On Monday, March 16, founding director of USIP partner Libyan Women’s Platform for Peace Ms. Zahra’ Langhi discussed the current and potential roles of religious actors in peace and justice efforts in Libya. Specifically, she highlighted key themes from a USIP-sponsored project to map Libya’s religious actors, and she addressed the ways in which they are impacting efforts to counter violent extremism.

20150316-Libyas-Religious-Actors-Confronting-Violent-Extremism-event.gif

While the international community hopes to reverse Libya’s rising violence and extremism, it has failed to engage a critical constituency—the country’s religious leaders and activists. Zahra’ Langhi of the Libyan Women’s Platform for Peace (LWPP), in collaboration with the U.S. Institute of Peace, has spent recent months researching and mapping this religious sector. On Monday, March 16 Langhi offered insights on how international actors can build peacemaking strategies with Libyan religious figures. She focused on types of religious discourse as can be used towards and against peace and justice, along with efforts to combat violent extremism. 

Langhi co-founded LWPP in 2011 amid the uprisingthat followed the overthrow of Muammar Qaddafi. The U.S. Institute of Peace partnered with her in the current project after the Institute found separately, in a 2013 assessment conducted between USIP and the State Department, that governments and international organizations had been unwilling or unable to work effectively with Libyan religious actors. The new research that Langhi will discuss in the March 16 event—from 3:00pm to 4:30pm—is built around 200 interviews that partner researchers have conducted with religious leaders, civil society activists, youth and political leaders from across Libya.

Speakers

Susan Hayward, Welcoming Remarks
Interim Director, Religion & Peacebuilding Center, USIP

Palwasha Kakar, Introductory Remarks
Senior Program Officer, Religion & Peacebuilding, USIP

Zahra' Langhi, Keynote Remarks
Founding Director, Libyan Women's Platform for Peace

Related Publications

How Commemoration Can Help Unite a Divided Libya

How Commemoration Can Help Unite a Divided Libya

Thursday, August 24, 2023

In the al-Washishi district of Benghazi a burnt-out car stands in memorial to a slain Libyan National Army (LNA) special forces fighter, serving as a city-wide reflection of the country’s 2014-2017 civil war. The car belonged to Salem (Afareet) Al-Naili, whose father was brutally murdered, one of the many victims of terrorist violence in the city. Inspired by the personal loss of his father, Salem threw himself into the fighting in the city’s civil war and was ultimately also assassinated.

Type: Analysis

Reconciliation

Citizen State and Community Relations in Building Local Governance

Citizen State and Community Relations in Building Local Governance

Monday, August 21, 2023

Since the revolution in 2011 and the toppling of the long-standing regime of Muammar Gaddafi, Libya has experienced various degrees of political instability and conflict. A succession of internationally supported “transitions” have failed to bring the Libyan people a functioning state with a clear social contract based on a shared vision for the nation. This paper discusses the present challenges for good local governance as perceived by Libyan citizens and institutional actors. Through this lens, recommendations are offered for immediate, short-, and medium-term initiatives that can support the improvement of citizen relations with the three traditional arms of the state—the legislative, executive, and judicial branches.

Type: Discussion Paper

Democracy & Governance

Libya Can Move Past Its Political Deadlock, But It Will Take Work to Maintain A ‘Deal’

Libya Can Move Past Its Political Deadlock, But It Will Take Work to Maintain A ‘Deal’

Friday, May 19, 2023

Since 2012, multiple failed political transitions have taken their toll on the Libyan people. The continued and increasingly complex internal divisions and external vectors affecting Libya threaten to send it into another spiral of crisis and violence. Local and national leaders working in good faith to stabilize the country have inevitably grown cynical as ruling elites and their international partners fail to deliver local security and good governance.

Type: Analysis

Conflict Analysis & PreventionPeace Processes

Beyond Elections: Libya Needs Unified Institutions and Reconciliation

Beyond Elections: Libya Needs Unified Institutions and Reconciliation

Wednesday, April 26, 2023

Last week, the U.N. Security Council met to discuss its Libya mission and its new plan to end the country’s political impasse through elections. While credible polls will be a critical step in forging a path to peace, they are not a panacea for addressing this byzantine conflict’s deeply rooted drivers and the intense, bitter rivalries and factionalism that have surfaced since 2011. Indeed, previous efforts to hold elections have buckled under the weight of the intricate dynamics at play. Over a decade after the fall of Muammar Qaddafi, resolving Libya's complex conflict will require a multifaceted approach that prioritizes building trust among Libyans.

Type: Analysis

Conflict Analysis & PreventionDemocracy & Governance

View All Publications