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Tunisia
The unrest that
occurred in Tunisia at the beginning of 2011 threw society and the state structures into turmoil. In order to help secure the most favourable conditions possible for a successful transition to
democracy, the Federal Council responded rapidly and on 11 March 2011 decided to substantially strengthen Switzerland's commitment in the medium term.
Switzerland's programme for North Africa for the period from 2011 to 2016 responds to the priorities on the ground and focuses on three key areas:
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On 22 July 2011, an agreement protocol on the implementation of the Swiss programme to support the transition process in Tunisia was concluded with the transition authorities. The operational activities on the ground have meanwhile been progressing rapidly.
| Das bilaterale Engagement des Bundes | 2010 |
2011 |
2012* |
|---|---|---|---|
| DEZA | |||
| Bilaterale Entwicklungszusammenarbeit | 0.22 | 7.73 | 8.00 |
| Humanitäre Hilfe | – | 0.50 | 0.50 |
| Staatssekretariat für Wirtschaft (SECO) | |||
| Wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung | 0.56 | 2.78 | 13.00 |
| Bundesamt für Migration (BFM) | 0.00 | 0.50 | 1.50 |
| Politische Direktion (PD) | |||
| Abteilung Menschliche Sicherheit | 0.00 | 0.85 | 0.99 |
| Direktion für Völkerrecht (DV) | – |
technische Unterstützung |
|
| Staatssekretariat für Bildung und Forschung (SBF) | 0.18 | 0.18 | |
| Total | 0.96 | 12.54 | 23.99 |
Bilaterale Entwicklungszusammenarbeit ohne Programmbeiträge an NGOs
.. = keine Angaben | – = Betrag ist Null oder Betrag < 5'000 CHF
Switzerland's commitment
Switzerland's short-term programme in Tunisia is to be implemented in a coordinated, coherent and complementary manner by various entities of the federal administration, namely the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), the FDFA Directorate of Political Affairs (DPA), the Directorate of Public International Law (DPIL), the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), and the Federal Office for Migration (FOM).
Switzerland's support is based on targeted and sustainable partnership that responds to needs. Equality of treatment for men and women is an integral part of each of these projects.
In Tunisia, the overall programme will be headed by a joint Tunisian-Swiss steering commission chaired by the Ministry of Development and International Cooperation in direct collaboration with the involved ministries (regional development, agriculture, the interior, social affairs, etc.).
A programme office has been set up at the Swiss Embassy for the implementation of the programme, and an expert in human security has also been posted to the Embassy. A branch of the programme office was opened in Kasserine in mid-September 2011 and a second programme office was opened in Medenine in March 2012.
As of March 2012, the status of operational activities was as follows (and several additional initiatives are in preparation):
Transition towards democracy and human rights
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Support for the electoral process in Tunisia in partnership with UNDP, including support at the higher level for the elections in the form of the purchase of 12,000 electoral urns – SDC
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Assistance with the creation of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Tunisia – SDC/DPA
- Support in the area of reform of the security sector, in partnership with the Geneva-based Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces – SDC
Specific project - Technical support for Radio Gafsa with the development of more interactive programming and high quality journalism in order to provide information to the marginalised populations in Tunisia's
interior (in partnership with Fondation hirondelle) – SDC
Specific project - Within the framework of a job creation programme, leading roundtable discussions attended by local authorities, the private sector and civil society, that will function as think tanks focusing on democratic decision-making and decentralisation – SDC
- Provision of technical assistance and targeted support for the authorities concerned with international judicial assistance with a view to the possible recovery of illicit assets held in
Switzerland – DIL and SDC
Specific project - Support for civil society organisations in the area of governance and electoral reform in partnership with Democracy Reporting International –SDC
- Support for civil society organisations in carrying out their work with the Constituent Assembly and its elected members – DP
- Awareness raising and training for political parties and the committees of the Constituent Assembly to facilitate cooperation with civil society; in partnership with Democracy Reporting International – DP
- Support for human rights defence organisations in the classification and structuring of their archives as a basis for a medium-term strategy on dealing with the past – DP
- Dialogue with the different opposing political forces – DP
- Strengthening the capacities of governmental institutions and organisations for the defence of human rights and the promotion of the rights of women and children, together with the Geneva Institute for Human Rights (GIHR) – DPA
- Technical assistance with the preparation of elections and the deployment of personnel to the election monitoring missions of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie and the European
Union. Provision of a police instructor to secure the training of Tunisian police forces for maintaining peaceful elections – DPA
Specific project
Economic development and employment
Strengthening the private sector and competition
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I-SEMER programme (Initiative suisse pour l’Emploi et la Micro et Petite Entreprise Rurale /Swiss initiative on jobs and rural micro and small enterprises): Promotion of entrepreneurship and the creation of micro and small entreprises to strengthen economic development in four disadvantaged governorates; round-table discussions, training workshops for young unemployed people with projects and financing through micro-credits (in partnership with ENDA); provision of loans for equity to set up small businesses together with support measures including Swiss-Tunisian calls for tenders (in partnership with the Banque pour le Financement des Petites et Moyennes Entreprises, BFPME / Bank for Financing Small and Medium-sized Entreprises) – SDC
Specific
project -
Support for SMEs and job creation in Tunisia via the Swiss Investment Fund for Emerging Markets (SIFEM) – SECO
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Support programme for Tunisian exports: 1) Plans to follow up efforts in the agricultural sector, e.g. biological agriculture, geographical indications of origin, labels), and strengthening specific avenues with high export potential. 2) Identification of a project in the textiles sector is also under way – SECO
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Programme on own production (implemented by UNIDO): Aims to carry out environmental upgrades of enterprises through sustainable management of their resources, the transfer of environmental knowledge to experts at the national level and the implementation of new training programmes to create employment. In due course, 75 enterprises will operate on a more sustainable basis and some 200 Tunisians will be trained in installing and maintaining solar equipment. Moreover, via this project Tunisia houses the network of PP centres of the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) – SECO
Specific project -
Wide-ranging programme in sustainable tourism and eco-tourism with different dimensions. The promotion of environmental solutions for hotels (in particular involving solar energy and clean production), a concept for destination management organisation (DMO) as well as improvements to training are integral parts of the planned activities (project identification in progress) – SECO
Improved access to infrastructure and to basic public services
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Renovation and improvements to public water supply infrastructure and waste-water treatment in the governorate of Kasserine and renovations of schools in the governorates of Medenine and Tataouine; improvements to the range of basic services and job creation through the work to carry out these projects – SDC
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Implementation of a programme in the water sector in the governorate of Kasserine in the medium term with the following six dimensions: improvements to the water supply in rural areas; extension of irrigation zones to develop value-added agricultural production; technical support for local authorities; a programme to integrate young unemployed people in the work to carry out these projects; awareness raising in local populations of the importance of water as a resource – SDC; establishment of two water treatment plants – SECO
Specific project
Improving the employability of young people
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I-SEMER programme (for further details see «Strengthening the private sector and competition» above) – SDC
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Orienting professional training more closely to market needs – SDC – and participation of the private sector in the supply of training – SECO (identification of projects under way)
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Creation of a structure to finance projects to include financially marginalised population groups through the development of micro-finance and micro-insurance products and services – SDC
Migration and protection
Various discussions on migration have taken place between the Swiss and Tunisian authorities since spring 2011 in Bern and in Tunis. This dialogue on
migration took place in a spirit of partnership and adopted a comprehensive approach that sees migration as a factor of socio-economic development. Various projects are in the process of
implementation in the fields of regular and irregular migration, return and reintegration of Tunisian migrants, and the protection of vulnerable individuals, as well as with a view to take the links
between migration and development more strongly into account.
Humanitarian aid and Federal Office for Migration actions on the border between Tunisia and Libya in 2011
- Financial support for international agencies and organisations (UNHCR, IOM, OCHA, PAM, ICRC, Swiss Red Cross) – SDC
- Direct financial support for management of the refugee camp in Shousha and payment of the camp's waste disposal costs; together with UNICEF and UNHCR, promotion of measures to improve hygiene in the camp – SDC
- Improvement of access to health services (sexual and reproductive) to women and girls in camps in the governorate of Medenine in collaboration with the Association Tunisienne de la Santé de la Reproduction (ATSR)
Background information concerning Tunisia
On 14 January 2011, former president Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali left Tunisia under pressure from the population and some members of the government, thus terminating 23 years of dictatorship. The
elections to the constituent assembly, the main purpose of which is to draw up a new constitution, were held on 23 October 2011.
The people of Tunisia had been demanding the respect of their rights for a number of years already. Despite economic growth, many people were not benefiting from the country's prosperity, and social
and economic disparities became increasingly apparent. In 2008, protesters in the Gafsa region called for better living conditions, employment options and an end to corruption. At that time, their
(occasionally violent) protests were ignored, and the authorities responded with repression, excessive use of force, arbitrary arrests, torture and imprisonment.
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| Source: World Bank's World Development Indicators 2011 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Local SDC contact address:
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Tunisia (Tunis) |
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Programme Office Tunisia |
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| Phone | +216 71 191 997 +41 (0)31 324 18 11 |
| Fax | +216 71 192 032 |
| tunis@sdc.net / tun.vertretung@eda.admin.ch | |
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Additional Information and Documents Here, you will find more publications, links, documents and articles about Swiss development cooperation and humanitarian aid in this country. |