Libya’s Business Chambers Work With ILO to Turn Training Into Better Member Services

The programmes addressed priorities identified with GLUCC and its member chambers, giving participants space to examine the responsibilities, working practices and services that shape their daily contact with businesses.

For businesses seeking support from their local chamber of commerce, practical details matter: knowing whom to contact, getting clear information and finding services that address their needs. These everyday expectations are at the centre of an International Labour Organization initiative supporting stronger business chambers in Libya.

Through its Bureau for Employers' Activities (ACT/EMP), the ILO is working with the General Union of Libyan Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (GLUCC) and its member chambers to improve how they represent, engage with and serve the business community. Three five-day programmes held in September 2026 brought together 52 participants from chambers in Zliten, Jabal al Akhdar and the Western Region/Zuwara, laying the groundwork for changes in how those institutions operate.

Bringing Training Closer to Everyday Business Needs

The programmes addressed priorities identified with GLUCC and its member chambers, giving participants space to examine the responsibilities, working practices and services that shape their daily contact with businesses.

Sessions covered governance and human resources, advocacy and representation, membership development, communication and visibility, member services and institutional action planning. Practical exercises, discussions of cases and role mapping helped participants connect these subjects with the challenges facing their own chambers.

A shared lesson emerged across the three locations: individual knowledge needs to be supported by clear responsibilities and dependable ways of working if it is to make a difference for members. Staff need to understand who handles an enquiry, how information reaches businesses and what happens when a request requires referral elsewhere.

For members, the expected improvements are straightforward—reliable contacts, clearer information, better handling of enquiries and services shaped by the needs businesses actually express. These remain intended results, with member consultations, service records and follow-up work set to establish whether the changes are delivering useful support.

Putting Chamber Action Plans to Work

Completing the programmes marks the beginning of a longer process of institutional improvement. The next phase will help GLUCC and the participating chambers turn their action plans into systems and practices they can maintain over time.

Chamber leaders are expected to assign responsibility for the plans and confirm which priorities should be addressed first. The follow-up roadmap includes testing at least one service or process used by members, strengthening priority roles and procedures, and gathering evidence to judge progress.

That evidence will come from member requests, consultations and the uptake of services, giving chambers a firmer basis for deciding what works and where adjustments are needed. A service developed around an identified business need will need to be tested against members' actual experience of using it.

Further work will cover governance and human resources frameworks, clearer internal procedures, better member information and communication, and the development and testing of relevant services. GLUCC will coordinate reviews across the participating chambers and identify areas requiring additional support.

Building Stronger Representation Across Libya

The initiative supports GLUCC's 2026–2028 Strategic Plan, which includes a broader focus on institutional governance, modernising human resources and strengthening organisational capacity.

Better internal practices have a direct connection to the chambers' public role. Clear responsibilities and stronger communication can help them maintain closer contact with members, understand the concerns businesses raise and represent those concerns more effectively.

The cooperation is grounded in the different circumstances and priorities of GLUCC and its member chambers, with follow-up support intended to carry the September training into everyday institutional practice.

Through ACT/EMP, the ILO continues to support employers' and business membership organisations in Libya as they work towards stronger representation and more effective services. This work also contributes to social dialogue and sustainable private-sector development, with progress depending on how well the organisations respond to the enterprises they serve.