Latest News: The Fortnight: Tunisia-Canada Municipal Exchanges
During the last two weeks of May 2021, Tunisian and Canadian municipal actors came together to share experiences in a series of virtual activities. The Fortnight: Tunisia-Canada Municipal Exchanges was organized through the Inclusive Municipal Leadership Program (IMLP) to facilitate peer learning and foster collaboration in a time of restricted in-person meetings.
Between May 17-28, participants shared good practices and reflections on the common municipal challenges they face, such as diversity and inclusion, women’s participation and crisis management. Most activities included simultaneous interpretation for broader engagement.
The Fortnight was organized in collaboration with CILG (International Development Centre for the Innovative Local Governance).
See the full program here. Details of lessons learned coming soon.
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A new generation of women leaders is emerging in Tunisia. Following the adoption in 2016 of an amendment to the Tunisian electoral law that included a provision supporting gender parity among municipal councils, 47% of representatives elected in the 2018 local elections were women. However, discrimination against women is ongoing and often undermines their involvement in local politics.
The goal of this project is to ensure that women as citizens and elected officials have more influence over the management of local affairs in eight Tunisian municipalities. With technical support from Canadian municipal specialists, these municipalities reinforce their ability to integrate the gender aspect into their day-to-day management practices. They develop a better ability to provide women and the most vulnerable groups with inclusive and gender-specific services in partnership with civil society. This project also provides support to various national institutions to create an environment that promotes the political involvement of women in the management of local affairs.
This initiative spans 40 months (2018 to 2022), and is implemented in partnership with the Centre international de développement pour la gouvernance locale innovante (CILG-VNG International).
