2023-11-26 10:55:58
UNDP and ILO shared inspiring perspectives on the future of ESS in Tunisia, highlighting its transformative role in creating sustainable jobs and responding to socio-economic challenges.
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the International Labor Organization (ILO) jointly organized a day dedicated to the presentation of three crucial policy guidance notes on the Social and Solidarity Economy (ESS) in Tunisia .
These notes, developed with rigor, offer a critical analysis of the legal framework, public policies to encourage the ESS, as well as advocacy strategies aimed at increasing the attractiveness of the ESS. They are specifically designed with the aim of informing and guiding decision-makers, with a view to promoting the development of the ESS sector, in particular through the revision of law n°2020-30 of June 30, 2020 and the publication of regulatory implementing decrees.
UNDP in action in Tunisia
Eugena Song, UNDP Deputy Representative in Tunisia, highlighted the importance of the Kingdom of Norway’s commitment over the past four years, aimed at empowering Tunisian populations, particularly the most disadvantaged.
Mme. Song also reaffirmed UNDP’s commitment to supporting the development of the social and solidarity economy in Tunisia, highlighting its promising role in promoting economic inclusion, sustainability and prosperity. She highlighted the momentum and spirit of urgency seen over the past eight years of collaboration with the Tunisian government, highlighting the need to use ESS as a key strategy to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
Furthermore, Eugena Song recalled the importance of policy guidance notes, highlighting their crucial phase concerning the translation of existing laws into regulations, the measures necessary to ensure accelerated implementation, as well as the practical aspects related financing, partnership, advocacy and communication programs. This, while encouraging Tunisian decision-makers to consider these preventive and practical recommendations.
Mme Song expressed UNDP’s satisfaction for having supported Tunisia since 2015-2016 and highlighted the continued commitment to the creation of decent jobs, particularly in marginalized areas. She called on all stakeholders to engage in a constructive debate on the capacity to implement public policies, ensuring that UNDP and its partners remain attentive and ready to support Tunisia’s efforts for sustainable development.
An alternative model for a sustainable future
For her part, Rania Bikhazi, director of the ILO Office for Maghreb Countries, indicated that the International Labor Organization has long recognized the crucial role of the social and solidarity economy in the development of Tunisia, while adding that the ILO deliberately chose to invest in this model, considering it as a serious alternative to the recurring inadequacies of the system in place.
Referring to INS statistics published in 2020, Mme Bikhazi noted that 44.1% of jobs in Tunisia are in the informal sector, affecting nearly 1.6 million Tunisians. In this same context, she highlighted the challenges linked to informal work, in particular the absence of social protection and security guarantees for the most vulnerable, the health risk linked to the lack of monitoring of the value chain of the goods produced, as well as than the significant loss for state revenue. Rania Bikhazi also mentioned that the nature of activities in the informal sector is often linked to the principles of the social and solidarity economy, thus highlighting the potential for transformation in the presence of an adequate framework, which already exists in Tunisia.
On another level, Mme Bikhazi welcomed Tunisia’s adoption in June 2020 of the Social and Solidarity Economy Law, considered a formidable lever for an inclusive development model and in favor of sustainable and decent employment. At the same time, she confirmed the involvement of the ILO, in collaboration with other United Nations agencies such as the UNDP, in supporting the development of this law. The director also mentioned that the history of cooperative work in Tunisia is firmly anchored in the legal fabric, with specific laws and texts testifying to the country’s lasting commitment to the promotion of professional cooperation.
This day, according to Mme Bikhazi, represents an excellent opportunity to present the three orientation notes linked to the legal framework of the social and solidarity economy, launch an in-depth debate within the National Development Plan 2023-2025 in Tunisia, examine the needs in terms of capacity for the implementation of public policies, as well as the financial and technical support requirements of the social and solidarity economy. She concluded by emphasizing the objective of ensuring coherent, exhaustive and fluid implementation of the laws governing the social and solidarity economy, thus guaranteeing the unity of this economic model.
The ESS: a pillar sustainable development
Mounir Dakhli, Director General of International Cooperation, indicated that this meeting once once more demonstrates the importance given by the various stakeholders to the issue of youth employment in Tunisia. It is also an opportunity to address crucial issues surrounding the ESS, namely the legal and institutional framework, the governance system, public policies in favor of the development of the ESS, advocacy in its favor and the attractiveness of this sector.
Mr. Dakhli specified that the ESS also constitutes an essential lever for the national economy because of its impact on sustainable development and job creation, while meeting the economic needs of different regions. He also mentioned that the ESS offers concrete solutions for a more solid, ecological and socially just production and consumption model.
In this same context, he added that the Tunisian government attaches crucial importance to the promotion of collective entrepreneurship, particularly in the field of ESS, in close collaboration with economic and social partners as well as international partners, while emphasizing that the promotion of collective entrepreneurship and the ESS constitutes a strategic priority and a pillar of reform in the country, representing a promising alternative to respond to socio-economic challenges, in particular youth unemployment.
Collective entrepreneurship and the ESS, according to Mr. Dakhli, are integrated into the national political agenda as solutions to meet major challenges, with their development framed by the establishment of a legal framework, the mobilization of financing tools, awareness raising and human capital capacity building. According to him, the main current issue is to further strengthen the role of the ESS as a pillar of the national economy, by specifically addressing issues related to the legal framework, the governance system, public policies, advocacy and the attractiveness of this sector. All these initiatives aim to integrate Tunisian skills into the labor market, thus contributing to business development and the creation of necessary jobs for young people looking for work.
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