This text is part of the special edition Solidarité internationale
Emerging from the Arab Spring, Tunisian democracy is young and therefore fragile, especially since today it is being seriously shaken up by the current president, Kaïs Saïed. But it was the fervor of civil society following the Arab Spring that prompted Development and Peace to get involved in Tunisia.
“The fall of Ben Ali and the emergence of this young democracy prompted us to get involved in Tunisia,” says Sonia Lebesgue, program officer at Development and Peace. And since we already had a presence in the Arab-Muslim world, our partners in this region were able to refer us to Tunisian civil society organizations with which we believe we can collaborate. Initially, our efforts focused on supporting organizations engaged in the democracy movement, including journalism organizations. »
Remember that Development and Peace, founded in 1967 by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, is the international development component of the Catholic Church in Canada. It is a member of Caritas Canada, and therefore has a presence on Canadian soil, but also internationally through its projects and through its membership of Caritas Internationalis and the International Cooperation for Development and Solidarity (CIDSE).
Development and Peace focuses primarily on improving the living conditions of the poorest and most marginalized populations in the countries where the organization is present and always works in partnership with civil society actors. It has developed two support strategies, the first of which is the generation of local knowledge. “It is always the most marginalized populations who bear the brunt of the major upheavals that affect countries, whether political or economic, continues Sonia Lebesgue. Unfortunately, these populations often have difficulty understanding these major issues, and our objective is to equip them so that they can have a voice in the matter and even come up with proposals that reflect their needs. »
The second aid strategy is more economical. “Our mission,” she specifies, “is to suggest and support economic models that come out of the
to make neoliberals in the agricultural field, but also in the environment and in energy transition. This is why Development and Peace, together with Tunisian partners, is now involved in food security projects.
A second political upheaval
In 2021, the current president of Tunisia, Kaïs Saïed, went there with a coup de force. Alleging corruption and inefficiency, he dismissed the government and abolished the Legislative Assembly, thereby assuming the right to rule by decree. In addition, he had a new Constitution approved by referendum, which confirmed presidential power, a referendum in which only a third of the voters took part.
Why such a low participation rate? “First, all the opposition political parties systematically boycotted the referendum,” explains Khansa Ben Tarjem, journalist and co-founder of the online media Barr al Aman. His journalist colleague, Mohamed Haddad, continues: “For Tunisians, changing the Constitution has no interest. What they want is above all a change in the way of governing, mainly the arbitrary power possessed by the police forces. »
Not to mention that Tunisia is suffering economically, with high inflation and, above all, a high unemployment rate, especially among young people, which is around 40%. “It’s particularly distressing for young graduates,” says Ms.me Ben Tarjem. With an unemployment rate of 30%, young graduates are turning to Europe and we are currently witnessing a major brain drain. »
Is it always possible to criticize the power in place? The two journalists say yes. “For the moment at least, specifies Mr. Haddad, but we must be careful, and I note the appearance of a certain degree of self-censorship. »
Faced with this political upheaval, what position will Development and Peace take? “Without abandoning our current projects, explains Sonia Lebesgue, it is obvious that we are going to increase our efforts in support of our Tunisian partners committed to maintaining democracy. »
This special content was produced by the Special Publications team of the To have to, pertaining to marketing. The drafting of To have to did not take part.