Population: 6253000

Location/ borders: North

Africa/ Tunisia, Egypt,

Algeria, North Sudan, Chad,

Niger

GDP: $41.12 Billion

GDP per Capita: Unknown

Currency: Libyan Dinar

Type of Government:

Unitary Provisional

Parliamentary Republic

Capital: Tripoli

Official Language: Arabic

Unemployment Rate: 19%

Major Cities: Tripoli,

Misurata, Sabha, Benghazi

Major Universities: Tripoli

University(Including sector B)

Garyounis University

Cost of Living: (Relatively cheap)

One-way Ticket (Local Transport) 0.36 USD

Apartment (1 bedroom) in City Centre rent 403

USD

Basic Utility (Electricity, Heating, Water,

Garbage) for 85m2 Apartment 34 USD

Meal, Inexpensive Restaurant 5 USD

Bottle of Water 0.32 USD

Libya is one of the richest undiscovered historical treasures and wonders of the world. The

Libyan culture dates back to thousands of years BC as the Acacus Mountains depict the life

of ancient Libyans when Savannah forests covered what is now a desert. The Libyan

Garamentes kingdom was one of the most advanced of its period as it was an entire city

built in the desert extracting water through a complicated system from the desert water

table. They were also believed to be one of the first to develop and use many different

agricultural tools. The Libyan ancient history did not stop there, as the indigenous berber

tribes developed their own alphabet and culture that has widely influenced Roman and

Greek settlers.

The Berbers, calling themselves the Free Men

(Amazighn), were known for their adventures all

throughout North Africa and many legends surrounded

Libya. Legends such as Medusa and Poseidon were all

Berber Gods that were later adopted by foreign settlers to

form part of the World’s common heritage today. Ancient

Libyans believed that the Libyan Desert had a lot of

snakes due to all the Snakes that came out of Medusa’s

head. Medusa was worshipped a lot by the Libyan

Amazons, a tribe of female fighters where women were

the leaders of society. Romans and Greeks settled in

different parts of Libya, leaving behind some of the most

important ruins in the world. In fact, Leptis Magna is the

best preserved Roman city in the world. Cyrene, just a

few kms away from Leptis, showcases the fusion between

Local and foreign influences on the country. However,

Sabratha, Cyrene in Eastern Libya and so many other

ruins remain as a great showcase of the richness of the

Libyan history. Septimus Severus, the mighty Roman

emperor, a Libyan who conquered the world following

the steps of Shoshenq before him, who conquered Egypt

and started a new dynasty of Libyan Pharoahs.

However, Libyan history did not stop there as Libyans embraced a new coming culture from

the East, the Arabic culture. Libya was widely Arabized after years of civil unrest between

the locals and the migrating Arabs. Libya was influenced by the changes in the Islamic

dynasties in Afriqiyah (Tunisia) and also Egypt; its neighbors. Islamic art flourished and

there was a movement of Libyans in and outside the country. Some of the oldest mosques in

Africa are in Libya and showcase the very first emerging Arabic and Islamic Art.

In 1551 the Ottoman empire had main control over the Maghreb region, as well as most of

the middle east. The Ottomans left a huge impact on the Libyan culture, especially in

Tripoli. Some of the finest art pieces of that era are still available for showcase. However,

around 1911, the ottoman rule began faltering in which came Italy, colonizing the country.

By 1934, Italians made up 20% of Libya's population. During this time, Omar Al-Mukhtar, a

Libyan hero whose picture is printed on the 10 LYD note today, is recognized as the man

who tried to fight off the colonization of the Italians even though he was executed in 1931,

he till our present day still remains a symbol of patriotism and independence. Many other

attempts for Libyan independence took place; one was the establishment of the

Tripolitanian Republic, the first Republic in the Arab world by Al Baruni. This did not last

long and also fell under the trap of the Italian colonization. It was after the Second World

War that Libya was granted independence by a UN resolution and Libya became a

Kingdom. The kingdom of Libya was what the country was named upon its independence in

1951, ruled by King Idris. This was also around the time the biggest Oil Reserves were

discovered in Libya, consequently turning one of the world's poorest nations into a rich oil

state.

When 1961 rolled around, a coup d'état was implemented against the king by a group of

army officials led by Muammar Gaddafi, Libya officially became known as Great Socialist

People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, with Muammar Gaddafi as its leader. This brought about

an era of dictatorship and communist political thinking. 2011 brought with it the Arab

Spring that inspired the Libyan Revolution with hopes for a better future and a better Libya.

However, with Ghaddafi dead, and a large power gap was created, the country shook and

power diluted downwards armed groups and militias (that resulted from the heavy

distribution of arms during the revolution). The dispute continue between the two forms of

governments currently in Libya, with the occasional fighting over geographical territory,

and peace talks continue between representatives of both governments in hopes of settling

the conflict.

After the 2011 Revolution, there have been a number of elections in the process of moving towards a

democratic society. However the lack of political education from the society’s end and the lack of

international guidance to help make the process smooth have caused a lot of distrust in the democratic

political process and has translated into violence. There are 2 Rival Transitional governments. Peace talks in

Morocco has lead to the creation of a unity government that should be taking power soon and forming a

government. Constitution is currently being drafted and after that, there will be the creation of a proper

country structure and constitution. Currently, the de facto power in Libya is under the armed militias.

Attached are reports that further highlight the situation in Libya.

Attached are important documents that speak of the current political situation. We wish to highlight to the

GEC and the AIESEC community the true current situation in Libya. The situation may not be ideal and is

indeed dangerous, however, it is this specifically that motivates us the most to work harder to make AIESEC

in Libya possible!

Therefore, please do read such documents not with an attitude of rejection but with an

attitude of change and opportunity for growth and peace!

Human Rights Watch Report – Libya – January 2015

Security Council Monthly Report since January 2015 – June 2015

Latest Security Council January 2016 Security Update

The 2011 Revolution lead to a lot of divisions within the

society. All Libyans are Sunni Muslims, with a minority of

Abadi Muslims that are very well integrated within the society.

However, tribal divisions that were very evident during the

2011 revolution, rose to the ground again and today, it is very

influential on the social life in the country. Such divisions are

creating a lot of social injustice and social classes. There is no

social discrimination against people with different skin colour

as they all live together peacefully. However, such issues might

be an issue in cases such as marriage.

Libyan society is very welcoming towards foreigners and feel a

need to continuously make them feel home. Before the 2011

revolution the Libyan tourism industry was on the rise and

many foreigners lived in the country.

As regards to education, the level of enrolment is high as most

children have an opportunity for education. Also, the

percentage that goes to University is also high. However, the

level of education is very bad.

Below are the World Development Indicators in regards to

Libya: (taken from the World Bank)

Ever since its discovery in 1951, oil has been the biggest revenue. As the petroleum sector one of the major

ones in Africa, which is shown by many Libyan's choice to study a petroleum oriented subject such as

petroleum Engineering, or petroleum geology. Those students then go on to careers with the countless Oil

and Petroleum companies and job creators. It has also aided the country in ranking 61st in its GDP. The

small population of Libya also aids the decrease of poverty and unemployment, as unemployment levels

range around 19%. As expected, Libya's main exports lie in natural gas, crude oil, refined petroleum

products, and chemicals. While the imports mainly consist of machinery, consumer goods, and

transportation.

After the 2014 civil war, the economy of Libya and oil production went down drastically. Below are statistics

from the World Bank.

Registration of student organizations is open

NGO's, NPO's, and Student Organizations:

Despite an unstable and security-lacking environment, students and youth groups remain to be an active

part of Libya's civil society scene. With organizations, groups, and charities dedicated to every aspect of life

from human development to the refugee crisis in Libya to political awareness; they are the main pillar and

backbone for the maintaining of civil life in Libya. In fact, they have taken over certain roles of the

government since the civil war. They remain one of the most important pillar for societal structure in Libya

today after the civil war.

Majority of those groups are started and run by students of different academic stages, however they are not

registered under academic institutions excluding the student Unions of each college of course.

University related organizations

• SMSC team. (General Student Union)

• LES Team (Student Union of the college of Engineering)

• LYMC group (A climate and environmental organization)

• The Debate Group

• Tripoli’s Poets

Organizations

• 1Libya

• Volunteer Libya

• Tripoli Good

• Creative

• Mercy Wings

• Scene

• Tripoli Media Square

• H2O

• MEDA

• Saving the Old City Campaign

• A Clean Tripoli campaign

Recognition of an organization in Libya:

Application to reserve the registration name

The co-founders cannot be less than 3 persons

Minutes of incorporation certified by a Notary

The Organizational Statute certified by a Notary

A copy of the passport of the Director of the Board of

Directors and the members

A letter form the organization with the name of the

representative and his ID number to receive the

registration

A pledge certified by a Notary

Clean Criminal record of all BOD members

AIESEC in Libya is NOT currently looking into ICX as yet; but merely OGX until the security situation

settles down and it would be safe for foreigners to come to Libya. AIESEC in Libya wishes to work with

AIESEC Tunisia, to be able to easily move in and out of Libya if needed to Tunisia for any conferences or

international events.

However, regarding VISA requirements: most countries would require a visa to enter into Libya except a

few, such as Tunisians and Turks.

Libyans need a visa to go to most of the countries as well except in cases for Tunisia, Algeria and Egypt (for

females) some other places. Since 2011, Libyans were required a visa for most countries. With embassies

closed in Libya, it is hard to get Visas for some countries, especially Europe and one would have to travel to

Tunisia and go through a long process. Once the country settles down and embassies are back, the visa issue

would not be an issue. It was only an issue for the past year during the last civil unrest and not throughout

all the years after 2011. In fact, many embassies pledged to start working again after the new government is

formed.

Some countries such as Lebanon and Turkey require a visa upon arrival at the airport, making it relatively

easy to get such visas.

My name is Emad Fahmi Sokni, I'm 19 years old and I currently study engineering at the university

of Tripoli. Growing up in Libya, I've always noticed the amount of opportunities our country has to

develop in many sectors. After the revolution in 2011, I believed it was now our turn as youth to

establish innovative initiatives that would develop our nation and benefit generations to come.

With the boom of civil society, I joined a youth organization named Tripoli good, which mainly

focused on helping to improve the lives of displaced Libyans resulted of civil war. I also started

working at one of the pioneers of free independent English language radios in Libya named Tripoli

FM. Tripoli FM is fully managed by youth and has been on air since 2012. I believe we can create

substantial change for generations to come through independent media. I started off as a producer

to now the executive manager of the station, where I'm responsible for the segments, shows, hosts,

technical and managerial departments as well as client and public relations. It is an impeccable

responsibility on my shoulders but I believe practice what you do and you will soon be an expert. I

believe in change for Libya, in growth in all sectors, economically, politically, culture wise and

educationally and will work hard to see those goals achievable.

My name is Mahmoud Abugrin (a.k.a

Mackey).

I’m a university student majored in

Accounting and Business. It has always

been a dream of mine to make a positive

change in the world which is why I’m a

civil society activists involved as a board

member in three different NGOs and

participating in a couple more.

I’ve also worked as an English teacher and

a self-development motivator, a radio

host, a program presenter and a few

others…

My foundation of studies has been split

between the Netherlands, The UK and

Libya. I envision a multicultural society

and that through Education is the

gateway to world peace. I’m also a sports

enthusiast, I play all sort of sports but my

absolute favorite sport is football. I found

that there is a link between education

and sport which ultimately leads to world

peace.

All my life I’ve been trying to send a

message in many different forms, a single

message to echo through time and space

and that message is…

I am Sara Bilghasim, a trained journalist and a Linguistics student in

Tripoli University, but I am also interested in Political science,

Journalism, and law, I find political theory intriguing and very relevant

to the world we live in today. I got into AIESEC while on an exchange

program in the US, and ever since then my goal has been to have it

extended to Libya. I personally have seen enough potential in Libya and

its youth, and feel that they deserve a chance to have their voice heard,

not through politicians and representatives, but on their own terms.

I am Asma Dekna, 21 years old,

law student at the University of

Malta. I wish to specialize in

International Law and

development. I have been a

member in AIESEC Malta for the

past 4 years where I have served in

front and back office roles; OGX/

F&L/ ICX as well as OC/FACI roles.

AIESEC has transformed the way I

understand my relevance within

my community and has shaped me

into a value driven and results-

oriented person. I have always and

still truly believe in the

opportunities that Libya could

offer to the world, not just in

natural resources but more

importantly, in human resources.

Today, I hope AIESEC would be the

platform that empowers change

within youth and represents

Libyan youth worldwide.

Complete budget attached in folder.

Main sponsors For Income that we are currently looking into

USAid & Chemonics as funding organizations

Moomken Organization who is willing to financially support us (check attached)

Creative Organization which provides funds for organizations

Crowd Funding

Financial Fellowship such as Amends

Ministry of Youth Grant

Dutch, British and American Embassy for funding

EU funding for Libya

DCA Dutch organization

Possible partnerships with companies such as:

o Al Naseem, biggest local company in dairy products

o Oil companies as CSR

We truly believe in the talents and potential of Libyan youth, we truly believe that if given the right platform,

they would be able to match and compete with youth from all over the world. We believe that the key to

Libya’s peaceful transition are young Entrepreneurial Libyan Leaders who work hard to push the country

forwarded through setting up social businesses. Voluntary work is the way to go for a few years, social

businesses is the way to build a stable future for the next generations to come. The political and economic

vacuum in Libya now can be easily, yes EASILY, filled with young and fresh ideas from the country’s youth.

AIESECer’s role is to materialize such ideas and to provide a platform to learn and grow and a support

system.

It is during conflict that AIESEC is MOST relevant. It is during this civil conflict, one of the worst that Libya

has ever seen in years, that Libyan youth need to be exposed to another solution. We need to show Libyan

youth that change is possible and that there is another way. We want to keep young people away from

violence and further divisions within the society and unite them for one cause and under one organization.

Whilst people see a power vacuum in Libya, we see POTENTIAL for youth to fill it up. Whilst people see

destruction in Libya, we see OPPORTUNITY for youth to build it up again. Whilst people see division and

conflict in Libya, we see RELEVANCE of youth to re-unite the country and lead it forward.

Whilst AIESEC in Libya would not be able to operate ICX for the time being, we believe that the impact that

our EP’s would create once they come back would be enough to ensure that our local community is being

impacted as well. We want to focus on delivering experiences, experiences that can make change happen.

There is a lot of potential in Libya, it’s just a matter of seeing and unleashing it.

A question that haunted the team as soon as we met up to formulate AIESEC in Libya is what measurable impact do

we wish to leave in the country? How can we measure our impact and what category of youth do we need to tap into

to ensure the biggest impact in Libya?

We have come up with a number of ideas and we are still in consultation with different bodies to see where we need

to focus our work the most. We wish to however, mainly leave two types of impact

1. Develop and train Entrepreneurs through the Global Entrepreneurs Programme and a strong TMP

programme that focuses on the development of the members

We wish to see people start their own startups and organizations. We wish to have such a direct impact within

our society. We want to give our EP’s an experience that empowers to materialize their ideas in an environment

where there is a lot of demand due to the government’s inability to perform certain functions – whilst before

everything was government-owned.

2. Governance and Human Rights training and idea generation through projects in the MENA region that are

dealing with similar problems as Libya is: eg. Refugee camps management, education, women’s rights,

healthcare accessibility etc…

We wish to work with local councils and local entities and empower young people from the local spectrum to take

initiative to solve societal problems within their own locality. Once we empower young people in the local realm,

then, they can have a stronger say in the national realm. Therefore, we wish to send EPs working with local councils,

to work on projects in different countries with the same aim and once they are back, they need to use such

knowledge to implement certain measures and come up with new ones, to solve problems within their locality.

Therefore, our impact would be direct and would be measurable.

However, we need to further look into both and focus our efforts on the one that we believe is most relevant and has

the most needed impact.

We are looking into focusing on:

Global Citizen

We are looking into working with entities in MENA such as Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan and Tunisia in

projects that we think would be relevant to societal problems in Libya.

Global Entrepreneurs

This would be a great opportunity for students who wish to start their own company to get experience

abroad in a start up and see how it works in different countries. We are still discussing and looking into the

feasibility of this programme, especially since it is new to the network.

Youth Speak

It is time that the voice of Libyan youth is heard! Therefore, we will be focusing a lot on working on making

sure the Libyan youth’s voice is heard through different online campaigns and through getting them to

answer the survey online.

We need guidance from GEC and help to find an entity that is willing to help us in the expansions. We wish to have

guidance such as

Information about conferences and when they happen so we can integrate within the international

community

Helping us connect with other MCP’s and entities for help

Guiding us with regards to paperwork that needs to be submitted to AIESEC International

As a team of 5, we all came from different walks of life and different organizations. Our team is made up of Libya’s

most experienced activists in civil society. Mahmoud Abogrean, active in Volunteer Libya and co-founder of Scene

and Saving the Old city as well as a MEPI alumni and with a bit of experience with AIESEC in the US, is leading our

team. Asma Dekna, an AIESECer for the past 4 years shall be part of the National Support Team supporting and

training the team members. Sara Bilghasem, part of Ihsan team in Libya as well as an ex-MEPI participant and with

little experience with AIESEC in UK, shall be in charge of outgoing exchange. Emad Sokni, is the directing manager of

Tripoli FM, the number one English radio station in Tripoli as well as Marketing manager in the leading organization in

Libya, Tripoli Good (Trables ilkheer), shall be in charge of Talent Management and Marketing. Abdelminum Badi, part

of Volunteer Libya as well as volunteer in a number of campaigns shall be in charge of Finance and Legal.

The team came together in June 2015 to plan for the expansion of AIESEC in Libya. Below is the identity we have

created for our team, the Libya team which we later hope to become the moto for our AIESEC team:

To get to know each other better and to prove our ability to work as a team and to perform projects on a very large

scale, and until IPM comes around, our team organized Libya’s first and largest Start Up exhibition. Over 30 Start Ups

were there to exhibit their products and services whilst a number of partnering training centers gave a number of

workshops and training sessions. Consultation was also given on a one-to-one basis to people who have ideas and

need to plan them into business models. We feel that such projects that motivate entrepreneurship are the core of

AIESEC’s values and we wish to continue to promote entrepreneurship as a solution for economic growth and social

justice.

You can view a video coverage of the event by Al Kull media outlet:

www.facebook.com/elkul.libya/videos/872283306226221/