The lessons of Tunisia’s democratic experience

By Youssef Chahed, Prime Minister of Tunisia Tunisia’s nascent democratic experience yields many useful lessons — some encouraging and some sobering — for advocates of democracy in the Middle East and North Africa. The encouraging lesson from Tunisia’s experiment is that it shows that democracy is an achievable objective in an Arab country. And if a small country like Tunisia, with limited natural resources, can pull it off, then others can, too. It must be said, however, that Tunisia’s young democracy was built on the country’s own legacy of reform…

Djerba: Tunisia’s most harmonious multicultural island

Muslims and Jews celebrate the holiday of Lag B’Omer side by side on the Tunisian island that prizes peaceful coexistence above all else Tucked in the dark brown benches of the Ghriba Synagogue, people sip honey pepper Nemiroff vodka and Jim Beam whisky and nosh on nuts and dried fruit. Before long, the synagogue starts to smell like the aftermath of a lively party, all booze and sweat. A live band plays rousing Arabic music, sung with enthusiasm by a Jewish man in a yarmulke. With Israel recently moving to withdraw Arabic…

In Tunisia, a sense of change infuses the air

Tunisia is offering real-time test results on the limits of popular patience, how expectations react with reality and the conditions that must trigger government action Summer in the Maghreb is generally thought to be a time when indolence finds respectability. Not so in Tunisia this year. The soaring temperatures are matched by a sudden surge of active hope that a long season of ill-luck may be turning. Foreign tourists are returning in greater numbers after Tunisia marked the second anniversary of the June 26 terrorist attack on the holiday beach…

FAO Director-General urges countries to recognize the vital role of rural women in freeing the world from hunger and poverty

Rural women and girls are key agents of change to free the world from hunger and extreme poverty, said FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva today at a special side-event on gender equality and women’s empowerment on the sidelines of the FAO’s Conference. “Their role goes beyond agricultural production and extends throughout the food system but, as we all know, rural women continue to face multiple constraints,” he said, noting that they have less access to productive resources and employment opportunities. He also stressed that women are more affected by the consequences of…

Climate change threatens uninhabitable conditions for the Middle East and North Africa

The Ecologist is delighted to launch its collaboration with the Climate Tracker initiative today, with an article about the impact of climate change on the Middle East and North Africa region from LINA YASSIN. The Sudanese engineering student argues that climate change is already affecting the region in dire ways.  Climate change means colder winters, heavy rains and lots of environmental hazards for many people, writes Lina Yassin of Climate Tracker. But for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), climate change means uninhabitable weather conditions, forced migration and loss of…

Libya: Refugee and Migrant Flows From Libya to Europe On the Rise – UNHCR Study

Movements by sea from Libya to Europe, despite being the most dangerous route for reaching the continent, have increased and there are indications that it will likely continue to do so, a new study by the United Nations refugee agency has revealed. According to Mixed Migration Trends in Libya: Changing Dynamics and Protection Challenges, a study commissioned by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), around half of those travelling to the country did so believing they could find jobs there, but ended up fleeing onwards to…

National Dialogue Handbook: National Dialogues Present a Valid Way to Overcome Internal Rifts

In conflict situations, National Dialogues present a valid way to overcome internal rifts and to rebuild relations between the state, its institutions and different groups in a conflict-torn society, to ideally reach a new social contract between the various interest groups to the conflict. Over the past decade, National Dialogues have thus gained considerable importance as platforms for peaceful transformation. Germany and Switzerland have supported National Dialogues in a number of countries, including Yemen, Lebanon and Sudan. An example for a successful National Dialogue is Tunisia, where the Arab revolutions…

Immigrant Has Advice For Others Who Want To Come To America

He arrived in San Antonio as a member of the Tunisian Air Force back in 1968. Ben Amor says it didn’t take him long to realize he wanted to make the Alamo City his home. Amor says once he made up his mind he wanted to stay, he did whatever he had to do to achieve legal immigrant status. “I worked 4 jobs and got involved in my community. It took time and effort but in the end it’s been totally worth it.” Amor reflected on his time back in…

Annual MENA wellness growth

The Global Wellness Institute has released positive data on inbound wellness travel in the Middle East-North Africa region.  The Global Wellness Institute has released new data on wellness travel in the Middle East-North Africa region. MENA wellness tourism is growing 6%, and spa revenues 10%, annually –with more than two-thirds of wellness travel spend coming from inbound tourists. Despite security concerns for Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia, MENA’s wellness tourism revenue grew annually from 2013-2015 (from $7.3 billion to $8.3 billion). MENA’s spa market grew even faster: annual revenues jumped from $1.7 billion to…

A path to democracy paved with pitfalls

Would you like some good news on international affairs? About a place that survived a dictatorship and revolution, and created its own constitution and democratic government? It’s not America, but Tunisia. Yes, Tunisia! Battered by centuries of invasions and a 35-year dictatorship, four groups forged a new constitution to win a Nobel Peace Prize in 2014. During a week-long School for International Training faculty workshop, seven professors met with historical and archeological experts, members of Parliament and political parties, non-governmental organization leaders, two Nobel Prize-winning groups and the Tunisian president.…