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.
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.
Habib Bourguiba Avenue in Tunis, usually a stage for protests and police crackdown, turned into an open library in the afternoon of 18 April. Armed with their books, adults, teenagers, children, men and women from different social classes occupied the avenue to take part in “the Avenue Reads”.
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)
“In Tunisia, the youth have lost hope and prospects. The movement of Gafsa is a matter of the whole society.” […]
Des centaines, voire des milliers de jeunes gens, y compris d’enfants, suspectés de crimes de terrorisme, ont été arrêtés en Tunisie ces cinq dernières années. Nombres d’entre eux ont été torturés, ont subi de mauvais traitements, ont été détenus au secret et soumis à des disparitions forcées.
