Day: March 16, 2024

A training centre for dairy production and processing was inaugurated on Friday at the head office of the Tunisian Association for the Beja Cheese Festival and Heritage Promotion in Nefza. Thanks to this project, some 120 women and young people will be able to benefit from substantial training each year and increase their employment opportunities. The project, which falls under the Japanese programme Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP), consists in fitting out the association's premises and providing the equipment needed for training in dairy processing techniques, according to a press release issued by Japan's embassy in Tunis. The goal is also to improve the quality and diversification of products, which will stabilise the incomes of dairy farmers and contribute to the sustainable development of the dairy sector in Beja. At the inauguration ceremony, Japan's ambassador to Tunisia Takeshi Osuga voiced wish that the centre would "give hope to women and young people, and that the y will all become supporters of the friendly relations binding Japan and Tunisia." The GGP aims to achieve economic and social development in developing countries based on the philosophy of ensuring human security, and providing the necessary funding for relatively small-scale activities in a way that directly benefit inhabitants at a grass-roots level. Since 1996, 139 projects under this grant have been implemented throughout Tunisia in various fields, according to the Japanese embassy. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

A training centre for dairy production and processing was inaugurated on Friday at the head office of the Tunisian Association for the Beja Cheese Festival and Heritage Promotion in Nefza. Thanks to this project, some 120 women and young people will be able to benefit from substantial training each year and increase their employment opportunities. The project, which falls under the Japanese programme Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP), consists in fitting out the association's premises and providing the equipment needed for training in dairy processing techniques, according to a press release issued by Japan's embassy in Tunis. The goal is also to improve the quality and diversification of products, which will stabilise the incomes of dairy farmers and contribute to the sustainable development of the dairy sector in Beja. At the inauguration ceremony, Japan's ambassador to Tunisia Takeshi Osuga voiced wish that the centre would "give hope to women and young people, and that the y will all become supporters of the friendly relations binding Japan and Tunisia." The GGP aims to achieve economic and social development in developing countries based on the philosophy of ensuring human security, and providing the necessary funding for relatively small-scale activities in a way that directly benefit inhabitants at a grass-roots level. Since 1996, 139 projects under this grant have been implemented throughout Tunisia in various fields, according to the Japanese embassy. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse Mr Austin A. Gamey, a Labour Expert has said while Ghana needs good leadership to move the country forward it also need a strong economy that would create avenues and job opportunities for all the people to thrive. Mr Gamey, who is also a former Minister of State, made this remark when he delivered a paper at an event on the topic 'One Hour to Midnight Only the Bride will be ready for Rapture,' at Ashiaman in Accra. He said the nation deserved quality leadership, better governance and accountability, and a strong economy that created opportunities for all. 'We must do away with corruption, greed and other social cankers that militates against the development of the nation,' Mr Gamey, who is also the Head pastor of the Abundance Grace Tabernacle said. He said the country must make progress and build a better society for the nation adding that 'we must hold on to hope, determination and a collective will to overcome and build the Ghana we want for ourselves and the future generations'. Mr Gamey called on all to join hands in the fight against corruption which had bedeviled the country. On the 2024 general elections, Mr Gamey called for peace before, during and afterwards. He called for the complete rejection of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexuals, Transgender, Queer Plus (LGBTQ+) describing it as abomination. Source: Ghana News Agency

Several mechanisms and programmes are in place so as to protect families from socio-economic phenomena and cultural changes which may affect its structure as well as relations among its members," said Minister of Family, Women, Children and the Elderly Amel Belhaj Moussa. The minister was speaking at a national conference organised in observance of Arab Human Rights Day in Tunis on the theme "Tunisian Family: National Mechanisms of Support and Protection." She said action is focused on the economic and social support of families. Some 5,650 women had access to economic empowerment programmes and RAIDET national programme for the promotion of women's entrepreneurship. The minister also laid emphasis on the importance of the pilot Spaces for the Family project which targets 11 governorates. Pilot spaces are set to open their doors before the end of the year in Souass (Mahdia), Douar Slatnia (Sidi Bouzid) and Metouia( Gabès). In another vein, Belhaj Moussa said the ministry is seeking to provide public fund ing to secure a higher pre-school attendance rate. Twenty-five thousand children were enrolled in pre-school facilities in 2024 at a total cost of TND 13.5 million. Additionally, five centres to take care of children with learning difficulties and support their parents came into operation in the governorates of Tataouine, Ariana, Kairouan, Béja and Jendouba. The adult foster care programme targets presently 366 seniors, the minister said. This in addition to 40 teams which provide home-based care for some 4,000 elderly people. The social empowerment programme is of crucial importance as it instills families with positive values to help them tackle such social challenges as delinquency, drug addiction among children, communcation issues and violence. The programme targeted nearly 10,000 families in 2023 in 19 governorates. It will be rolled out this year to Nabeul, Ben Arous, Tunis and Tataouine. Director General of the National Office of Family and Population (French: ONFP) Mohamed Douagi said this insti tution plays a key role in protecting families, notably in relation to sexual and reproductive health and the prevention of cancer diseases. Several indicators impacted Tunisian families, mainly violence against women, the rising divoce rate (25% to 30%), lower births and increase in median age at marriage. It is imperative to examine root causes and seek to put in place efficient mechanisms to safeguard the structuire of the Tunisian family, the official further said. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

The results of surveys and statistics carried out by the National Institute of Statistics (INS) reveal changes within Tunisian families in various areas and in their composition, including a reduction in number of family members from 5 in mid-1990s to less than 4 at present, or an average of 3.8 persons, said INS Director General Adnen Lassoued. Speaking at a national symposium organised Saturday by the Ministry of the Family, Women, Children and the Elderly to mark Arab Human Rights Day on the theme of "The Tunisian family: national support and protection mechanisms", he said that women's fertility rates had fallen from around six children in the 1970s to less than two at present, while women's age at marriage had risen from 24 in the 1980s to 30 now. He said the institute's 2023 census showed that the number of marriages had fallen from around 110,000 in 2014 to 77,000 last year, while the number of births had fallen from 225,000 to 160,000 over the same period. The census also showed that 90.6% of preg nant women underwent antenatal care in 2023, compared to 95.3% in 2018. The percentage of newborns undergoing medical examinations decreased from 96.8% to 95.4% over the same period, according to the results of the census, which also revealed that 6 out of 10 newborns are not breastfed in the first hour after birth, contrary to World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations that children should be exclusively breastfed for six months. The director general of the INS also noted that violence against children in the family has decreased compared to 2018, stating that 81% of children aged one to 14 were subjected to psychological and physical violence at least once in the family environment in 2023, describing this rate as "worrying". Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse