National Dialogue on the Social Protection System in Tunisia
FromOct 31, 2022 To Oct 31, 2022
Hybrid Event
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, and in January 2022, 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 conference is intended as an opportunity for dialogue between the various actors of civil society, policy makers, politicians and experts, to disseminate and discuss the policy recommendations and the key messages of six papers on the system of social protection in Tunisia.
OBJECTIVES
The conference 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 ona 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.
DIALOGUE ORGANIZATION
This conference will center on providing space for various stakeholders to discuss policy implications of research findings. Three thematic sessions will take place in which the policy implications of each paper within this series will be presented and discussed by a panel of experts. Panel discussion will be followed by open discussion:
- Presentation of Policy Findings – 10 minutes per paper.
- Discussants – 10 minutes.
- Open discussion – 10 minutes.
Agenda
Welcome Remarks
Date
31/10/2022
Location
Hybrid Event
Time
From 1:00 pm To 1:15 pm
Speakers
Research Fellows
Ibrahim Elbadawi
Managing Director, Economic Research Forum
Research Fellows
Mohamed Ali Marouani
Associate Professor, Université Paris1-Panthéon-Sorbonne
Speakers
Asma Ben Hassen
Founder and President, Tunisia Inclusive Labor Institute...
Session 1: Landscape of Social Protection in Tunisia
Date
31/10/2022
Location
Hybrid Event
Time
From 1:15 pm To 1:45 pm
Speakers
Research Fellows
Mohamed Amara
Associate Professor, Higher School of Economic and...
Research Associates
Khaled Nasri
Researcher, Faculty of Economic Sciences and Management...
Speakers
Mouna Ben Othman
Teacher-Researcher, Higher School of Economics and Business...
Research Associates
Nidhal Ben Cheikh
Independent Consultant & University of Paris
Papers
The Landscape of Social Protection in Tunisia
This paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the social protection system in Tunisia... Read More
The Tunisian Social Protection System: Key Strengths and Challenges
In a nutshell Tunisia’s social protection system is well designed and features contributory schemes for... Read More
Videos
Session 2: Health Insurance and Health Outcomes in Tunisia
Date
31/10/2022
Location
Hybrid Event
Time
From 1:45 pm To 2:15 pm
Speakers
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
Asma Ben Hassen
Founder and President, Tunisia Inclusive Labor Institute...
Speakers
Ines Ayadi
Professor of Health Economy, Sfax University
Papers
Do Social Protection Programs Improve Health-related Outcomes of the Poor in Tunisia?
In a nutshell The Tunisian social protection main program (PNAFN) reduces the risks of incur-... Read More
Do Social Protection Programs Improve Health Related Outcomes of the Poor in Tunisia?
In this study, we analyze the impact of the PNAFN, a Tunisian social protection program... Read More
Session 3: Extending Social Protection to Informal Workers in Tunisia
Date
31/10/2022
Location
Hybrid Event
Time
From 2:30 pm To 3:00 pm
Speakers
Research Fellows
Najat El Mekkaoui
Professor of Economics, University Paris-Dauphine
Authors
Yeganeh Forouheshfar
Economist and Researcher, The Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association
Speakers
Asma Ben Hassen
Founder and President, Tunisia Inclusive Labor Institute...
Authors
Jacob Emont
Robertson Fellow at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School...
Research Associates
Nidhal Ben Cheikh
Independent Consultant & University of Paris
Speakers
Abdeljalil Bedoui
Specialist in Development Economics
Speakers
Imen Mouaddeb
Researcher, Center for Research and Social Studies...
Papers
Social Security Coverage and Informal Workers in Tunisia
Informality is prevalent in Tunisia, limiting the access of a large share of the population... Read More
Extending Social Protections to Tunisia’s Informal Workers
In a nutshell: Despite Tunisia’s advanced social protection system, a substantial portion of the workforce... Read More
Videos
Session 4: Cash Assistance Targeting Those in Poverty in Tunisia
Date
31/10/2022
Location
Hybrid Event
Time
From 3:00 pm To 3:30 pm
Speakers
Research Fellows
Mohamed Amara
Associate Professor, Higher School of Economic and...
Research Associates
Khaled Nasri
Researcher, Faculty of Economic Sciences and Management...
Speakers
Mahmoud Ben Romdhane
President of the Tunisian Academy of Sciences...
Speakers
Mehdi Ben Braham
Lecturer, Ecole Supérieure des Sciences Economiques de...
Papers
Social Safety Nets in Tunisia: Comparison of Different Targeting Methods
This paper proposes two new approaches for targeting the beneficiaries of social benefit programs in... Read More
Alternative Targeting Mechanisms for Social Safety Nets in Tunisia
In a nutshell Institutional weaknesses, poor coordination between different government services, and the increase in... Read More
Videos
Session 5: Minimum and Living Wages in Jordan and Tunisia
Date
31/10/2022
Location
Hybrid Event
Time
From 4:30 pm To 5:00 pm
Speakers
Authors
Caroline Krafft
Associate Professor of Economics, St. Catherine University
Research Associates
Cyrine Hannafi
Post-Doctoral Researcher, University Paris-Est Créteil
Research Fellows
Samir Ghazouani
Full Professor of Econometrics, Business School of...
Research Fellows
AbdelRahmen El Lahga
Associate Professor, Institut superieur de Gestion de...
Papers
Minimum and Living Wages in Jordan and Tunisia: Implications for Social Protection Floors
In a nutshell While the majority of workers in Jordan and Tunisia earn at least... Read More
Minimum and Living Wages in Jordan and Tunisia
Countries around the world are working to develop social protection floors to help reduce poverty.... Read More
Session 6: The Role of Civil Society in Promoting Social Protection Reforms in Tunisia and Jordan
Date
31/10/2022
Location
Hybrid Event
Time
From 5:30 pm To 6:00 pm
Speakers
Speakers
Ahmad Awad
General Director, Phenix Center for Economic and...
Speakers
Courtney Geary
Researcher, Phenix Center
Speakers
Asma Ben Hassen
Founder and President, Tunisia Inclusive Labor Institute...
Speakers
Arbia Saleh
Head, Research Department, Tunisia Inclusive Labor Institute
Research Fellows
Mongi Boughzala
Emeritus Professor of Economics, University of Tunis...
Speakers
Mouna Ben Othman
Teacher-Researcher, Higher School of Economics and Business...
Papers
The Role of Civil Society in Promoting Social Protection Reforms: A Comparative Study of Jordan and Tunisia
In the Arab region, social protection systems have historically suffered from several shortcomings, including high... Read More
National Social Dialogue on Social Protection Reform in Jordan and Tunisia
In a nutshell Historically, civil society organizations in both Jordan and Tunisia have experienced periods... Read More
Session 7: Policy Roundtable
Date
31/10/2022
Location
Hybrid Event
Time
From 6:15 pm To 7:15 pm
Speakers
Research Fellows
Mohamed Ali Marouani
Associate Professor, Université Paris1-Panthéon-Sorbonne
Speakers
Abdeljalil Bedoui
Specialist in Development Economics
Speakers
Mahmoud Ben Romdhane
President of the Tunisian Academy of Sciences...
Speakers
Ines Ayadi
Professor of Health Economy, Sfax University
Speakers
Mehdi Ben Braham
Lecturer, Ecole Supérieure des Sciences Economiques de...
Speakers
Aziz Ben Ghachem
Social Protection Specialist, Social Protection and Jobs...
Closing Remarks
Date
31/10/2022
Location
Hybrid Event
Time
From 7:15 pm To 7:30 pm
Speakers
Research Fellows
Mohamed Ali Marouani
Associate Professor, Université Paris1-Panthéon-Sorbonne
Research Fellows
Ibrahim Elbadawi
Managing Director, Economic Research Forum