22 rooms, 800 square meters: the centre that opens its doors today May 4, 2023, in Janzour, Libya, is a unique and modern equipped learning and training environment. Established in partnership with the Libyan Ministry of Labor and Rehabilitation, this multi-service center will welcome former Libyan combatants, and assist them in reintegrating into civilian life. The centre is financially supported by the European Union and France.
"The Janzour centre will offer concrete assistance for people willing to start a new business or train on a new job," says Ambassador Jose Sabadell, Head of the European Union Delegation in Libya, "We thereby hope to be able to help create sustainable job opportunities, in cooperation with our Libyan partners." Together with the Libyan Ministry of Labour and Rehabilitation, the EU-funded EULEAD project and its partner Super Novae have designed a programme for ex-combatants that aims to empower them by introducing them to the basics of entrepreneurship and supporting them in starting their own businesses. The Janzour centre will offer a conducive learning environment for the beneficiaries through both workshops on business administration and activities related to human and personal development.
"Together with the European Union, in partnership with the Ministry of Labor and Rehabilitation, we fully supported over the last two years all necessary and appropriate means to create this multi-service centre as a step on the path of security and sustained stability in line with the aspirations ofthe Libyan people," said Mostafa Mihraje, the French Ambassador to Libya. "We are very proud to see concrete activities being offered on the ground responding to local level positive dynamics».
Former combatants participating in the program will also be able to benefit from psychosocial support on a voluntary basis, as a space for speaking out will also be provided at the heart of the centre. "Super Novae is very happy to have participated with the Libyan Ministry of Labor and Rehabilitation in this unique project in the country," said Alexandre Chatillon, co-founder and managing director of Super Novae. "We are looking forward to seeing the new lives of these former combatants.
This ambitious program, the second phase of a project designed by Super Novae and launched in 2021, which has already benefited 200 Libyan ex-combatants from Zintan and Misrata, includes a more institutional aspect: the development, with local stakeholders, of a national reintegration plan to help the Libyan authorities design and implement a comprehensive and sustainable pre- DDR (disarmament, demobilization and reintegration) project.