Libya - IOM Libya's community stabilization programme – Together We Build – has completed a 15-day (13/11– 1/12) Business Startup and Development training, funded by the German government, for 18 individuals – 14 women and 4 men – starting up or developing micro- and small-sized enterprises in Al Qatrun in the south of the country.

The training aimed at helping participants successfully start and build their own businesses, by improving skills such as innovation, production and financial planning, and learning how to make decisions, as well as formulating strategies for accessing markets.

Conflict has taken a toll not only on public services, but has also led to the closure and shrinking of industries, and fewer employment and economic opportunities. This activity works to enhance the self-reliance of individuals through their capacity to respond to market demands and start businesses in their identified skill or trade, growing the success of local entrepreneurs and small business owners.

“I had great expectations for the course and it did not disappoint,” explained Zahra Omar, one of the participants who has a hair salon and joined the training hoping to improve her business.

“I took this course knowing that it would help me and my town,” explained Ali Alsonasy, who is in the process of establishing a kindergarten. The course has taught him the most important steps of the startup phase, he explained. Another participant plans to establish a car repair shop.

While the program in Al Qatrun was successfully completed, a second programme in Sabha was interrupted at the end of the first week due to clashes. The training will continue when conditions are more stable.

"Young people face very difficult economic conditions with few opportunities to contribute constructively to the economic development of their communities,” explained IOM programme manager Sandra Huang. “This training will help to build resilience and self-reliance in communities by strengthening skills and increasing the chance of success for entrepreneurial men and women in growing their ideas into businesses."

The Together We Build (Ma'an Lenabni) programme supports communities in Sabha and Al Qatrun in southern Libya affected by conflict and by complex migration flows, by encouraging collaboration between groups, promoting community engagement, and increasing livelihood and income generation opportunities in order to strengthen stability and social cohesion.

For further information, please contact IOM Libya. Othman Belbeisi, Tel: +216.29600389, Email: obelbeisi@iom.int or Sandra Huang, Tel: +216 23 027055, Email: shuang@iom.int