As the conflict drags on in Libya, ACTED remains committed to supporting conflict-affected populations. ACTED’s intervention first addressed the population’s critical needs in Benghazi in the East. Since June, ACTED teams have been present in an isolated Misrata, alongside its populations who have experienced constant bombing and despair for weeks. Not only has ACTED been dedicated to providing targeted emergency help to the most in need, but its staff is also working hand in hand with local and international humanitarian actors to support the recovery process after months of combat and destruction.

The glare of the international media spotlight has moved on, lured by the promise of newer, ‘hotter’ topics elsewhere. The swift, decisive military victory predicted by the [rebel] transitional forces supported NATO airforce has failed to emerge. That first, heady taste of freedom enjoyed by the country’s long-suffering population has long since faded. Euphoria and optimism are giving way to steely resolve and grim determination.

Yet this prolonged, protracted military stalemate is aggravating an already grim humanitarian situation. Hundreds of thousands of people forced from their homes by the fighting find themselves still unable to return. The loss of livelihood and soaring conflict-related unemployment threaten to bring the country to its knees. Food supplies are running dangerously low across territory where fighters of the Arab revolution are concentrated, nowhere more so than in the besieged western enclave of Misrata, a city that has borne the brunt of the internecine fighting.

Although the siege of the city has been lifted in the last few days, the front line currently lies just 40 kilometers from the center and there is fighting to the east, south and west. Salvos of rockets still hit the southern half of the city on a near-daily basis, and a climate of fear still looms over the people, who cannot get in contact with relatives in Tripoli. Against this backdrop a food crisis has emerged, Misrata’s new local government warned, threatening the population yet more than the constant bombardment. Access to a destroyed Misrata is scarce; the no-fly zone over the country has forced humanitarian actors to open a few boat lines between Benghazi and Misrata, the latter still surrounded by forces loyal to Gaddafi. ACTED carried out a rapid assessment of most of the city’s bakeries in June and soon became aware that they were dangerously close to running out of the ingredients needed to make bread, the staple food for most Misratans.

Only a beginning

ACTED mobilized to offer an immediate emergency response and to counter the wheat flour shortage by first stockpiling 450 metric tons (MT) of flour, received from the World Food Programme (WFP), alongside 36 MT of salt and 4.5 MT of yeast. The ingredients were granted to 46 bakeries, which could produce enough bread to feed close to 8,600 families. In addition, WFP has promised to supply ACTED with another 900 MT of flour over the coming two months, ensuring that there is an uninterrupted supply of necessary ingredients. ACTED will provide wheat flour, yeast and salt supplies to every one of Misrata’s 175 bakeries, helping to get them back up and running. The bread will then be distributed to identified vulnerable populations and families who lost one of their breadwinners on the frontline.

These measures will hopefully ensure that for Misratans the worst is over; the hard work, however, is only just beginning. ACTED is currently conducting a two week long assessment of the damage made to the city; the REACH team will then use this data to produce annotated satellite maps can in turn be used by the wider humanitarian community. Using this technology, those most at need are easily identified, and help in rebuilding destroyed homes and shattered lives can be rapidly provided. Many more assessments need to be made to clearly evaluate the level of rehabilitation at hand.

ACTED spearheads inter-agency effort

Given the urgency of the situation in Misrata, it is vital for the humanitarian actors present to combine forces and pool resources. To this end ACTED has set up a humanitarian hub in the city alongside our Italian Alliance2015 partner CESVI, Mercy Corps and Télécoms Sans Frontières, so as to facilitate coordination, logistics and communications. Given the small number of international NGOs currently working in Misrata, this hub can rightly be called the nerve centre for humanitarian operations; it also plays a key role in providing information for those humanitarian actors without a base in the city. ACTED’s data-gathering skills and mapping technology are proving to be an invaluable asset to the wider humanitarian community in Libya. Out in the field too our work is changing lives. A two week assessment of grocery stores and markets capacities is currently underway. Once that is completed, ACTED is ready to swing into action, providing food vouchers for 330 vulnerable families.