Promoting Social Dialogue and Enhancing Labour Governance in Tunisia

Geographical area of implementation: Tunisia

Donor: Norway

Contact (s): Samia Chouba, National Project Coordinator

Project Background

The post-revolution Tunisian governments have inherited a highly inefficient labour market suffering from multiple problems, among which poor working conditions, especially in the agriculture sector, serious threats to sustainability of the social security fund and weak social dialogue.

Implementation Strategy:

• Strengthening the actors and institutions of social dialogue.
• Modernizing labour governance, including the legal framework for labour relations.
• Improving labour inspection efficiency and effectiveness in order to create the conditions for a sustainable and inclusive recovery and an advancement of the decent work agenda.

The support of ILO and the perseverance of the working group (the Social Dialogue Project, the Ministry of Social Affairs, UGTT and UTICA) help overcome the differences and difficulties and accelerate the pace of meetings in order to lead to a historic consensus document which reflects the commitment of the social partners to go ahead in achieving the goals of the revolution of 14 January 2011 summarized in a single objective: "Decent Work and Democracy". One year later, the social partners offered the Tunisians a social contract bearing hope and paving the way for progress in areas of priority.

The tripartite group that drafted the social contract will monitor the implementation of its contents until the creation of the National Council for Social Dialogue.

Objectives and expected outcomes

1. Promoting tripartism and social dialogue at national, regional and sector levels in response to labour market and recovery challenges and decent work deficit and building the capacity of government officials, workers’ and employers’ organizations to effectively and efficiently play their roles in social dialogue process.
2. Enhancing labour market governance through effective social dialogue, sound industrial relations, revision of labour legislation, modernisation of the labour market framework and strengthening of labour institutions' capacities.

Implementing partners

• Ministry of Social Affairs (MOSA),
• Union Générale Tunisienne du Travail (UGTT);
• Union Tunisienne de l’Industrie, du Commerce et de l’Artisanat (UTICA).

Target groups

• Ministry of Social Affairs
• Ministry of Employment and Vocational Training
• Regional public authorities
• Union Générale Tunisienne du Travail (UGTT)
• Union Tunisienne de l’Industrie, du Commerce et de l’Artisanat (UTICA)
• Society as a whole
• Labour inspectors, unionists and workers.

For further information, please contact:

Samia Chouba
Tel: +216 71 192 119
Fax: +216 71 192 130
Email: [email protected]