Reference :
V-P-LY-E-00412
Date :
07/04/2021
Caption :
Ghadames. View of the city from a rooftop.
Confidentiality level :
public
Publication restrictions :
publication without restrictions
Description :
ICRC website, photo gallery, 01.06.2021.
"Here, the sandy desert meets the rocky feet of the mountains to constitute the borderlines between Libya, Algeria and Tunisia. Ghadames, known as 'the pearl of the desert', stands in an oasis, around 600 km to the southwest of Tripoli, where a water source in the middle of a desert made it an attraction for permanent settlement since the 4th millennium B.C. It has been at the crossroads of civilizations and cultures, a trading post, a place where the inbound and outbound caravans from the Sahara to the Mediterranean coast rested before continuing their journeys.
Ghadames and its inhabitants have not been directly affected by the last round of fighting in Libya, which lasted from April 2019 to August 2020. However, there remains over 500 displaced families who had to leave Ghadames as a result of past inter-communal fighting. These families are now settled in a nearby locality of Awal.
Recently an ICRC team from its Tripoli Sub-delegation took the long road trip to assess the humanitarian situation in the area. They spent a few days there meeting with authorities and mingling with people to learn more about the impact of conflict and COVID-19 on their lives. Being a very remote area in a conflict affected country has taken its toll on the essential services in Ghadames such as water, sewerage and healthcare, as all of them require attention and investment for repairs and upgradation."
Resolution :
1242x2688
Orientation :
portrait
Colour/B&W :
colour
