Tunisia and ILO sign two agreements to promote Youth Employment and Social Dialogue

19 April 2012; Cairo, Egypt

The Government of Tunisia and the International Labour Organization (ILO) signed today in Cairo (Egypt) two agreements designed to strengthen their technical cooperation and to promote youth employment and social dialogue in the North-African country.

Under the first Agreement, signed by the Minister of Social Affairs, Mr Khalil Ezzaouia and the ILO’s Regional Director for Africa, Mr Charles Dan, the ILO will implement a project entitled: "Promoting Social Dialogue and Strengthening Labour Governance in Tunisia".

This new project – USD 908, 271 funded by the Government of Norway – aims at strengthening the fundamentals of effective social dialogue, enhancing the compliance of the Tunisian labour legislation with international labour standards and enhancing labour governance to ensure the efficient implementation of the national Labour Law.

The implementation of the project will focus on an approach consisting of two complementary components:

Promoting social dialogue at national, regional and sector levels by improving the capacity of government officials, workers’ and employers’ organizations; and

Strengthening the governance of the labour market by revising labour laws, transforming the labour market and building capacity of labour market institutions.

The second Agreement, signed by the Minister of Vocational Training and Employment, Mr Abdel Wahab Maatar, and the ILO’s Regional Director for Africa focussed on the project: "Promoting Decent Employment for Youth in Tunisia." The project - USD 693,742 funded by the Government of Spain - aims at strengthening labour market institutions in Tunisia to promote youth employment.

The specific goals of this innovative project are two-fold:

Support for public and private institutions in charge of employment in general and specifically for youth.

Support to improve the quality of work of young workers through innovative methodologies.

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For more detailed info:

ILO DWTs Cairo office: rezk@ilo.org Tel: 202.27369290, or +202.27355176

ILO Africa Communication team in Addis Ababa: guebray@ilo.org Tel: + 251/115-444415 or + 251/911-218115; rahel@ilo.org Tel: + 251/115/444454 or + 251/911-218113