Study on Civil Society Organizations in Tunisia

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Study on Civil Society Organizations in Tunisia Study on Civil Society Organizations in Tunisia January 2013 Study on Civil Society Organizations in Tunisia Study on Civil Society Organizations in Tunisia Table of contents INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................................... 5 1. CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATION IN TUNISIA ............................................................................................ 7 1.1 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND AND CURRENT CONTEXT .................................................................................................. 7 1.2 OUTLINE OF A TYPOLOGY OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATION IN TUNISIA ....................................................................... 11 1.3 THE POLITICAL CONTEXT AND THE RELATIONS BETWEEN CIVIL SOCIETY AND THE GOVERNMENT ....................................... 15 1.3.1 Legal and institutional mechanisms ......................................................................................................... 15 1.3.2 Analysis of the Government’s Views ........................................................................................................ 18 1.4 REVIEW OF PREVIOUS STUDIES ............................................................................................................................. 21 1.4.1 The EMHRN study .................................................................................................................................... 21 1.4.2 The UNDP study ....................................................................................................................................... 23 1.4.3 The study of the European Union ............................................................................................................. 24 1.4.4 The ADB study .......................................................................................................................................... 27 2. CSOS’ CAPACITIES IN TUNISIA.............................................................................................................. 29 2.1 METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................................................ 29 2.1.1 Capacity index .......................................................................................................................................... 30 2.1.2 Data Collection and Information .............................................................................................................. 30 2.1.3 Data Analysis Tools .................................................................................................................................. 33 2.2 GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ASSOCIATIONS UNDER STUDY ................................................................................ 33 2.2.1 Regional Distribution and areas of activity .............................................................................................. 33 2.2.2 Categorization and areas of activity ........................................................................................................ 35 2.2.3 Activité associative ................................................................................................................................... 36 2.3 CSO’S CAPACITY INDEX ...................................................................................................................................... 39 2.3.1 Calculation methodology ......................................................................................................................... 39 2.3.2 Capacity Analysis ..................................................................................................................................... 42 2.3.3 Governance .............................................................................................................................................. 44 2.3.4 Human resources ..................................................................................................................................... 45 2.3.5 Financial resources ................................................................................................................................... 47 2.3.6 Relational performance ........................................................................................................................... 48 2.3.7 Operational performance......................................................................................................................... 49 2.3.8 Some concluding remarks on CSOs’ lack of capacity ................................................................................ 51 3. CSO’S CAPACITY BUILDING: NEEDS IDENTIFICATION ........................................................................... 53 3.1 THE NEEDS INDEX .............................................................................................................................................. 53 3.2 NEEDS ANALYSIS ............................................................................................................................................... 54 3.3 NEEDS PRIORIZATION ......................................................................................................................................... 57 4. DONORS’ INITIATIVES .......................................................................................................................... 59 4.1 THE INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT TO TUNISIAN CIVIL SOCIETY ......................................................................................... 59 4.2 THE FINANCING OF TUNISIAN CSOS’ CAPACITY BUILDING .......................................................................................... 61 5. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMANDATIONS .......................................................................................... 63 5.1 STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF TUNISIAN CSOS .................................................................................................. 63 5.2 PRIORITY AREAS ................................................................................................................................................ 65 5.3 INCREASED EFFICIENCY OF EXISTING INSTRUMENTS ................................................................................................... 65 APPENDIX ................................................................................................................................................. 67 2 Study on Civil Society Organizations in Tunisia List of Tables and Graphs Table 1: Creation of associations by region from January 2011 to May 3, 2012...........................................................................................13 Table 2: EMHRN Suggested categorization of CSOs working in the field of human rights...........................................................................14 Table 3: Tunisian Civil Society: Positive and Negative Aspects …………………………………………………………………………………….25 Table 4: The Tunisian Civil Society Environment: Problems and opportunities ..........................................................................................25 Table 5: Estimated number of active young associations working in the field of human rights (July 2012) ...................................………..30 Table 6: Breakdown of associations by category ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….34 Table 7: Audience targeted by the activities of associations ………………………………………………………………………………………….35 Table 8: Breakdown of associations by date of creation ……………………………………………………………………………………………….35 Table 9: Dynamism of the associations …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..36 Table 10: Breakdown of associations by availability of premises …………………………………………………………………………………….36 Table 11: Governance: Dimensions and criteria …………………………………………………………………………………………………………38 Table 12: Human Resources: Dimensions and criteria …………………………………………………………………………………………………39 Table 13: Human Resources: Dimensions and criteria …………………………………………………………………………………………………39 Table 14: Relational Performance: Dimensions and criteria ……………………………………………………………………………………………40 Table 15: Operational performance: Dimensions and criteria ………………………………………………………………………………………….40 Table 16: Capacity Index: The dimensions of governance …………………………………………………………………………………………….44 Table 17: Capacity Index: The dimensions of human resources ……………………………………………………………………………………..45 Table 18: Dynamism of the relationships within the association ……………………………………………………………………………………..46 Table 19: Capacity Index: the dimensions of financial resources …………………………………………………………………………………….47. Table 20: Capacity Index: The dimensions of relational performance ……………………………………………………………………………….48 Table 21: Capacity Index: The dimensions of operational performance …………………………………………………………………………….49 Table 22: Needs indicator: Needs areas and dimensions ……………………………………………………………………………………………..52 Table 23: Needs Index by area and region ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….55 Table 24: Needs index by activity ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….56 Table 25: Needs breakdown by priority level ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..58 Table 26: Planned budgets in support of civil society in Tunisia …………………………………………………………………………………….60 Graph 1: Yearly evolution of the creation of new CSOs in Tunisia …………………………………………………………………………………….7 Graph 2: Evolution of the number of CSOs in Tunisia (1980-2012) …………………………………………………………………………………….7
Recommended publications
  • IE-GTP Actualisation
    OMV TUNESIEN PRODUCTION Environmental Impact Assessment for Nawara Construction Project of the Gas Treatment Plant of Gabès STGP-TESCO-PMT-0805-HS-REP-0002 Final report January 2014 Developed by: EIE GTP-update Introduction of TESCO - Introduction: Environmental impact assessment- gas treatment unit. Nawara Concession Development Project. Governorate of Gabès. - Developed by : TESCO - For: OMV Tunesien Production Gmbh. - Reference: 03 2013 - Version: 02. - Company name: TESCO - General Manager: Mourad Kaabi - Activity: Design, Consultancy and Technical Assistance in Industrial and Environmental domains - Address: 11, rue du Lac Ichkeul 1053 Les Berges du Lac. Tunis - Telephone +216 71 960 055/ +216 71 960 077/ +216 71 965 232 - Fax : +216 71 962 717 - Web site: www.tesco.com.tn - Email: [email protected] This study should in no case be reproduced without the prior authorization of TESCO. The information contained in this study should be disclosed to nobody except to a customer for whom they have been developed TESCO commits itself to respecting the confidentiality rules and will assume no responsibility toward anyone in case this study is reproduced without its authorization. Copyright © by TESCO TESCO Page 2 EIE GTP-update TESCO Page 3 EIE GTP-update Update of the EIA in the light of ANPE comments Subject: Response to ANPE comments regarding the construction of the gas treatment unit in the industrial area of Ghannouch, Governorate of Gabès. Ref: mail n° 3746 (IE 4713) of 1st November 2013 Attachment: mail n° 3746 (IE 4713) of 1st November 2013 To the attention of the General Manager Further to your letter pertaining to the environmental impact assessment of the proposed Nawara concession development, and the construction of the gas treatment unit, please find below the items that have been updated: 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Effectiveness and Potential of European Trade and Assistance
    MEDRESET Working Papers No. 24, November 2018 Effectiveness and Potential of European Trade and Assistance Policies in the South Mediterranean Neighbourhood in the Fields of Agriculture, Water and Rural Development: The Case of Tunisia Hafedh Chékir and Asma Nouira This project is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Programme for Research and Innovation under grant agreement no 693055. MEDRESET Working Papers No. 24, November 2018 Effectiveness and Potential of European Trade and Assistance Policies in the South Mediterranean Neighbourhood in the Fields of Agriculture, Water and Rural Development: The Case of Tunisia Hafedh Chékir and Asma Nouira1 Abstract This paper is part of a series of working papers to assess EU policies in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries from a bottom-up perspective as part of the MEDRESET project. The focus of this paper will be on challenges and policies applied in the agriculture and water sectors in Tunisia. Special consideration will be given to the problems of international trade, particularly the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement. The methodology used includes content analysis, literature review and face-to-face interviews with relevant local stakeholders in the agriculture and water sectors. In particular, the paper will provide the following: (i) a clear assessment of the problems and obstacles that are currently affecting the performance of the water and agriculture sectors, (ii) an outline of the national and EU policy actions in the sectors; (iii) a qualitative analysis of stakeholder frames in the area of agriculture and water based on 27 interviews; and lastly (iv) how EU policies in Tunisia may be improved or replaced according to the needs of the sector.
    [Show full text]
  • A Study in Dispossession: the Political Ecology of Phosphate in Tunisia
    A study in dispossession: the political ecology of phosphate in Tunisia Mathieu Rousselin1 Independent Researcher, Dortmund, Germany Abstract This article seeks to evidence the social, environmental and political repercussions of phosphate extraction and transformation on two peripheral Tunisian cities (Gabes and Gafsa). After positing the difference between class environmentalism and political ecology, it addresses the harmful effects of phosphate transformation on the world's last coastal oasis and on various cities of the Gulf of Gabes. It then sheds light on the gross social, environmental and health inequalities brought about by phosphate extraction in the mining region of Gafsa. The confiscatory practices of the phosphate industry are subsequently linked with global production and distribution chains at the international level as well as with centralized and authoritarian forms of government at the national and local level. Dispossessed local communities have few alternatives other than violent protest movements and emigration towards urban centers of wealth. Using the recent experience in self-government in the Jemna palm grove, the article ends with a reflection on the possible forms of subaltern resistance to transnational extractivism and highlights the ambiguous role of the new "democratic state" as a power structure reproducing patterns of domination and repression inherited from the colonial period and cemented under the dictatorship of Ben Ali. Keywords: political ecology, transnational extractivism, phosphate, Tunisia. Résumé Cet article s'efforce de mettre en évidence les répercussions sociales, environnementales et politiques de l'industrie d'extraction et de transformation du phosphate sur deux villes de la périphérie tunisienne (Gabès et Gafsa). Après avoir exposé la différence entre l'environnementalisme de classe et l'écologie politique, cet article analyse les effets délétères de la transformation du phosphate sur la dernière oasis littorale du monde ainsi que sur plusieurs villes du Golfe de Gabès.
    [Show full text]
  • Project on Regional Development Planning of the Southern Region In
    Project on Regional Development Planning of the Southern Region in the Republic of Tunisia on Regional Development Planning of the Southern Region in Republic Project Republic of Tunisia Ministry of Development, Investment, and International Cooperation (MDICI), South Development Office (ODS) Project on Regional Development Planning of the Southern Region in the Republic of Tunisia Final Report Part 1 Current Status of Tunisia and the Southern Region Final Report Part 1 November, 2015 JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) Yachiyo Engineering Co., Ltd. Kaihatsu Management Consulting, Inc. INGÉROSEC Corporation EI JR 15 - 201 Project on Regional Development Planning of the Southern Region in the Republic of Tunisia on Regional Development Planning of the Southern Region in Republic Project Republic of Tunisia Ministry of Development, Investment, and International Cooperation (MDICI), South Development Office (ODS) Project on Regional Development Planning of the Southern Region in the Republic of Tunisia Final Report Part 1 Current Status of Tunisia and the Southern Region Final Report Part 1 November, 2015 JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) Yachiyo Engineering Co., Ltd. Kaihatsu Management Consulting, Inc. INGÉROSEC Corporation Italy Tunisia Location of Tunisia Algeria Libya Tunisia and surrounding countries Legend Gafsa – Ksar International Airport Airport Gabes Djerba–Zarzis Seaport Tozeur–Nefta Seaport International Airport International Airport Railway Highway Zarzis Seaport Target Area (Six Governorates in the Southern
    [Show full text]
  • Hydro-Geochemical Processes in the Complexe Terminal
    Journal of African Earth Sciences 100 (2014) 81–95 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of African Earth Sciences journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jafrearsci Hydro-geochemical processes in the Complexe Terminal aquifer of southern Tunisia: An integrated investigation based on geochemical and multivariate statistical methods ⇑ Friha Hadj Ammar a,c,1, , Najiba Chkir a,b,2, Kamel Zouari a,2, Bruno Hamelin c,3, Pierre Deschamps c,3, Aissa Aigoun d,4 a Laboratory of Radio-Analysis and Environment, National School of Engineering of Sfax, Route de Soukra, BP 1173, 3038 Sfax, Tunisia b Laboratory of Radio-Analysis and Environment, Faculty of Letters and Humanities, Geography Department, Route El Matar, BP 1168, 3029 Sfax, Tunisia c CEREGE, UMR Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, IRD, Collège de France, Europôle de l’Arbois, BP 80, 13545 Aix en Provence cedex 04, France d Commissariat Régional de développement Agricole Kébili, Rue Salah Ben Youssef 4200 Kébili, Tunisia article info abstract Article history: Hydrochemical data from a total of 104 groundwater samples were used to investigate the main factors Received 30 November 2013 and mechanisms that control the chemistry of groundwaters in the Complexe Terminal (CT) aquifer of Received in revised form 20 June 2014 Chott region in southern Tunisia. Multivariate statistical techniques combining Hierarchical Cluster Anal- Accepted 21 June 2014 ysis (HCA) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) were applied to the dataset of 12 physicochemical Available online 28 June 2014 + + 2+ 2+ À À À 2À parameters (i.e. pH, T°, depth, Na ,K,Ca ,Mg , HCO3 ,NO3 ,Cl ,SO4 , and TDS).
    [Show full text]
  • Tozeur, Tunisia's Oasis Town
    24 April 2, 2017 Travel www.thearabweekly.com Agenda Dubai: Through April 8th Global Village is a large cultural event in Dubai that offers an array of festivals, shopping and entertainment in an open-air theme park. This entertain- ment and shopping destination includes more than 75 partici- pating countries, dozens of fun rides and 26 restaurants offering food from around the world. Tunis: Through April 9th The 12th Jazz à Carthage, an annual music festival, brings together renowned international and local musicians for concerts, lectures, exhibitions and nightly jam sessions. A panoramic view of Tozeur. (Official website of the governorate of Tozeur) Doha: Through May 21st Picasso-Giacometti is an exhibi- tion that begins at the Fire Sta- Tozeur, Tunisia’s oasis town tion Artist in Residence centre in Doha. The exhibition includes Roua Khlifi more than 80 works from col- lections of the Musée National Picasso and the Foundation Tozeur Giacometti in Paris, including The She Goat (1950) by Pablo ying on the edge of the Sa- Picasso and Alberto Giacometti’s hara is the Tunisian oasis Tall Woman (1960). town of Tozeur, a charm- ing traditional village that Beirut: beckons visitors to savour Through June 1st Lthe country’s mysterious desert terrain. Souk El Tayeb is a weekly About 430km south-west of Tu- market that hosts more than 60 nis, Tozeur has a rich history dat- producers from across Lebanon ing to before the Middle Ages when with food products as well as it served as a crossing point for traditional and handmade crafts. Sahara-bound caravans.
    [Show full text]
  • A Participatory Agrobiodiversity Conservation Approach in the Oases: Community Actions for the Promotion of Sustainable Development in Fragile Areas
    diversity Article A Participatory Agrobiodiversity Conservation Approach in the Oases: Community Actions for the Promotion of Sustainable Development in Fragile Areas Cristiana Peano 1,2 , Stefania Caron 1, Mohamed Mahfoudhi 3, Khouloud Zammel 3, Houda Zaidi 3 and Francesco Sottile 4,* 1 Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Forestali, Alimentari, Università di Torino, Largo Paolo Braccini, 1, 10195 Grugliasco, TO, Italy; [email protected] (C.P.); [email protected] (S.C.) 2 UNESCO Chair in Sustainable Development and Territory Management, University of Turin, 10124 Turin, Italy 3 Association Persone Come Noi Tunisie, Route de Gafsa, El Hamma du Jérid, Tozeur 2214, Tunisia; [email protected] (M.M.); [email protected] (K.Z.); [email protected] (H.Z.) 4 Dipartimento di Architettura, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Centro di Conservazione della Biodiversità di Interesse Agrario, Viale delle Scienze, Edificio 14, 90128 Palermo, Italy * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +39-091-2386-1200 Abstract: Rural development policies today include significant directions towards ecological tran- sition and sustainability. Biodiversity plays a fundamental role, especially in fragile environments. The North African oases, for example, are socio-ecological structures with delicate balances in terms of natural resources, where the activation of participatory conservation approaches appears today to Citation: Peano, C.; Caron, S.; be very useful, aiming at long-lasting results. This type of approach was applied in the oasis of El Mahfoudhi, M.; Zammel, K.; Zaidi, Hamma, in Tunisia. The socio-ecological analysis was carried out through semi-structured interviews H.; Sottile, F. A Participatory with different stakeholders of the oasis.
    [Show full text]
  • IFRIQAYA Notes for a Tour of Northern Africa in September-October 2011
    IFRIQAYA notes for a tour of northern Africa in September-October 2011 Miles Lewis Cover illustration: the Castellum of Kaoua. Gsell, Monuments Antiques, I, p 105. CONTENTS Preamble 5 History 6 Modern Algeria 45 Modern Tunisia 58 Modern Libya 65 Timeline 65 Pre-Roman Architecture 72 Greek & Roman Architecture 75 Christian Architecture 87 Islamic Architecture 98 Islamic and Vernacular Building Types 100 Pisé and Concrete 102 The Entablature and Dosseret Block 104 Reconstruction of the Classical Language 107 LIBYA day 1: Benghazi 109 day 2: the Pentapolis 110 day 3: Sabratha 118 day 4: Lepcis Magna & the Villa Sileen 123 day 5: Ghadames 141 day 6: Nalut, Kabaw, Qasr-el-Haj 142 day 7: Tripoli 144 TUNISIA day 8: Tunis & Carthage 150 day 9: the Matmata Plateau 160 day 10: Sbeitla; Kairouan 167 day 11: El Jem 181 day 12: Cap Bon; Kerkouane 184 day 13: rest day – options 187 day 14: Thuburbo Majus; Dougga 190 day 15: Chemtou; Bulla Regia; Tabarka 199 ALGERIA day 16: Ain Drahram; cross to Algeria; Hippo 201 day 17: Hippo; Tiddis; Constantine 207 day 18: Tébessa 209 day 19: Timgad; Lambaesis 214 day 20: Djémila 229 day 21: Algiers 240 day 22: Tipasa & Cherchell 243 day 23: Tlemcen 252 Ifriqaya 5 PREAMBLE This trip is structured about but by no means confined to Roman sites in North Africa, specifically today’s Libya, Tunisia and Algeria. But we look also at the vernacular, the Carthaginian, the Byzantine and the early Islamic in the same region. In the event the war in Libya has forced us to omit that country from the current excursion, though the notes remain here.
    [Show full text]
  • An Interior Seaway for Northern Africa
    XA04N0930 AN INTERIOR SEAWAY FOR NORTHERN AFRICA J. B. F. Champ1in* Westinghouse Electric Corporation Environmental Systems J. W. Poston, J. A. Lake Georgia Institute of Technology FOREWORD One of the difficulties confronted in,advancing explosives-engineering is that experimentation is both hazardous and expensive. This is particularly true of engineering experiments employing nuclear explosives, because there is a possibility that personnel located many miles from the center of the atomic blast may suffer from fallout or the migration of radioactivity through ground- water to public sources of drinking water. As a consequence, in order to establish courses of instruction in nuclear explosives engineering, it is necessary to use the special technique of deep consideration of a problem as a substitute for a laboratory exercise. This paper represents a summary of one such exercise in which students were assigned the task of performing the pre- liminary engineering on a project which could, if implemented, have considerable beneficial effect on a rather large area of the world. The possibilities of this project coming into being are quite remote in our time, largely due to the political ramifications and the current tendency to overemphasize the hazards of anything pertaining to nuclear explosions. But, as a classroom device, the use of the Project Analysis as a teaching tool has proved invalu- able in training the students to think of the whole system involved rather than a part of it. This paper, primarily a summary of a report submitted by a student team in the course of Engineering with Nuclear Explosives at Georgia Tech in the summer of 1968, speaks for itself in its inventiveness and its expression of deliberate concern for the betterment of mankind.
    [Show full text]
  • Anantara Sahara Tozeur Resort & Villas
    ANANTARA SAHARA TOZEUR RESORT & VILLAS Travel to the southwest of Tunisia, in the city of Tozeur - a hub of Tunisia’s Saharan tourism. Drive across Chott el Djerid, the Sahara’s largest salt lake, that glitters in the sunlight like a mirage, lap up the silence of the desert, dine on local Cuisine under the stars, enjoy hammam rituals, and luxuriate in private villas. Anantara Sahara Tozeur Resort & Villas is a new luxury & unique escape that rises out of the shimmering des- ert a contemporary retreat of lush palm trees from the surrounding desert environment that will offer visitors the best of Arabian culture and hospitality in exclusive five-star surroundings all year round. Address: Mrah Lahwar Tozeur 2200 Tunisia Telephone: +216 70 100 800 Facsimile: +216 70 100 833 Central Reservations Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Web Address: anantara.com/en/tozeur LOCATION Anantara Sahara Tozeur Resort & Villas is located in Tozeur. This city is known for its distinctive architecture most evident in its 14th century Medina and makes an excellent base for longer forays into the surrounding area, including the mesmerizing Chott El Jerid, Tunisia’s largest salt lake, and the mountain oases to the north. Bounded on one side by an enormous Palmerian and with the desolate snow-white expanse of salt on the other, the town feels at once far-flung and urban and lively. This untouched landscape can be found 6 kilome- tres from Tozeur-Nefta International Airport. Management: Minor Hotels Ownership: Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment General Manager: Jesus Juan Arnedo [email protected] Sales Managers: Maroua Barkaoui [email protected] Youssef Zbidi [email protected] ACCOMMODATION Choose your desert sanctuary at our luxury Tozeur Resort.
    [Show full text]
  • Updated Checklist and Distribution of Large Branchiopods (Branchiopoda: Anostraca, Notostraca, Spinicaudata) in Tunisia
    Biogeographia – The Journal of Integrative Biogeography 31 (2016): 27–53 Updated checklist and distribution of large branchiopods (Branchiopoda: Anostraca, Notostraca, Spinicaudata) in Tunisia FEDERICO MARRONE1,*, MICHAEL KORN2, FABIO STOCH3, LUIGI NASELLI- FLORES1, SOUAD TURKI4 1 Dept. STEBICEF, University of Palermo, via Archirafi, 18, I-90123 Palermo, Italy 2 Limnological Institute, University of Konstanz, Mainaustr. 252, D-78464 Konstanz & DNA-Laboratory, Museum of Zoology, Senckenberg Natural History Collections Dresden, Königsbrücker Landstrasse 159, D- 01109 Dresden, Germany 3 Dept. of Life, Health & Environmental Sciences, University of L’Aquila, Via Vetoio, I-67100 Coppito, L'Aquila, Italy 4 Institut National des Sciences et Technologies de la Mer, Rue du 02 mars 1934, 28, T-2025 Salammbô, Tunisia * e-mail corresponding author: [email protected] Keywords: Branchinectella media, fauna of Maghreb, freshwater crustaceans, Mediterranean temporary ponds, regional biodiversity. SUMMARY Temporary ponds are the most peculiar and representative water bodies in the arid and semi-arid regions of the world, where they often represent diversity hotspots that greatly contribute to the regional biodiversity. Being indissolubly linked to these ecosystems, the so-called “large branchiopods” are unanimously considered flagship taxa of these habitats. Nonetheless, updated and detailed information on large branchiopod faunas is still missing in many countries or regions. Based on an extensive bibliographical review and field samplings, we provide an updated and commented checklist of large branchiopods in Tunisia, one of the less investigated countries of the Maghreb as far as inland water crustaceans are concerned. We carried out a field survey from 2004 to 2012, thereby collecting 262 crustacean samples from a total of 177 temporary water bodies scattered throughout the country.
    [Show full text]
  • Policy Brief “The Benefits of Transboundary Water
    Policy brief The benefits of transboundary water cooperation in the North Western Sahara Aquifer System basin supported by The benefits of transboundary water cooperation Policy brief in the North Western Sahara Aquifer System basin 2 INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION Transboundary waters create social, economic, environmental and political inter-dependencies that make cooperation a precondition to sustainable development and peace. There is a long history of cooperation between Algeria, Libya and Tunisia in the knowledge and management of transboundary water resources of the North Western Sahara Aquifer System (NWSAS). The NWSAS countries are among the pioneer States in terms of cooperation on a transboundary aquifer. However, due to the pressure from a continually increasing demand on such resources, and in a context where the impacts of climate change on water resources are likely to intensify, urgent action is needed. This policy brief aims to inspire additional cooperative actions among decision makers to improve the sustainable development of the NWSAS basin to the benefit of the three riparian countries, and therefore to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. This policy brief consolidates: • The main achievements, impacts and benefits generated so far by transboundary water cooperation in the NWSAS, in particular through the work of the Consultation Mechanism; • The added-value of implementing a water-food-energy-ecosystems nexus approach to transboundary water cooperation, and the possible additional benefits it
    [Show full text]