Day: June 10, 2023

Consultant with Public Services Ahmed Jafer was appointed as President of Fidaa Foundation as of November 22, 2022, under a presidential decree published in the official Gazette of the Republic of Tunisia (n°60 of June, 9, 2023). Ahmed Jafer takes over from Mohamed Taïeb who was removed from office by virtue of a presidential decree published in the same issue of the official gazette. This foundation, created under a decree dated April 9, 2022, is tasked with providing care and support to victims of terrorist attacks among servicemen, law enforcement and customs staff as well as martyrs and the wounded of the Revolution.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

A national symposium on the stakes involved in combating plastic pollution in Tunisia and the prospects for recycling will be held on Tuesday June 13, 2023, at the headquarters of the Arab Institute of Business Leaders (IACE). The symposium is organised at the initiative of the Tunisian-Swedish Chamber of Commerce, the Swedish Embassy in Tunisia and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) North Africa Office, in partnership with the Environment Ministry. "The aim is to contribute to the national effort to reduce plastic pollution", says the WWF in a press release. Tunisia generates more than 2.5 million tonnes of waste a year. Plastic waste accounts for around 10% of this total, according to the Ministry of the Environment. Five hundred thousand tonnes of plastic waste end up in the sea every year, causing serious environmental damage to marine ecosystems and harming human health. According to the WWF, Tunisia is the 13th largest producer of plastic products in the Mediterranean area. Nearly a billion plastic bags are consumed there every year, 80% of which are neither collected nor recycled. The fund estimates that plastic pollution will generate losses of around 60 million dinars a year to the national economy, due to the expected repercussions on several sectors, including tourism and fishing.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

The solution to the migration situation "can only be humane, collective and based on legal criteria", said President Kais Saied during an unannounced visit to the governorate of Sfax on Saturday. He added that "the solution should not be at the expense of the Tunisian state". In a video released by the presidency, the President of the Republic also said that "Tunisia will not play the role of guardian for other countries", stressing the great responsibility of preserving the state and its sovereignty. At the beginning of his visit to Sfax, the head of state went to the Bab Jebli in the old city of Sfax, where he was briefed on the situation of a number of irregular migrants from sub-Saharan African countries, TAP's correspondent reported. During his meeting with a number of regional officials at the Sfax governorate headquarters, Saied stressed that he would not accept any migrant being treated inhumanely in Tunisia. Migrants are victims of a global system that treats them not as human beings but as numbers. They are victims of poverty, civil war and the absence of the state, He pointed out. The President called on those who demand the application of the law in the northern Mediterranean to demand the application of the law in the south and to respect Tunisian laws and sovereignty, pointing out that Tunisia is a country that has its own laws and respects laws and human lives. Saied questioned the number of immigrants arriving in Tunisia, saying "the statistics related to them are wrong, given the large numbers that head, in particular, to the governorate of Sfax.» He noted that the situation of these migrants is inhumane through what he saw during his visit to the city. He called for humane treatment of them and "providing lessons in humanity to those who have no humanity" among human and organ trafficking networks, recalling the exploits of Tunisian youth who provided assistance for migrants during the "COVID-19" pandemic. Saied added that the Tunisian state protects migrants and does not allow them to be attacked, provided that they comply with Tunisian law and are in legal conditions. He stressed the commitment to meet the challenge regarding the issue of immigrants, in addition to challenges related to the deteriorating economic and social conditions. President Saied considered that the Tunisian state, with its institutions, people, and large human resources, is capable of making history by relying on its own capabilities, and not on any outside party, stressing the need to achieve social justice and impose the law on everyone.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

President Kais Saied made an unannounced visit to the governorate of Sfax on Saturday. At the beginning of his visit, the president went to the Bab Jebli area in the old city of Sfax, where he was briefed on the situation of a number of irregular migrants from sub-Saharan African countries, TAP's correspondent in the region reported. Saied then went to the governorate headquarters, where he met the first delegate in charge of running the Sfax governorate and a number of regional officials. He also met a number of citizens who had gathered in front of the governorate headquarters to demand the appointment of a governor following the head of state's decision to dismiss Fakher Fakhfakh as governor on 6 January.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse