launch event
The Civic Space Scan of Tunisia was launched in Tunis on 24 January at a high-level roundtable for the government and civil society.
The report, the third in a series of scans and assessments from the OECD Observatory on Civic Space, is the result of extensive research and analysis conducted in 2021-2022 focusing on civic freedoms, media and digital rights, the enabling environment for civil society organisations (CSO) and participation in decision making. The scan, requested by the Tunisian government and conducted in a participatory way following a well-established OECD methodology, takes stock of progress made by the country in the 10 years following the so-called Jasmin revolution and proposes a number of actionable recommendations to better promote and protect civic space in practice.
The roundtable involved selected representatives from government, public institutions and CSOs discussing the scan’s recommendations in a lively and constructive debate, facilitated by OECD staff. The enabling environment for CSOs was the main topic under discussion, with a number of proposals on how to strengthen the legal framework, reform the institutional framework, support CSO capacities and counter terrorism and financial crimes without hampering freedom of association. Other interventions touched upon the participation of underrepresented segments of society, outdated provisions in the criminal code and media freedom.
Participants agreed that next steps for implementation of the scan should include prioritising its recommendations and clarifying the entities responsible for addressing them. Tunisian government counterparts announced that they aim to establish a mechanism comprising members of the public administration and civil society to steer implementation, with support from the OECD and other partners.
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