Tripoli, March 16 : The UN has welcomed the swearing-in of Libya's newly-selected Government of National Unity before the House of Representatives (Parliament). "The Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Libya, and Head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), Jan Kubis, welcomes the swearing-in of the Government of National Unity today before the House of Representatives (HoR), during its session in Tobruk," it said in a statement on Monday. Kubis urged the new executive authority to swiftly embark on addressing the many challenges the Libyan people face, enhance the living conditions and basic services and prepare the country for the holding of inclusive national elections later this year. The Mission confirmed that it, along with its international partners, will stand firmly ready to continue providing all necessary support to the Libyan people and institutions. The new executive authority, which consists of the Presidency Council and the Government of National Unity, took the oath during an official session of the House of Representatives in the eastern city of Tobruk. The UN-sponsored Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) recently selected a new executive authority for the country, which was welcomed by all the Libyan parties. Moahmmed Menfi was appointed as the President of the Presidency Council along with the new Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, whose Government was granted confidence by the House of Representatives last week. The new government's main task is to hold general elections in the country on December 24, 2021, as agreed by the LPDF. Libya plunged into chaos after the fall of late leader Muammar Gaddafi's government in 2011, witnessing prolonged conflict between the eastern-based Khalifa Haftar-led Libyan National Army (LNA) and the UN-recognised Government of National Accord in the country's west. Due to the protracted armed conflict, political and economic crises and the coronavirus pandemic, nearly 1.2 million people, including over 348,000 children, require humanitarian assistance in Libya, according to the Unicef. /IANS