The poor governance and low levels of investment have led to a stagnant economy in Tunisia. Although progressive social and reproductive health laws in the country have created a false sense of equity, particularly across genders, inequality in labor and labor opportunities persists between regions and across genders (Kwasi, et al., 2020). As show by the World Bank Blogs (2020), Tunisia is repeatedly referred to as the forefront of women’s rights in the Arab world. However, the country has dropped in its ranking in terms of gender equality from 90th to 124th between 2006 and 2020.
Tunisia achieved independence through political campaigns and is currently the only country in the region that has transmitted to a democracy as a result of these events. However, the country faces a range of domestic and regional challenges, leading to economic frustration and disaffection with the inability of democracy to improve governance and livelihoods. The poor governance and low levels of investment have led to a stagnant economy in the country. Although progressive social and reproductive health laws in Tunisia have created a false sense of equity, particularly across genders, inequality in labor and labor opportunities persists between regions and across genders (Kwasi, et al., 2020).
As show by the World Bank Blogs (2020), Tunisia is repeatedly referred to as the forefront of women’s rights in the Arab world. However, the country has dropped in its ranking in terms of gender equality from 90th to 124th between 2006 and 2020. While Tunisia seems to have good performance compared to other MENA countries, there is still a long road to equality. The same report emphasizes on the gender-based violence which prevents women from entering and progressing in the labor market and realizing their full potential.
In addition to significant human rights issues in the country, including unlawful and arbitrary killings, torture by government agents, arbitrary arrests and detentions, undue restrictions of freedom of expression and the press, widespread corruption, social violence, ad child labor (Human Rights Report, 2020), the pandemic struck the country severely, with more apparent impacts by late 2020 when Tunisia experienced a sharper decline in economic growth than most of its regional peers (World Bank, 2021). Child labor was a serious problem even before the pandemic, reflecting children engagement in the worst forms of child labor such as forced labor and domestic work in third-party households. Children had to work approximately 10 hours a day with no written contracts or social coverage, while they were also subject to commercial sexual exploitation along with engagement in illicit activities such as drug trafficking (Human Rights Report, 2020).
Although the government has taken steps to deal with some immediate problems, including corruption through investigation of officials and the cases of abuses, the process has not been transparent and suffered from long delays and procedural obstacles (Human Rights Report, 2020). On the other hand, the lack of comprehensive detailed strategies to confront the economic and financial challenges of the country have made the conditions more fragile, although Tunisia’s capacity for economic resilience was weakened even before COVID-19 pandemic by years of indecisive policy-making and growing protectionisms (World Bank Overview, 2021). The economic situation has worsened in Tunisia since revolution and large governmental expenditures and policies have complicated the problem (Kwasi, et al., 2020). These conditions have resulted in the development of poverty and vulnerability even more, inverting the trend observed in poverty reduction over the last few years. As the COVID-19 pandemic stretches into 2021 and in a context of heightened socio-political unrest, the economic and financial growth of the country will be more adversely affected. The recovery will require more stability and joint national efforts to change the direction of the economy towards the right path (World Bank Overview, 2021). In addition to responding to COVID-19 crisis in the short-term, Tunisia will have to deal with economic challenges, unemployment, social and regional disparities, and many other coinciding problems in the region (Kwasi, et al., 2020).
References
https://blogs.worldbank.org/arabvoices/status-women-tunisian-society-endangered
Tunisia 2020 Human Rights Report, https://www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/tunisia/
https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/tunisia/publication/economic-update-april-2021
Kwasi, S.; Cillers, J.; and Welborn, L. (2020). The rebirth Tunisia’s potential development pathways to 2040. https://media.africaportal.org/documents/The_rebirth_Tunisias_potential_development_pathways.pdf