They demand better public transport, medicine for the neighborhood clinic and real solutions for unemployment. The state has turned a deaf ear. Residents of Douar Hicher have issued a warning: “the spark that will ignite the revolution of the hungry is here.”
Menzel Bouzaiene: Women mobilize against social exclusion
« Keep quiet! » several men ordered a fellow sit-inner when she tried to speak up during a gathering. Such a scene is common in Menzel Bouzaiene, governorate Sidi Bouzid. For in spite of their capacity to mobilize, women are essentially excluded from public space and marginalized in social movements. Conscious of the double discrimination they face, 32 women decided to launch their own protest called « Manich Sekta », I will not keep quiet, to make their voices heard. In the summer’s blazing heat, they invited us to learn about their struggle for work, dignity, and social inclusion.
How to unblock growth through Agriculture in Tunisia?
Opportunities to develop a more equilibrated development model are possible by pushing Agriculture sector at the top of Nation’s agenda. It will require a clear plan and a huge investment in people –especially rural women- and in infrastructure. This note is an attempt to describe the potential of the primary sector, notably the extensive Agriculture before identifying some measures to be followed in order to disentangle obstacles facing the sector and the growth in Tunisia.
After Kasserine, protests break out in 16 governorates
Demonstrations have not ceased since Saturday, January 16 when Ridha Yahyaoui was electrocuted at the top of a utility pole in Kasserine. Yahyaoui’s death was the turning point in recent protests which have turned into clashes between protesters and security forces across the country. Less than a week later, the government has imposed a national curfew.
Special Report: Unemployment in post-revolutionary Tunisia [Part 2] The public sector, object of desire
The State is the largest employer in the country. Immediately following independence, being hired by the Government was considered the foregone conclusion for a degreed graduate. Some people were even hired before they had actually obtained their degrees.
Special Issue: Unemployment in post-revolutionary Tunisia [Part 1]: Who counts as unemployed?
Karim Mejri, former counselor to Minister of Employment Saïd Aïdi, contributes to the national debate on employment in a nine part series on Nawaat.org. In this first installment, he examines the definition of unemployment and the latest statistics in Tunisia.
Live-in housekeepers: Lives spent in the shadows
It’s the story of a mother with sad eyes, who speaks to you with her hand clenched to her chest, and of her daughter Rachida, twenty-nine, who has now been behind bars for three years. Rachida, employed at the age of 15 as a live-in housekeeper at one of the Trabelsi family dwellings.
Sustainably Combatting Unemployment with New Regional Development
The delicate social climate in most inner regions of Tunisia is a reminder of the tension that unemployment has created over the years. Gafsa, home to one of the largest employment producing companies in the region, the Gafsa Phosphate Company (Compagnie des Phosphates de Gafsa, CPG)
The IMF Endorses The Arab Spring With Further Economic Assistance to Tunisia
IMF managing director, Christine Lagarde, met with Tunisian businessmen and journalists on her second day of her first visit to the Middle East, in Tunisia. Lagarde, stressed during the press conference that she held the importance of the security situation to help maintain a stable economy in the country. “Security and stability are determining factors to boost investments,” she said.
Tunisia’s protest wave: where it comes from and what it means
January traditionally has been Tunisia’s month for political drama — a general strike in January 1978; a Libyan-supported insurrection in […]
Tunisia’s Zine Ben Ali: So…will the end be gracious or graceless?
Ben Ali and Leila Tabelsi, that they are emptying out what is left in Tunisia’s coffers, that an airbus is fueled, ready and waiting to take off, as are the private jets of members of their two extended families… just in case the protests rocking the country cannot be crushed.
Tunisia’s job crisis sparks dissent
Once a fortnight, Leila Khaled, a Tunisian housewife, comes down from Tunis, the capital, to the dusty mining region of Gafsa, to visit her son Muthafer Labidi in jail. The rest of the time, she holds vigil at a Tunis hospital where her husband, Bechir Labidi, a trade union leader, lies ailing and handcuffed in his bed.