OECD: Laws Discriminating Against Women Cost Mideast, North Africa Billions of Dollars

Women in the Middle East and North Africa are better educated than ever before, but legal and social barriers are hampering their access to jobs and careers, costing the region billions of dollars a year, experts said Wednesday. Just under a quarter of women in the region are in the workforce — one of the lowest rates in the world, said the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The region also has the lowest proportion of female entrepreneurs, according to an OECD report that examines barriers to their employment…

Arab coalition on blacklist of countries that commit abuses against children is UN unfair and biased assessment

Many people are persuaded that the United Nations has a key role to play in maintaining peace and in making the world less bad and less shaken, especially in the hot beds of tension that have shed so much blood. But this conviction does not hide the weakness of the role or position of the United Nations organization in many hot spots or in some decisions making such as  the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) that even the nuclear countries did not take part. The issues that have emerged from the…

School dropouts in Tunisia’s marginalised border regions

Border communities in Tunisia appear to be facing a phenomenon of high rates of dropouts from school, according to local civil society organisations. Rates are as high as double the national average in certain areas, it emerged during our dialogue forums in the governorates of Kasserine, Jendouba, Medenine and Tataouine. This has had profound social and economic impacts on the inhabitants of these regions. We are working with local civil society, communities and experts in the marginalised governorates to identify and share data and trends on the nature and causes…

Tophet at Carthage: An ancient burial ground believed to be used for ritual sacrifice.

Tophets are at the center of one of the most contentious archaeological debates surrounding the region of northern Africa that was once part of the ancient Carthaginian Empire. The enigmatic ancient cemeteries are believed to have been used for the ritual sacrifice of children and animals. The burial site at Carthage in Tunisia, as well as others in the region, was discovered in the 20th century. It, along with the others, contained funerary urns stuffed with the cremated ashes and bone fragments of young children. Over 20,000 urns buried under…

Mainstreaming migration for poverty reduction –in diverse country contexts

I recently visited a number of countries on a monitoring mission for the joint IOM-UNDP Global Project on Mainstreaming Migration in National Development Strategies. Funded by Switzerland, this project is implemented in eight countries (Bangladesh, Ecuador, Jamaica, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Morocco, Serbia and Tunisia) and provides some successful examples of how migration and development intertwine. As a development organization, our role is to ensure that development issues such as governance, economic opportunities, conflict prevention, climate change adaptation, environmental management are embedded in the short, medium and long term support provided to migrants,…

Nostalgia for the present in Tunis’s belle-époque downtown

Dusty light filters through dirt-smeared windows in a hammam apparently frozen in time. Upstairs are the apartments of the family who owned it, redolent in faded, turn-of-the-century drapings. Carved, wooden, art nouveau doors open up onto rooms knee-deep in discarded items, some of them treasures: elaborately handwritten 19thcentury manuscripts containing instructions on how to cast spells; a vintage mid-20th century Peugeot car, one inquisitive headlight peeking from a half-open garage door; a canvas by a famous Tunisian painter well-appreciated in his time; and black-and-white portraits of immaculately-presented men and women topped…

Angela Merkel: You deserve being a prominent leader despite pain

Angela Merkel is set for a fourth term as Germany’s chancellor after her centre right CDU/CSU won a projected 33% of the vote in federal elections, making it the largest party in the Bundestag with an estimated 218 seats. An article broadcast on December 22, 2016 by Ben Rhouma Chedly supported Angela Merkel, after the terrorist Christmas attack in Germany that undermined her popularity.  Here follows the article: “Angela Merkel: You deserve being a prominent leader despite pain As Tunisian citizen reared on coexistence and respect for others whatever the…

THE POWER OF HAVING FUN

How Meaningful Breaks Can Help You Get More Done  Fun should be a top priority. It shouldn’t be relegated to the bottom drawer, the one you open only when all the real work is done. It’s not a distraction or a diversion. That’s what Dave Crenshaw teaches in his new book, The Power of Having Fun: How Meaningful Breaks Help You Get More Done (and Feel Fantastic!). Dave is the founder of Invaluable, Inc., a coaching and training organization that helps transform businesses. Dave recently spoke with me about his mission to…

Migrant deaths far higher than reported – IOM

The International Organisation for Migration, IOM, said on Monday the real number of migrant deaths were far higher than the numbers reported. The UN Migration Agency in a new report on migrant deaths and disappearances worldwide through its Berlin-based Global Migration Data Analysis Centre said many migrant deaths were never recorded. “Since 2014, more than 23,000 migrant deaths and disappearances have been recorded globally by the IOM. The real number is likely to be much higher as many deaths are never recorded,” IOM said. The report is the third volume…

The Other Humanitarians in the Mediterranean: Tunisia’s Fishermen

Tunisian fishermen living near the Libyan border have been rescuing migrants and recovering the dead for years. With the recent curbs on NGO boats, and an emboldened Libyan coast guard, they may bear the burden of Mediterranean rescues once again. ZARZIS, TUNISIA – There are no signs to mark what lies beneath the rocky mounds of dirt and sparse browning weeds in this vacant government lot down a rugged, unpaved road near Tunisia’s coast. But Chamseddine Marzoug, a former fisherman, cannot forget. “In the corner over there, there is a man without a head,” said Marzoug,…