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- The UN has called for rival governments running Libya to work together to rebuild the country after a devastating storm.
- More than 4 000 people were reported dead with about 8 500 unaccounted for, many in Derna.
- From the deaths, a recorded 101 were nurses and doctors.
Oil-rich Libya, the most politically unstable nation in North Africa, could fail to recover from the devastation caused by Storm Daniel because of the country's divided leadership.
Since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in October 2011, Libya has failed to find peace.
A Government of National Unity (GNU) was established in Tripoli in 2021 with Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh as the internationally recognised prime minister.
However, the Eastern Parliament established a competing government the next year with an almost similar name, the Government of National Stability, under Fathi Bashagha.
International efforts to bring about peace and orderly humanitarian assistance in Libya have been hampered by the country's continuing split between these two regimes, each of which asserts its legitimacy as the nation's government.
Storm Daniel and its immediate aftermath killed 4 333 people, many in the port city of Derna, and 8 500 people are still considered missing.
READ | Debris and dead bodies clutter flood-hit Libyan port of Derna nearly two weeks later
The United Nations (UN) said the biggest challenge that the international community rendering support was faced with was the country's political situation.
Abdoulaye Bathily is the special representative of the Secretary-General for Libya and head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).
He said he was worried that "plans floated by different institutions and leaders for reconstruction run the risk of deepening the existing rift between the internationally recognised government and a rival administration in the east".
For the sake of rebuilding, he said the two rival administrations should work together to come up with a detailed and working roadmap.
"UNSMIL calls on all relevant Libyan national and local authorities and Libya's international partners to facilitate agreement on a unified and coordinated Libyan national mechanism to direct the recovery and reconstruction efforts and to ensure transparency and accountability," he said in a statement.
He added that Storm Daniel has shown Libyans and the world the importance of peace for a country to move forward, and as such, they should "expedite negotiations on breaking the political stalemate".
The health sector incapacitated
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said of the 4 333 known deaths, 101 were healthcare workers.
Some died in the line of duty, while others were casualties at home.
Ahmed Zouiten, the WHO's representative in Libya, said their deaths would negatively impact the country's health sector.
He said:
Storm Daniel hit Libya, which had already been facing a heavily disadvantaged health sector that's underfunded, with fewer health workers than needed and bad infrastructure.
Zouiten said the WHO would continue to support the country's health sector with those who died in mind.
"WHO will honour their memory by pursuing efforts to restore healthcare and continue their legacy of serving the vulnerable, saving lives, and keeping the community safe," he added.
Storm Daniel was the worst tropical cyclone in recorded history. It developed as a low-pressure system around 4 September, causing significant flooding in Greece, Bulgaria, and Turkey.
After then, the storm organised into a Mediterranean low, quickly developed quasi-tropical features, and headed for the Libyan coast.
The News24 Africa Desk is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation. The stories produced through the Africa Desk and the opinions and statements that may be contained herein do not reflect those of the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
