National Dialogue on the Social Protection System in Tunisia

FromJan 24, 2022 To Jan 25, 2022

Online Webinar

Tunisia is considered among the countries with the most comprehensive social protection system in the MENA region, with its large contributory and non-contributory schemes. Tunisia has historically been a leader in the region in social protection for women, labor protections, and more recently pluralistic democracy. However more than 44% of the working population were still outside the social protection systems in 2019 and there remain entrenched geographic inequalities between the coast and the interior, as well as ill-targeted social spending.

Moreover, the health crisis of COVID-19 has exposed the current limitations of the social protection system despite the government deployment since the beginning of the crisis of eight urgent measures (2 contributory and 6 non-contributory) to mitigate the socio-economic and health impacts of the crisis.

With the adoption of the new constitution of 2014 Tunisia had embarked on reforms to better extend the coverage of programs especially to categories not yet covered and, more specifically, to active people in the informal economy. The country must also account for the challenges faced by the social protection system such as the performance and the targeting quality of non-contributory programs, inequality of access to care services, the problem of financial imbalance of funds and the exclusion of some vulnerable categories from the social protection system.

As part of the project “Reimagining Social Protection in Jordan and Tunisia” two national consultations were organized in January and September 2021 around the social protection system in Tunisia. These events brought together social protection experts, academics and civil society actors to discuss the different schemes and programs, the limitations of this system especially in the face of the health crisis, identify key challenges and suggest practical recommendations.

This two-day national dialogue workshop is intended as an opportunity for dialogue between the various actors of civil society, policy makers, politicians and experts:

To discuss the different parts of the landscape of social protection in Tunisia including contributory and non-contributory pensions, cash transfers, unemployment insurance, provisions for maternity and other leaves, childcare, livelihood support, health care, education, housing support and provision, and subsidies for energy or food,
To compare the substantial efforts of Tunisia and Jordan in providing more inclusive social protection especially regarding the role of civil society in the absence of a clear social contract and
To better reflect on the reforms and measures needed for a more inclusive social protection.

The discussion will be based on six draft papers:

Landscape of Social Protection in Tunisia
Health Insurance and Health Outcomes in Tunisia
Social Security Coverage and Informal Employment in Tunisia
Cash Assistance Targeting Those in Poverty in Tunisia
Minimum and Living Wages in Jordan and Tunisia
The Role of Civil Society in Promoting Social Protection Reforms: A Comparative Study Between Jordan and Tunisia

OBJECTIVES

The national dialogue workshop will be an opportunity for experts, civil society representatives and policy makers to:

Exchange on the outputs of the different papers on the current state of social protection system in Tunisia
Discuss the main challenges of the current social protection system in general and more specifically regarding health insurance and outcomes, social protection extension strategies for informal workers, minimum and living wages, health insurance, and targeting cash assistance
Discuss the role of civil society in promoting social protection reforms based on a comparative analysis between Tunisia and Jordan.
Discuss the main policy recommendations
Determine the main priorities in terms of reforms for a more inclusive social protection system in Tunisia.

Download full agenda in: English | Arabic | French

Jan. 24, 2022
Jan. 25, 2022

Agenda

National Dialogue on the Social Protection System in Tunisia - Day 1

Date

24/01/2022

Location

Online Webinar

Time

From 4:00 pm To 6:30 pm

Register here!

OBJECTIVES

The national dialogue workshop will be an opportunity for experts, civil society representatives and policy makers to:

Exchange on the outputs of the different papers on the current state of social protection system in Tunisia
Discuss the main challenges of the current social protection system in general and more specifically regarding health insurance and outcomes, social protection extension strategies for informal workers, minimum and living wages, health insurance, and targeting cash assistance
Discuss the role of civil society in promoting social protection reforms based on a comparative analysis between Tunisia and Jordan.
Discuss the main policy recommendations
Determine the main priorities in terms of reforms for a more inclusive social protection system in Tunisia.

Speakers

Research Fellows

Ibrahim Elbadawi

Managing Director, Economic Research Forum

Research Fellows

Ragui Assaad

Professor and Freeman Chair for International Economic...

Speakers

Asma Ben Hassen

Founder and President, Tunisia Inclusive Labor Institute...

Research Associates

Imane Helmy

Senior Economist at World Bank’s Poverty and...

Research Fellows

Mohamed Amara

Associate Professor, Higher School of Economic and...

Research Associates

Khaled Nasri

Researcher, Faculty of Economic Sciences and Management...

Speakers

Khaled Sdiri

Senior Expert in Social Security, Tunisia

Speakers

Nahed Snoussi

President of the League of Women Executives,...

Research Fellows

Mohamed Ali Marouani

Associate Professor, Université Paris1-Panthéon-Sorbonne

Research Associates

Nidhal Ben Cheikh

Independent Consultant & University of Paris

Authors

Phuong Minh Le

Research Intern, Centre for Analysis and Forecast...

Speakers

Naoufel Labiadh

Health expert and member of the National...

Research Fellows

Najat El Mekkaoui

Professor of Economics, University Paris-Dauphine

Authors

Yeganeh Forouheshfar

Economist and Researcher, The Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association

Authors

Jacob Emont

Robertson Fellow at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School...

Presentations

Health Insurance and Health Outcomes in Tunisia

Extending Social Protection to Informal Workers in Tunisia