USAID Libya, in keeping with its efforts to build long-term capacity of Libyan governance and financial systems, recently partnered with World Bank to conduct a two-week intensive training on Public Financial Management (PFM) best practices for 35 technocrats from Libya’s Ministries of Finance, Planning, and Local Governance, and 11 municipalities. The training, which included two women, used international best practices and PFM practices recommended by the World Bank. The training modules covered budget planning, preparation, adoption, implementation and auditing, with special attention paid to accounting and procurement. Due to the deep need for infrastructure repair and development in Libya, special modules on public investment management and public private partnerships were also provided. Over a dozen separate exercises were conducted, and as a final exercise, the group mapped public financial management processes and identified gaps to be addressed in the near-term.

“I have never seen an effort like this. Training, outreach, assessing current conditions, developing an action plan for each entity, and following up with training resources and monitoring progress has never been done in Libya, to my knowledge,” said Mostafa Mohammed El Hawari, Head of the Training Department of the Libyan Ministry of Finance