TRIPOLI – Special Representative of the Secretary General for Libya Hanna Tetteh joined thirty-five young women from across Libya on Monday in a discussion on youth empowerment as they started their journeys on the UN in Libya’s annual Ra’idat training programme. 

In a panel discussion alongside UN Women’s Representative Florence Batsy, UNICEF’s Deputy Representative Abdulsalam Al-Souhigi and UNDP Project Manager, Filip Warnats, the SRSG highlighted how the skills taught in the programme teach young women to become leaders, build a network and ensure that their voices are heard. 

“The young women on the Ra’idat programme have been selected because they are talented, and because they want to be leaders in their communities, bringing issues they care about to the attention of leaders at all levels of society – municipal to national,” said SRSG Tetteh. “It is important for Libya, and society, that young women’s voices are heard and their concerns addressed.” 

The Ra’idat participants posed questions to all the panelists on leadership, how to manage online hate speech and how to build confidence and knowledge in order to convince people to listen to their ideas. It was stressed that the programme is about building a supportive network of women who can work together on challenges they think are important. 

“Women in Libya are very resilient,” said UN Women Representative Florence Batsy. “They are educated, have a lot of skills, and are leaders. We need to focus on them as this is a great opportunity for the country to move forward,” she added. 

SRSG Tetteh highlighted the role that youth and women will play in the roadmap implementation, including in the Structured Dialogue. There will be dedicated mechanisms to ensure youth and particularly young women, have the ability to engage in the process and be represented. 

The Ra’idat programme takes thirty-five young women annually for an intensive year of training focused on building communication, leadership, teamwork and advocacy skills. This year, the programme received 899 applicants, with 85 selected for interview. Cohort 3 of the programme runs until August 2026 and is generously supported by the governments of Italy and Germany.