Tunisia
This chapter provides an overview of youth in the labour market in Tunisia and highlights some of the key challenges facing policy makers in the country. The labour market has had significant difficulty absorbing large and increasingly educated cohorts of young people, resulting in particularly low employment rates which are the combination of both high unemployment and low participation rates. School-to-work transitions are challenging and one in four young people are neither in employment, nor in education or training (NEET). Women and young people from the more deprived Centre West and Southern regions are particularly at risk. Even when Tunisian youth are in employment, it is frequently in poor quality jobs: informal employment is common, affecting an estimated one in two young workers, and the share of temporary contracts is high. Furthermore, working hours are long and the incidence of low-pay amongst youth is common.
Young people have demonstrated resilience to shocks and led positive change in their communities across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Young people (aged under 30) constitute more than half (55%) of the population across MENA, compared with 36% of the population across OECD countries. While challenges vary significantly across the region, youth unemployment rates are among the highest in the world, young people tend to express low trust in public institutions, and nearly four in ten live in fragile and conflicted-affected areas. The COVID-19 crisis has underscored the need to place the needs of young people at the centre of an inclusive and resilient recovery. To support this process, this report analyses current governance arrangements and practices across 10 MENA governments in three areas: 1) uniting all government stakeholders to implement a shared, integrated youth policy and deliver services to young people; 2) building administrative and institutional capacities to mainstream the perspectives of young people in policy making; and 3) encouraging the participation and representation of young people and youth stakeholders in public and political life.
This report examines how current legal provisions in Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia are impacting women’s ability to fully participate in economic life, both as employees and entrepreneurs. It is based on a comparative analysis of the various rights set out in constitutions, personal status laws, labour laws, in addition to tax and business laws. The report recognises the considerable progress made – in particular in the aftermath of the 2011 uprisings – following the adoption of constitutional and institutional reforms to strengthen women’s status.
Yet ensuring sufficient opportunities for women remains a challenge in the six countries. The report suggests that this may be due to different factors such as: the existence of certain laws that are gender discriminatory, contradictions between various legal frameworks, lack of enforcement mechanisms, and barriers for women in accessing justice. Through targeted policies, countries can tackle these challenges, and help unleash women’s potential to boost growth, competitiveness and inclusive social development.
This report diagnoses the main governance and financing challenges to private sector participation in the water supply and wastewater sector of Tunisia, and provides ways forward to address these challenges. It been developed as part of a water policy dialogue conducted by the OECD jointly with the Global Water Partnership-Mediterranean (GWP-Med) in the context of the project labelled by the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) "Governance and Financing for the Mediterranean Water Sector", with the support of the FEMIP Trust Fund of the European Investment Bank.
This chapter examines the vocational education and training system in Tunisia, assessing strengths and challenges. Currently the system fails to provide youth with a sufficiently smooth transition into the labour market, and inadequately meets the needs of employers. The two main challenges are: i) the lack of attractiveness of vocational education and training in Tunisia, including the negative effects of the low status collges techniques, and the underdevelopment of high quality options at the upper secondary level; and ii) the mix of provision (as between fields of study) is driven mainly by the capacity of the system, and it may not reflect the needs of the economy. This chapter recommends the implementation of a set of mutually reinforcing policy reforms, including a strategic expansion of VET at the upper secondary level and stronger mechanisms to engage employers. Finally, the chapter also looks at the provision of entrepreneurship training within the VET system, and identifies scope for improving both quality and accessibility of provision.
Tunisia: Stock of Total External Debt (percentage of GDP) and Debt Service (percentage of exports of goods and services) appears in African Economic Outlook 2009.
Tunisia: Real GDP Growth and Per Capita GDP (USD/PPP at current prices) appears in African Economic Outlook 2009.
Tunisia: Public Finances (percentage of GDP at current prices) appears in African Economic Outlook 2009.