Day: March 8, 2024

Tunis: The Ministry of Family, Women, Children and the Elderly commended the efforts exerted by all stakeholders to improve women's situation, in a statement issued on Friday, on the observance of the International Women's Day, corresponding to March 8 of each year. The ministry reiterated Tunisia's recognition of the militancy of Palestinian women against the crimes of the occupying Zionist entity and its unwavering support for the just Palestinian cause, and welcomed the role played by Tunisian women in various fields, both in Tunisia and abroad. The department further underlined that this international event whose theme is "Investing in Women: Accelerate Progress," constitutes an annual meeting to assess what has been achieved at national and regional levels to improve the situation of Tunisian women and defend their rights, to enhance the values of equality, citizenship and equal opportunities between genders, and to achieve the goals of sustainable development in this field. The statement pointed out Tunisia's determination to honour its commitments under international conventions and covenants, with the aim of stepping up its efforts to empower women, support their achievements and increase their contribution to global and sustainable development. Besides, the ministry underlined the choices adopted by Tunisia to set up mechanisms for the economic and social empowerment of women in general and priority cases in particular, as well as positive discrimination towards women when necessary for a better reality of Tunisian women and the family in particular and society in general, in addition to the relative rise in credits intended for economic empowerment programmes which will help increase the number of beneficiary women during 2024. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Tunis: The Tunisian Association of Democratic Women (French: ATFD), Friday, organized in collaboration with Palestinian women's associations an international conference on "Intersectional Feminism and Universal Feminism, Between Multiplicity of Interpretations and Diversity of Realities." At the opening of this conference held on the occasion of the International Women's Day, ATFD President Neila Zoghlami said that her association is committed to the values of freedom, social justice and of human dignity in the face of the mass genocide in Gaza. She denounced «the powerlessness of international human rights bodies to put an end to the Zionist massacres against the Palestinian people.» The ATFD is staging a march in solidarity with the Palestinian people against the Zionist occupation, on Friday, in Tunis downtown, the same source said. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Tunis: The economic empowerment of women is the strategic choice to increase their presence on the job market, said Minister of Women, Family, Children and the Elderly, Amel Belhaj Moussa, during an information day held by the ministry in partnership with the Tunisian Solidarity Bank (BTS) and the "Banque Nationale Agricole"(BNA) on the «Programme for the Economic Empowerment of Women and Girls and Success Stories.» Belhaj Moussa underlined that the ministry «is working very hard to make 2024, a year of economic empowerment par excellence,» calling for fighting against women's social and economic marginalization and all forms of discrimination as well as increase their employability. She pointed out that the ministry has developed an action plan to help women launch projects, support them, offer them training and encourage them market their products. She added that the goal of various programmes destined to women is to encourage them launch private initiatives and promote their leadership skills. This incl udes the national program for women's entrepreneurship and investment «Raidet 2022-2025», where more than 15,000 funding requests have been registered on the platform dedicated to this programme. The minister indicated that as of December 31, 2023, the Raidet Programme funded 3,679 women's projects and created 5,605 direct jobs, recalling that on February 23, an agreement was reached with the BTS to increase the funding ceiling from TND 150,000 to TND 200,000, in addition to financing women's agricultural development groups. Belhaj Moussa also spoke of other programmes, such as the Economic Empowerment Programme for Families in Specific Situations, the Economic Empowerment Programme for Student Mothers at Risk of Dropping out of School, and the National Programme «Samida» for the Economic Empowerment of Women Victims of Violence. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Tunis: Feminist activists organised a women's march in Tunis on Friday from Bab El Khadra Square to Habib Bourguiba Avenue in support of Palestinian women on the occasion of International Women's Day. "We stand in solidarity with Palestinian women who have suffered greatly since the Zionist occupation of Palestine. The recent brutal Zionist aggression has exacerbated the dire situation of the Palestinians, with constant bombardment and severe crises in access to food and basic necessities," the demonstrators said. During the march, women chanted slogans calling for feminist resistance in solidarity with the Palestinian people and against the occupation. These slogans included "Free Palestine, Zionist out", "No compromise, no negotiations", "United women against all backsliding" and "Boycott, boycott, resist, resist". This march comes in response to the call for a global strike for Gaza to protest against the ongoing genocide by the Zionist occupation. President of the Tunisian Association of Democratic Wo men, Neila Zoghlami, was among the demonstrators expressing solidarity with Palestinian women, saying that this march was "the least the Tunisian people can do to support the Palestinian cause and break the wall of silence". According to the latest UN figures, nearly 9,000 Palestinian women have been killed since the start of the Israeli aggression on Gaza on 7 October, with many more buried under the rubble. Up to 95% of pregnant and lactating women face severe malnutrition and over 690,000 women and girls who are menstruating have limited access to menstrual hygiene products, while around 37 mothers are killed every day. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

TUNIS: The Embassy of the United States of America in Tunisia launched on Friday the "Women in Agriculture Gain Economic Security" (WAGES) project, which supports 12 women-led cooperatives in the governorates of Nabeul, Sousse, Jendouba and Beja. U.S. Ambassador Joey Hood launched this project as an expression of the U.S. government's commitment to empowering women in the agricultural sector in Tunisia, noting that the project is based on providing innovative technical and business strategies to address climate change, increase profitability, and improve food security, the U.S. Embassy said in a statement, a copy of which was received by TAP on Friday. Project components include technical training, capacity building, and the provision of sustainable and innovative equipment, and the number of beneficiaries of the support programme will reach 200 rural women working in agriculture and agribusiness, according to the same statement. The programme will also help develop women's business skills and improve the value chain of their products, thereby increasing their incomes, creating new employment opportunities, and contributing to the economic development of their communities. The US Ambassador stressed that this project is in line with the key role played by Tunisian women in the agricultural sector, noting that its launch coincides with the celebration of International Women's Day on March 8. He praised Tunisia's track record in promoting women's achievements in business, science, technology, engineering, mathematics and security, and commended the participation of representatives of the 12 women-led farmers' cooperatives who attended the project launch ceremony. The project is funded with USD 2.1 million and will be implemented over 36 months by Deloitte in partnership with local organisations and stakeholders. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse