Libyan activists welcome new agency to protect women and children
Activists in Libya have welcomed the announcement their government will establish an agency to ensure "effective and urgent protection for every woman and child exposed to violence, threats, or exploitation”.
According to a statement issued by Prime Minister Osama Hammad, the Child and Women's Protection Agency will be a a law enforcement body with legal and security powers. Its responsibilities will including protecting “women and children from all forms of violence, exploitation, threats, and marginalization,” and providing shelter, medical care, psychological support, and legal services to victims. The agency will have powers of intervention to protect women and children in danger and to pursue perpetrators, taking legal action against them,
The Libyan Women’s Platform for Peace has welcomed the announcement while noting that in order to fulfil the aims of the new agency, lawmakers will need to pass legislation “that criminalizes all forms of violence and provides a clear protection system.”
The Libyan Women’s Platform for Peace Endorses the Decision to Establish the Child and Women Protection Agency
The Libyan Women’s Platform for Peace endorses the decision issued by the government appointed by the House of Representatives, headed by Osama Hammad, Decision No. (419) of 2025, to establish the “Child and Women Protection Agency.” This decision comes at a highly sensitive moment, as the country continues to experience political division and fragmented institutional responsibilities, which have negatively affected the state’s ability to protect women and children from violence, threats, and exploitation.
Taking this step at such a critical time reflects a growing recognition of the seriousness of escalating violations, and of the urgent need for a specialized body with the authority to intervene immediately, especially amid rising daily reports and the absence of unified procedural frameworks. The decision represents an important attempt to fill a long-standing gap and to establish an effective national mechanism to protect the most vulnerable groups.
The Libyan Women’s Platform for Peace stresses that protecting women and children cannot be achieved without the issuance of a comprehensive law that criminalizes all forms of violence and provides a clear protection system. Thus, LWPP calls on the country’s legislative authority to fulfill its responsibility by urgently enacting such a law, ensuring accountability, ending impunity, and guaranteeing meaningful protection that goes beyond executive decisions.
Despite the political division, the duty to protect women and children must rise above all political tensions. The success of this step requires serious institutional coordination, a clear will to implement the decision, and the development of a legal framework by the legislative body that safeguards their rights and dignity.
Protecting women and children is a national duty, one that can only be upheld through fair legislation that ensures their safety and dignity.