UN aid appeal for war-torn Libya only 1 per cent funded

CAIRO – The U.N. says that international donors have only pledged a “paltry” one per cent of the $166 million funding appeal launched to assist over one million Libyans affected by the country’s raging conflict.

Libya’s U.N. humanitarian co-ordinator, Ali Al-Za’atari, says only two donors have so far answered the world body’s funding plea, issued almost two months ago.

Libya has been bitterly divided since the 2011 ousting of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Since 2014, it has split into two rival governments. Earlier this month, a U.N.-supported unity cabinet, based in neighbouring Tunisia, was announced.

The conflict has given rise to a local affiliate of the Islamic State group, which controls territory in central Libya.

Al-Za’tari says the U.N. cannot “explain or justify why the international community hesitates to provide humanitarian funding.”