UNFPA TUNISIA EDITORIAL I NEWSLETTER N 01 IN THIS ISSUE : January - April 2014

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1 January - April IN THIS ISSUE : YOUTH & ADOLESCENTS An educational manual about youth civic engagement POPULATION DYNAMICS Census of population and housing GENDER EQUALITY International Women s Day NEWS 3rd University of public health in Maghreb FOCUS ON Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) and Commission on Population and Development (CPD) EDITORIAL I UNFPA TUNISIA NEWSLETTER N 01 n this new year with a new Constitution for Tunisia, the UNFPA Tunisia s team is happy to introduce our very first newsletter. This four-monthly media will give you a preview of our activities and projects and develop to a greater extent issues related to sexual and reproductive health, population dynamics, youth and gender equality. A year of change and new direction First, 2014 marked a change of Constitution for Tunisia. This text is the result of a long process of consultation between the different political actors which ended with the guarantee of a democratic State for Tunisian people. Still, this year will be full of challenges and opportunities and the policies should align legislation to the Constitution in order to guarantee their new constitutional rights to all the Tunisians is also a turning point on a global scale as the ICPD (International Conference on Population and Development) beyond 2014 review and the preparation of the post-2015 development agenda are taking place this year. The 47th session of the Commission on Population and Development from April 7 to 11 and the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on ICPD Beyond 2014 organized in September 2014 emphasize on the links between sexual and repro ductive health, human rights, population dynamics, poverty reduction and sustainable development. The results and conclusions of the last ICPD Global Report suggest a new framework for population and development beyond 2014 built on five thematic pillars: dignity and human rights, health, place and mobility, governance and accountability and sustainability. Change as an opportunity to protect and strengthen the place of sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights at the center of global priorities This context reminds us that we need to intensify our efforts to make sure that those major issues are part of the global agenda. During the whole year, many celebrations will promote national and international actions such as the World Population Day (July 11), the International Youth Day (August 12) and the 16 days campaign of activism against gender-based violence (November 25 December 10). Other events will also arouse public interest on these issues such as the third edition of the University of public health in Maghreb, the census of population and housing, the international women s day or youth civic engagement. This year is gearing up to be a key time in terms of global and national opportunities. This is the reason why we chose to share in our first newsletter articles about the University of public health in Maghreb, the celebration of the International Women s Day in Tunisia, the publication of a manual about youth civic engagement and the launching of the census on population and housing. Enjoy the reading! 1

2 YOUTH & ADOLESCENTS AN EDUCATIONAL MANUAL ABOUT YOUTH CIVIC ENGAGEMENT UNFPA collaborated with Bus Citoyen, a youth-led civil society organization to develop an educational manual about youth civic engagement and youth empowerment. The manual was elaborated in a participatory process that was led actively by young people. This initiative aims to develop a comprehensive gender-sensitive training package that will be used for raising awareness campaigns. The project Created in 2011 after the revolution, Bus Citoyen is a group of associations willing to take an active part in building a better Tunisia, which tends to be democratic, civic, attentive, progressive, open minded, tolerant and educated. The first part of the project (2011) implemented by the Bus Citoyen aimed at informing The basic knowledge manual Tunisian citizens of all social strata about the importance of their vote for the very first election after the revolution. This action resulted in the creation of a network of 150 young volunteers coming from everywhere in Tunisia who took an active part in the information campaigns. But despite the mobilization, it also highlighted the lack of civic awareness among young Tunisians. This led to the second part of the project ( ) which consists in a civic awakening involving the elaboration and diffusion of legal concepts through educational documents, manuals and trainings. In this context, and to promote youth and adolescent active participation, UNFPA supports the Bus Citoyen project particularly on the development of an educational manual about youth civic engagement and youth empowerment. A manual about youth civic engagement The educational manual about youth civic engagement is part of a package which aims at informing young people all over Tunisia about citizenship, gender equality and human rights. This should result in the creation of a network of young educators in charge of promoting human rights including reproductive rights, and gender equality. The package includes a basic knowledge manual, a training of trainers manual and a peer educators manual. The basic knowledge manual called Citizenship: what I have, what I give has just been edited. It defines the concept of citizenship (principles and values, rights and guarantees) and gives some of the ways to practice an active citizenship (legal framework, civic places, ways and tools for an active participation). This initiative will be a way of empowering young people with necessary knowledge and skills to advocate for their needs and rights and to create positive change in their lives and communities. For more information and to download the document: POPULATION DYNAMICS CENSUS OF POPULATION AND HOUSING 2 The next census of population and housing in Tunisia will be organized in April - May The National Institute of Statistics (NIS) is in charge of leading this procedure and UNFPA provides a technical support to the NIS in the preparation and the realization of the census. The census in Tunisia The census of population and housing consists in acquiring and recording detailed information about the population, housing and households ways of living. It is a way to know how many people live in Tunisia and to get up-to-date population figures in the different governorates. It also gathers data on population characteristics such as age, occupation, etc. The census data are then integrated in a database which is an important source of information particularly in the definition of public policy. This procedure occurs once every ten years and Tunisia has taken a census of the population since Carrying out a census is a very complex procedure with many steps. For this new edition, the process started in September The data collection will be held in April and May 2014 and the first results will be published in September A partnership between the NIS and UNFPA Logo of the census 2014 The National Institute of Statistics and UNFPA are working together in a partnership within the context of the next census of population and housing. This partnership consists in supporting the NIS in the development of a quality control programme relatively to the census, the evaluation of the NIS geographical information system and the creation of a communication strategy about the census and the dissemination of the results. Many actions, trainings and visits were already done and this work also led to the elaboration of a document about the global plan for quality control of the census of population and housing This document gives the basic information on the procedure of census and recommendations to ensure the quality of the operations. More information : /

3 GENDER EQUALITY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN S DAY The International Women s Day is a special occasion for reminding the importance of women s rights. The theme for 2014 is Equality for women is progress for all. The International Women s Day is also an opportunity to follow up on efforts made towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) particularly concerning women and girls. The Commission on the Status of Women (March 10 21) thus permitted to evaluate progress on gender equality, identify challenges, set global standards and formulate concrete policies to promote gender equality and women s empowerment worldwide (see our section FOCUS ON ). In Tunisia the United Nations Population Fund co-organized two events in order to celebrate the International Women s Day: -A conference on Women precarity and poverty, organized by the association Beity and other civil society organizations (AFPEC, ATFD) with the support of UNFPA. -A workshop on The CEDAW in Tunisia: situation, issues, challenges and common strategies, organized by the association Equality and Parity with the support of UN agencies (UN Women, UNFPA, OHCHR). NEW PUBLICATIONS As part of its partnership with the Secretary of State of Women s and Family s Affairs (SEFF), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) published two documents in March 2014: A study (42 pages) and a leaflet (4 pages) on the Tunisian legislative framework about violence against girls and women. These documents are part of the first phase of production of a comprehensive gender-based violence law. To download the documents: (section PUBLICATIONS) Women precarity and poverty Today in Tunisia, many girls and women, alone or with children, end up living in situation of precarity or poverty. According to the statistics of the information and orientation center for homeless women, poverty affects every woman of any age: the most vulnerable are between 20 and 39 years old and represent 61% of the women interviewed while the women aged between 40 and 59 years old represent 34%. Finally, 95 % of the most vulnerable women are of legal working age. A symposium organized by three associations (Beity, ATFD and AFPEC) on the Opening speech - 8 March International Women s Day dealt with this issue of beggary, vagrancy and homelessness feminization. More than 200 people from Tunisian civil society, either working in women s movement or fighting precarity or in psychoanalysis and health sectors attended the meeting. The presentations on women economic and social rights focused on women precarity in Tunis, women in jail, homeless women, women suffering from violence, single women, and other issues related to women poverty and precarity. The CEDAW in Tunisia: situation, issues, challenges and common strategies The International Women s Day was also an opportunity to talk about the issues of the Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women (CEDAW). Tunisia ratified the CEDAW in 1985 with reservations to some articles and with a general declaration that the government shall not take any organizational or legislative decision in conformity with the requirements of this Convention where such a decision would conflict with the provisions of chapter I of the Tunisian Constitution. In August 2011 the Tunisian Council of Ministers adopted a draft decree to withdraw all reservations to the CEDAW. The general declaration would, however, remain in effect, according to the draft decree. But until today, the withdrawal of Tunisia s reservations has not been effective. Within this context, the association Equality and Parity organized a seminar with The participants at the workshop - 10 March the support of UN Women, UNFPA and OHCHR. This meeting dealt with the CEDAW on legal, constitutional, religious, and economic points of view. After a plenary session, the participants worked in order to strengthen the Tunisian civil society advocacy on the CEDAW through three approaches: Medias and CEDAW, lobbying from associations, trade unions, political parties etc. for an action plan; and elaboration of a report for the CEDAW Committee. These workshops led to recommendations such as trainings for the media on specific issues related to the CEDAW, preparation of an argumentation, formation of a coalition of organizations or scheduling work sessions about the report. More information: UNFPA Tunisia ( Beity Association ( Equality and Parity ( 3

4 N E W S 3rd UNIVERSITY OF PUBLIC HEALTH IN MAGHREB The University of public health in Maghreb has become a key event for health professionals in North Africa. The third edition of the University took place from March 24 to March 28 in Sousse (Tunisia) and gathered more than a hundred participants coming from different countries and places (Maghreb, Sub-Saharan Africa). A University of public health in Maghreb: why? Despite a solid basis, health systems in Maghreb are going through a real crisis and need deep reforms. The University of public health in Maghreb intends to federate participants through debates and discussion around a vision of public health in Maghreb and to mobilize them to define targets and development strategies based on consensus. It is organized by the Faculty of Medicine in Sousse and the Association/Society of family medicine in Sousse with the support of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Focus on the 4 units The University of public health in Maghreb offered 4 different units in 2014: Health and development: which strategies for a fair and sustainable health development? Health and social welfare: universal coverage Health system : which reform? Total quality management (TQM) Health and development The first unit deals with the links between human development and health. The Maghreb countries are facing many challenges in getting access to health care: challenges due to health infrastructure (lack of health centers and staff in some areas), to the development of private sector (which makes the health care process harder for some people) or to the access to health care for the more vulnerable people who do not know the healthcare system. According to the facilitators of the first unit, a fair health policy would be a strategic option for the promotion of an inclusive human development with a good impact expected on public health. A fair health policy could be defined as a health system inexpensive, more efficient and taking into account the users needs, based on solidarity and with standards/norms. There are ways that could make the system more efficient without costing much money and that could be the right answer in terms of satisfaction, quality and credibility of the system and the professionals, summarizes Mohammed Belhocine, facilitator in the first unit. Health system The Maghreb countries have to face many challenges concerning healthcare organization. The third unit is a place for discussion about healthcare organization. Sabri Belgacem, one of the speakers in the third unit gave examples of challenges for North African countries: demographic and epidemiological transitions, an expensive healthcare, growing expectations from the users, decentralization, disability to manage coexistence between private and public sectors, etc. Therefore it appears to be necessary to reform healthcare systems particularly with more fairness, favoring regionalization and promoting a social dialogue. The participants at the 3rd unit Total Quality management The participants at the 1st unit Health and social welfare The second unit focuses on healthcare systems and social welfare. A higher life expectancy and demographic transition constitute huge challenges that need a public answer. We are heading for disaster because we are neglecting the programmes that worked [ ], overlooking the front line and letting it to the poorest people, developing a private sector disconnected from the public sector, to favor specialists and to forget basic medicine, explains Omar Brixi, facilitator of the second unit. It appears to be necessary to think over healthcare systems and social welfare with a focus on maternal health. Women s health issues are economical, cultural, social and legal and development issues (O. Brixi). The last unit is about total quality health management. It assumes that it is possible to improve the system with tools and methods such as total quality management. As Ali Mtiraoui, facilitator of the last unit, explains, Quality management can only be total. It has to be applied to the whole process : analysis and intervention. Quality management for an organization involves for instance a decompartmentalization of the organization, the development of communications and a mobilization and staff training. Ridha Gatta, also facilitator for the unit adds that «quality needs to be applied according to a specific approach with tools and methods but also with norms and a frame of reference. Next edition of the University of public health in Maghreb should be in March For more information: index. Photos and videos : 4

5 Focus on CSW (Commission on the Status of Women) CPD (Commission on Population and Development) Two international events with major importance within the context of ICPD (International Conference on Population and Development) beyond 2014 took place in March and April Tunisian delegations attended those meetings and more particularly S.E Neila Chaabane, Secretary of State in charge of women s and family s affairs, Imène Zahouani Houimel, General Director of women s and family s affairs, Mongi Layeb, General Director of the MDCI (Ministry of Development and International Cooperation) and Tunisian civil society representatives. The fifty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) took place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 10 to 21 March 2014 and the forty-seventh session of the Commission on Population and Development (CPD) was held in New York from 7 to 11 April Those two bodies were established by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in The CSW is the principal global policy-making body dedicated exclusively to gender equality and advancement of women. The Commission called for gender equality, women s rights and women s empowerment to be reflected in the post-2015 development agenda both as a standalone goal and to be integrated into all goals through targets and indicators. The goal of the Commission on Population and Development is the follow-up to the implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development. Ten key findings and points for actions were noted: 1/ The world s population continues to grow, albeit at slower rates. 2/ Future population growth will be concentrated in the least developed countries and in Africa. 3/ In the next few decades, forty countries are expected to experience population decline. 4/ Countries are demographically more diverse than ever before. 5/ The unmet need for modern contraceptives remains high, despite family planning successes. 6/ Despite improvements in life expectancy, significant gaps remain. 7/ International migration has increased in demographic significance and development impact. 8/ While the number of young persons stabilises, the number of older persons will skyrocket. 9/ The future rise in the urban population creates both opportunities and challenges. 10/ Population trends will shape the post-2015 UN development agenda. The conclusions of these two major events will guide ICPD related work at the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on ICPD Beyond 2014 organized in September For more information : DATA ABOUT TUNISIA DID YOU KNOW? Child mortality rate is 17 per 1,000 live births. Maternal mortality rate is 44.8 per 100,000 live births. Unmet needs 7% of Tunisian women have unmet needs for contraception. This rate is even higher for women between 20 and 24 years old (16%) and to a lesser extent for women aged between 25 and 29 years old (12%). Prenatal care Prenatal care coverage is pretty high in the country with 98% of women who get prenatal care at least once during their pregnancy. Attendance at delivery Almost 99% of childbirths happen with a skilled attendance at delivery (100% in the city and 97% in rural area) Health map -the number of district hospitals is the number of regional hospitals is 33. -the number of university hospitals is 24. -the number of public beds (capacity) is almost the number of health centers is the average distance of access to a regional hospital varies from 8 km (Ben Arous) to 59 km (Tataouine). -the average distance of access to a general hospital varies from 2 km (Tunis) to 333km (Tozeur). Sources : MICS / Health map 2010 (MSP) 5

6 A G E N D A - 23 April: Launching of the census of population and housing May: International Day of the Midwife - 15 May: International Day of Families - 23/24 May - Tunis: Conference on Sexual and Reproductive Health in the Arab Countries - 23 May: International Day to end obstetric fistula - April/May/June - Tunis: Information sessions for the members of the Tunisian National Constituent Assembly on gender equality, gender-based violence and reproductive rights - June Tunis: Workshop for the development of the UNFPA Tunisia s Country Programme Action Plan - June Tunis: Conference about the national strategy on civic education at school June New York: ECOSOC Youth Forum - 11 July: World Population Day The United Nations Population Fund UNFPA, is an international development agency that plays a unique role with the United Nations system in promoting the right of every woman, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity. UNFPA supports countries in using data for policies and programmes to reduce poverty and to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young person s potential is fulfilled. More information : UNFPA Tunisia - 54, Av Tahar Ben Achour, Mutuelleville, 1082 Tunis Tel.: (216) / PHOTO CREDIT - UNFPA Tunisie - Nicolas Fauqué.