also remain broadly supportive of the UN’s mediation role towards this end. Council members also share concerns about the fragile security situation in the country, especially after the escalation of violence in Tripoli in May.
At the August meeting on Libya, Council members expressed mixed views on UNSMIL’s proposed road map for advancing the country’s political process. Several members, including the UK, France, Denmark, Greece, and Panama, voiced strong support for the road map, describing it as balanced, viable, and a crucial step toward breaking the political deadlock. These members emphasised the importance of unifying institutions, holding elections, and ensuring inclusive participation through structured dialogue.
The US, the Republic of Korea (ROK), Slovenia, the A3 Plus (Algeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, and Guyana), and Pakistan offered more general encouragement, underscoring the need for dialogue, a Libyan-led process, and further details on implementation.
Other members were more cautious. Russia stressed that any roadmap must have the advance support of all key actors on the ground and warned against externally imposed deadlines, consistent with its longstanding concerns about potential UN overreach and imposed political solutions in Libya. China also framed its support as conditional, calling for broad acceptance by Libyan parties.
| Security Council Resolution | |
| 31 October 2024S/RES/2755 | This resolution extended UNSMIL’s mandate for three months, until 31 January 2025, with a “further automatic extension” of an additional nine months, until 31 October 2025, if a new Special Representative and Head of UNSMIL has been appointed by 31 January 2025. |
| Security Council Press Statement | |
| 3 September 2025SC/16161 | This statement welcomed the 21 August Tetteh’s briefing in which she outlined the road map to advance a Libyan-led and Libyan-owned political process. |
| Secretary-General’s Report | |
| 8 August 2025S/2025/509 | This was the Secretary-General’s report on political, security and economic developments in Libya from 5 April to 1 August 2025. |
| Security Council Meeting Record | |
| 21 August 2025S/PV.9984 | This was the meeting on the situation in Libya. |
