The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), through the Stabilization Facility for Libya (SFL) completed the renovation of the Mansheya Community Health Clinic in Sebha and handed it over to Sebha Municipal Council to improve access to health services for 90,000 people.

SFL works in collaboration with national authorities and public companies to support municipalities to rehabilitate essential service facilities and boost capacities to improve basic service delivery around the country. The Mansheya Health Center was ravaged during the war in 2014, leaving the building without windows, and dilapidated its electricity, lighting, water, and sewage systems, causing often sewage floods in the area that affected directly the wellbeing of residents.

The Facility rehabilitated the electricity and lighting systems, completed maintenance work of the toilets and the water and sewage network, as well as painted and installed new windows and air conditioner systems. The clinic is now ready to welcome an average of 165 patients per day.

During the handover ceremony, the Director of Health Services Department in Sebha, Mr. Abdul Jalil Abdullah, said: “UNDP is a strategic partner for our Municipality, and we thank the 13 international contributors and the Government of Libya for supporting this project. We are confident that this initiative will help the prosperity of the city, the development of our health services and will enhance community stability in Sebha.”

The Director of the Mansheya Health Center, Mr. Omar Zaidan, highlighted the relevance of this rehabilitiation that “will help us to enhance our response to COVID-19,” he said, and expressed his gratitude to UNDP for this vital support to the center.

On his part, UNDP Resident Representative in Libya, Mr. Gerardo Noto, said: “Ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being at all ages is essential to sustainable development. The coronavirus pandemic is the defining global health crisis of our time. Helping this clinic in Sebha to improve sanitation and hygiene, to be more efficient and to increase access to health services for everyone is key to save lives.”