The United Nations Support Mission in Libya expires on March 12, but the U.N. is expected to maintain a strong presence in the country.
On Tuesday, the U.N. announced that Japan has donated $1.8 billion to an effort to rid the nation of landmines. The money will go to the United Nations Mine Action Service, which has conducted landmine-clearance campaigns in about a dozen other countries.
"More than 200,000 explosive remnants of war were cleared from both residential and military facilities in 2012," the U.N. said earlier this year. "A lot more remain in loosely-guarded former regime depots or in private residences. This makes Libya potentially the largest disarmament program in the world. It is both a threat, if they’re not cleared up and stored, and an opportunity.”
One of the other mandates of the mission is to help secure human rights in Libya. Libya has made progress, but the U.N. recently expressed concern over "several recent incidents, including attacks on media organizations, threats against journalists, and violence against a Coptic church and other houses of worship."
The mission was authorized by the U.N. Security Council in 2009 "following six months of armed conflict to support the country's new transitional authorities in their post-conflict efforts," according to the U.N.
The nation recently celebrated the second anniversary of the overthrow of Muammar Gadaffi and the beginning of a gradual transition to democracy.
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