One year ago today, the New Libya Foundation and partners launched the “Roghata” Community Based Urban Planning Charette Program for sustainable development. Thank you to videographer Mohamed Al Yacoubi for this tribute.

The Goodwill Charter Campaign was successfully launched today, June 19th, with exclusive interviews with the campaign team on four major television networks, including the state network “Al-Wataniya”, the more conservative “Al-Nabaa”, the more liberal leaning “Al-ahrar”, and Al-Assema. The campaign was surprisingly received with support across political factions, despite the charter taking hard political [...]]]>

The Goodwill Charter Campaign was successfully launched today, June 19th, with exclusive interviews with the campaign team on four major television networks, including the state network “Al-Wataniya”, the more conservative “Al-Nabaa”, the more liberal leaning “Al-ahrar”, and Al-Assema. The campaign was surprisingly received with support across political factions, despite the charter taking hard political positions on contentious issues such as the nature of the State, the role of women and minorities in the state, the separation of powers and the elimination of armed factions.

The Goodwill Charter is a 17 article social contract between voters and the candidates of the House of  Representatives. The charter reflects what the Libyan public and civil society believe ought to be the priorities of the House of Representatives to be elected on June 25th. Candidates who sign the charter are given airtime with their constituents through television and radio interviews, spots on social media, and through SMS/Text messages to their constituents.

To read more about the charter in English, visit the “Goodwill Charter” page under the programs tab, or www.Almithaq.ly to view the campaign (in Arabic).

Appearing on Al Naaba, Libya Al Ahrar and Alassema through July 20th. Much gratitude to Mr. Mohamed Alakkari and the ArtTech team for this generous contribution.

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April 5th, Tripoli’s democratically elected Constitution Drafting Assembly members presented their vision of what the constitution making process should look like, and addressed questions posed by Networker guests. Two of the five assembly members chose to decline the invitation just minutes before the event, presumably out [...]]]> http:/

April 5th, Tripoli’s democratically elected Constitution Drafting Assembly members presented their vision of what the constitution making process should look like, and addressed questions posed by Networker guests. Two of the five assembly members chose to decline the invitation just minutes before the event, presumably out of a desire to remain out of the spotlight until they are more acquainted with their new position.  Former Deputy Prime Minister, Dr. Mustafa Abushagour, and independent member of congress, Mr. Musa Faraj had been attending as guests when they kindly accepted an invitation to join the panel at the request of other guests.

The lively discussion was one of the first public appearances of elected CDA members and explored some of the most contentious topics in the constitution, giving rise to some heated debates. The Tripoli CDA members emphasized a public will to ensure a central role for Islamic Sharia in the constitution, as well as explicit protections of the rights and freedoms of all citizens with emphasis on women and minorities. Dr. Mustafa Abushagour emphasized the importance of distinguishing between demands for federalism and a call for greater decentralization, the later being a desire shared by all Libyans.

Once the floor was opened to questions and discussion several guests representing a wide range of constituencies, including student unions, minority groups and youth, presented their hopes for the constitution. The open forum stimulated a discussion on what is a “right” and what is an unsustainable privilege of residing in an oil rich state.

The event ended in a roof-top dinner reception where guests continued the dialogue.

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On Dec. 18th, 2013, leaders from across sectors (civil society, government, Media, Businessess, diplomats, INGOs) convened for the first civil society Networker, sponsored by USAID. The event theme was Fiscal transparency and accountability.

Former consultant to the Libyan Investment Authority, Mr. Salah Baccouch, shared disturbing figures [...]]]> http:/

The Leadership in Civil Society (LCS) Program, launched on March 24 and began with three weeks of intensive seminars. The first week was a workshop covering Project Management, the second week focused on Leadership, and the third was Civil Society & Democracy. The participants experienced a rigorous [...]]]> Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

The Leadership in Civil Society (LCS) Program, launched on March 24 and began with three weeks of intensive seminars. The first week was a workshop covering Project Management, the second week focused on Leadership, and the third was Civil Society & Democracy.
The participants experienced a rigorous and productive introduction to the Leadership in Civil Society (LCS) program. These initial workshops were followed by individual meetings with participants and center project managers.  This allowed specialized assistance to the needs of each participating civil society organization. Meeting the individual needs of these organizations creates a foundation for the future management abilities these organizations.

The LCS program use Project Cycle Management (PCM) and the Logical Framework Approach (LFA) to instruct the essentials of creating fruitful programs from start to finish. In conjunction with instruction of PCM and the LFA, the LCS maintains a mentorship with participant CSOs. This allows CSOs to utilize their newly acquired skills to efficiently construct programs. The use of these systematic approaches to program management aims to promote local ownership and enhance the role of stakeholders in the planning and accountability process.

The aim of the New Libya Foundation is to develop the capacity of the Libyan civil society. This entails coaching civil society activists while they formalize their team and vision into an organization, as well as helping them articulate and implement their projects.

However, establishing an organization [...]]]> Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

The aim of the New Libya Foundation is to develop the capacity of the Libyan civil society. This entails coaching civil society activists while they formalize their team and vision into an organization, as well as helping them articulate and implement their projects.

However, establishing an organization and running a project is not a measure of success. CSOs must be able to measure and evaluate their impact according to their goals and overall vision. They must recognize successes and failures in order to build on the former, and learn from the latter.

In short, civil society entrepreneurs must ask themselves questions such as: How much have our programs affected the targeted audience? To what degree did our advocacy campaign change the mindset of people? Is the organization doing more harm than good?

To address this critical aspect of NGO management, the New Libya Foundation conducted a seminar on Design, Monitoring and Evaluation for civil society organizations on June 20, 2012. The three-hour event aimed to introduce participants to core concepts and skills in order to encourage them to begin thinking about processes of evaluation applicable to their own organizations. The seminar, led by Casey and Elia, two graduate students from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy working with NLF over the summer, included discussions about how to build valuable indicators, record appropriate data, and conduct a longer-term evaluation that ensures effectiveness and identifies any unintended consequences.

This workshop introduced the principal activity LCS participants will be focusing on during the last month of the program: evaluation.

Besides LCS program participants, the workshop hosted many other organizations working on a variety of causes, from consumer protection to women empowerment.