As Libya heads towards national elections on December 24, 2021, to ensure free, fair and inclusive elections, the Libyan Women’s Platform for Peace stresses the need for a comprehensive approach that includes prevention, protection and accountability measures along with participation measures to ensure full and meaningful political participation of women.

1. Participation: Ensuring the issuance of a constitutional basis and a comprehensive and inclusive electoral legislation by the Political Dialogue Forum, which should be approved by the House of Representatives on time. Electoral legislation should ensure at least 30% representation of women. They also demanded that the Libyan authorities urgently pass legislation in line with Libya’s commitment to protect freedoms of expression, in accordance with the road map developed by the Political Dialogue Forum
2. Accountability: Hold obstructionists Accountable – Sanctioning Political Process obstructionists who obstruct the electoral process Under Security Council Resolution 2570
3. Protection: monitoring thee elections by representatives of regional and international organizations such as the European Union and the African Union is critical to ensuring that elections are credible and transparent, as well as ensuring that civil society organizations are able to participate in election monitoring
4. Prevention: Holding a national reconciliation forum. The National Reconciliation Forum should bring together key social and political stakeholders. This should go hand in hand with the formulation of a national charter that guarantees the acceptance of all stakeholders and the acceptance of the elections results.

These demands came on July 17, 2021 on the occasion of commemorating two years since the enforced disappearance of Siham Sergowa, a member of the Libyan House of Representatives, in the city of Benghazi on July 17, 2019. So far, no investigation has been carried out by the Libyan authorities regarding her enforced disappearance amid serious fears and new leaks about her assassination.

The enforced disappearance of Mrs. Siham Sergowa took place on the day that coincides with the fifth anniversary of the assassination of another parliament, Mrs. Fariha Al-Barkawi, in the city of Derna on July 17, 2014.

They were attacked for believing in peace. While the first was killed for calling for a peaceful transition of power, the second was absent for calling for an end to the war.

The Libyan Women’s Platform for Peace condemned the normalization of silencing the voices of women in Libya.