The 15-member bloc has called on warring factions in Libya to cease fighting and enter talks. The body also strongly condemned Tuesday's airstrike on a migrant detention center near Tripoli.
Image: Reuters/I. Zitouny
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The United Nations Security Council on Friday unanimously called for both sides of the violent power struggle in Libya to de-escalate violence and return to the negotiating table.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, and the UN has called for an independent investigation in order to bring those behind it to justice.
In a joint statement released after Friday's closed-door session, the Council "stressed the need for all parties to urgently de-escalate the situation and commit to a ceasefire."
Due to its copious oil resources, Libya was one of North Africa's richest countries. A civil war then plunged Libya into chaos. As a result, large parts of the country could now even run out of drinking water.
Image: Reuters/H. Ahmed
Lack of basic necessities
A health system crisis is looming in Libya. Particularly the western parts of the country are running out of drinkable water. 101 of 149 conduits of the water supply system have already been destroyed in the wake of the chaotic situation in the country.
Image: Reuters/E.O. Al-Fetori
Modern water pipeline system in deterioration
Libya is mainly made up of arid desert. Under dictator Muammar Gaddafi, the 1980s saw the construction of a vast pipeline system known as the "Great Man-Made River." Those pipelines supply more than 70 percent of Libya's population with fresh water. However, since the fall of Gaddafi, the system has been damaged time and again.
Image: Reuters/E.O. Al-Fetori
Civil war and chaos
Since Gaddafi was toppled in 2011, the country has descended into chaos. The internationally recognized government in Tripoli is weak and not in control of large parts of Libya. On the other hand, renegade General Khalifa Haftar and his self-styled Libya National Army (LNA) control large areas predominantly in the east of the country.
Image: AFP/M. Turkia
Target Tripoli
The LNA, in particular, uses the water pipeline system in order to push through its demands, thereby endangering Libya's population. In May, armed forces loyal to Haftar forced water supply employees to cut off the main water pipeline to the besieged capital, Tripoli, for two days, in a bid to press authorities to release a prisoner.
Image: Reuters/H. Ahmed
Water as a weapon of war
It's not only the rebel groups who exploit the water supply system to push through their interests. There are also people who dismantle wellheads, in order to sell the copper those heads are made of. The United Nations have warned all sides in Libya not to use water as a weapon of war.
Image: Reuters/E.O. Al-Fetori
Health hazards
Mostafa Omar, a UNICEF spokesman for Libya, estimates that, in future, some four million people might be deprived of access to safe drinking water if no solution to the conflict is found. This could result in an outbreak of hepatitis A, cholera, and other diarrhea illnesses.
Image: Reuters/E.O. Al-Fetori
Drinking water not fit to drink
Water is not only scarce, but it's also contaminated in many areas. Bacteria or a high content of salt make it unfit for consumption. 'Often, in fact, it's no longer drinkable water,' says Badr al-Din al-Najjar, the head of Libya's National Center for Disease Control.
Image: Reuters/E.O. Al-Fetori
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Internationally backed government under siege
Tripoli has been the site of intense fighting since General Khalifa Haftar and his Libyan National Army (LNA), which controls much of eastern and southern Libya, began its offensive on the capital, which is controlled by the internationally backed Government of National Accord (GNA).
Friday's meeting had been scheduled to take place on Wednesday, but was delayed so that the US mission could confer with the US State Department over the wording of the joint statement.
US and Russia refuse to condemn strongman Haftar
Though there has been international condemnation of the Tuesday attack, which the UN's Libya envoy Ghassan Salame called a "war crime," the US and Russia have refused to condemn Haftar's offensive to take the capital.
The Security Council said it was "deeply concerned" about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Libya, as well as the safety of refugees and migrants being held in the country's detention centers.
Many migrants, most of whom are from sub-Saharan Africa, are desperately trying to get to Europe, but have become stranded in Libya, which is notorious for the squalid and abusive conditions of its detention centers.
