LocationsWomen’s Empowerment and Gender Equality
Gender Equality matters!
Gender equality and the empowerment of women are central to the mandate of UNDP and intrinsic to its development approach. Gender equality is not only a development goal on its own but also vital to accelerating sustainable development for all.
Our Goals
Libya has a Gender Inequality Index (GII) value of 0.172 (on a scale from 0 to 1), ranking it 41 out of 162 countries in 2018. The empowerment indicators show that just 16.0 percent of parliamentary seats are held by women. In contrast, 69.4 percent of adult women have reached at least a secondary level of education compared to 45.0 percent of their male counterparts. The labour market indicators show a low participation of Libyan women in the labour force of 25.7 percent compared to 79 percent for men.
Gender norms hamper women and girls’ ability to attain their economic, social and political rights. Continuing conflict and violent extremism have exacerbated the risk of violence against women while essential services, including public health and law enforcement, have deteriorated.
In line with UNDP’s Gender Equality Strategy 2018-2021, and in close consultation with government counterparts and development partners, UNDP Libya works to mainstream gender equality and advance women's empowerment into governance institutions, economic recovery, service delivery, access to justice and rule of law, and national reconciliation process.
