Provision of UN Humanitarian Air Services (UNHAS) in Libya

This Special Operation (SO) is established to provide safe and reliable air transport services to facilitate the humanitarian response to the crisis in Libya. Initially, the Service is designed for eight-months start-up phase and will focus on flights to Tripoli, Benghazi and other locations within Libya including Sabha, Misratah and Bani Waleed in order to provide access to operationally targeted areas and enable aid workers reach the affected populations in locations which are difficult to reach in the current context.

In 2018, the humanitarian situation in Libya remains fragile due to ongoing conflict, political instability, the disruption of markets and local food production, all of which damage livelihoods and the ability of people to meet their basic needs.

With the lifting of the evacuation status in Feb 2018, humanitarian actors have the opportunity to be consistently present in Libya, which is crucial in particular for life saving and protection assistance. Under the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP), humanitarian actors aim to respond to the most basic needs of 940,000 people out of an estimated 1.1 million in need of life-saving humanitarian assistance and protection across Libya. With the prevailing security situation, travelling by road is not allowed and considering the limited air transport capacity in Libya, all interviewed representatives of UN agencies and NGOs clearly communicated their air transport needs and made strong cases for UNHAS services to be established in Libya. 

With a budgeted cost of US$ 3,072,962 Special Operation 201123 will be managed by WFP Libya Country Office from 01 May 2018 to 31 Dec 2018 with one medium-sized turboprop aircraft such as the Beechcraft 1900 (BE-190aircraft) to be based in Tunis for operational reason.

The fleet structure and operational routes will be adapted to the needs of the humanitarian community after consultations with the Humanitarian Country Team and other relevant stakeholders. The project will be implemented through standard WFP management structures and support systems and regularly reviewed using standard procedures in order to minimize risks and ensure operational efficiency.