Author: pr Desk

Secretary-General of the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT), Noureddine Taboubi, alluding to the appointment of a new Prime Minister, said that what is important is not to replace one official with another, but to change strategies and policies.

Taboubi, who chaired the commemoration of the 76th anniversary of the battle of August 5, 1947 in Sfax on Saturday, told reporters the new prime minister must have decision-making powers and be open to the country’s various components in order to overcome the current challenges.

Regarding salary increases, Taboubi recalled that an agreement was reached to increase salaries in the private sector for 2022, 2023 and 2024. He added that another agreement had been reached to increase salaries in the public sector and civil service for 2023, 2024 and 2025. The UGTT is currently working on the implementation of specific sectoral agreements within the framework of labour legislation and the rule of law and institutions.

Regarding the national salvation initiative, the UGTT S-G said that it would be ready when the Tunisian people needed it.

On the influx of irregular migrants from sub-Saharan Africa into the governorate of Sfax, Taboubi pointed out that the solution to this problem requires not only the protection of the country’s borders against irregular migration, but also the signing of a tripartite agreement between Tunisia, Algeria and Libya.

He said Western countries are fully aware of the need to boost development in African countries that they have colonised for years in order to bring prosperity and dignity to their people.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Newly appointed Prime Minister Ahmed Hachani, who succeeded Najla Bouden, was born in Tunis on October 4, 1956. He holds an MA degree in law with a specialisation in public law. He graduated from the Faculty of Law in Tunis in 1983. He joined the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT) in 1984.

During his 33-year career at the BCT, Hachani held various positions in the Legal Affairs and Human Resources Development departments. He carried out several studies and legal consultations. He also actively participated in inter-ministerial committees in charge of drafting legal texts on banking regulations, economic and financial texts, as well as on financial institutions, shareholding and public companies.

From 2012 to 2017, Hachani served as director general of human resources and training at the BCT and then as legal and human resources advisor at the same institution.

Th new PM has represented the BCT on several boards of directors. For ten years, he taught law and the banking environment at the Academy of Banking and Finance, which is part of the Tunisian Association of Banks and Financial Institutions (APBT).

Hachani is married with two children.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Tunisia has occupied a prominent regional position in the fight against corruption and the development of systems to support these efforts, especially in recent years, according to a report published by the Tunisian Institute for Competitiveness and Quantitative Studies (ITCEQ).

The Institute’s report, based on the 2022 Index of the international organisation Trace, shows that Tunisia ranks first in the Arab world in three areas of the fight against corruption: deterrence, transparency and control.

Overall, Tunisia ranked second in the Arab world in terms of anti-corruption efforts in 2022, above the international average (49 points), although it dropped eight places compared to 2021, ranking 76th last year compared to 68th in 2021.

Tunisia’s anti-corruption index is around 45 points, according to the Trace Foundation.

Despite these efforts, a survey by the Tunisian Institute for Competitiveness and Quantitative Studies found that 70 per cent of business owners in the country consider corruption to be a major obstacle to their activities.

Nevertheless, the government’s anti-corruption policy has evolved significantly, particularly in terms of regulations and legislation. Reference was made to Government Decree 2019-1123 on the conditions and procedures for granting concessions in the field of anti-corruption and Law 2022-14 on the fight against illegal speculation.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

The Ministry of Agriculture is working to combat the phenomenon of illegal fishing, which seriously threatens Tunisia’s fisheries resources.

During his meeting Saturday with the President of the Tunisian Union of Agriculture and Fisheries (UTAP), Noureddine Ben Ayed, Minister of Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries, Abdelmonêm BelSati, stressed the need to give this vital sector the importance it deserves by seeking to overcome all the difficulties encountered by professionals in the sector. The aim is to improve their productivity, especially in these difficult economic times due to climate change, according to a press release from the Ministry of Agriculture.

UTAP, in May 2023, had urged the Ministry to hold an urgent meeting to examine the problems facing the fishing sector.

In a statement, representatives of the fishing industry appealed to the Presidency of the Republic and the Government to intervene in order to find solutions for the fishing sector and thus avoid the tension that threatens the country and the disappointment of equipment suppliers and fishermen.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

US Ambassador to Tunisia Joey Hood said in a statement to TAP news agency that “fighting corruption is vital and very important for democratic construction and for creating opportunities for economic and social development.”

The U.S. Embassy is «very pleased» to support the youth anti-corruption summer camp that ended today in Hammamet and which was held in partnership with the National Centre for State Courts as part of the “Fighting Corruption in Tunisia” programme.”

He noted that the camp included in particular the national debate competition between universities on the promotion of anti-corruption values, with the participation of 48 students from law faculties in Tunis, Sousse, Sfax, Jendouba and Gabes.

He noted that as part of the fight against corruption, the US Embassy is also supporting a program to digitise the national system of pharmacies and medicines in Tunisia, in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and civil society. The aim is to prevent corruption and enable citizens to report corruption and the Ministry to take the necessary preventive measures for the management of the pharmaceutical system.

He noted that the areas of cooperation with Tunisia are diverse and based on support for entrepreneurship and the private sector.

The United States is the first importer of Tunisian handicrafts in the world, he said, adding “I hope it will be the first importer of Tunisian olive oil in the coming years”.

He also noted that the cooperation also includes the field of modern technologies, stressing that during his visit last week to the governorates of Sousse and Monastir, he attended the launch of 26 start-ups with US support. He also visited other start-ups that had previously received funding from the US Embassy and are now creating jobs and exporting their services to Europe.

For her part, the programme officer of the National Centre for State Courts (a US NGO active in Tunisia since 2016), Basma Jebali, pointed out that the organisation’s programmes had been launched in Tunisia with the support of the programme to improve court administration with 8 model courts. Since 2017, it has launched a major programme to support the fight against corruption in Tunisia, which involves all actors in the fight against corruption in Tunisia, within the framework of agreements signed with the Judicial Economic and Financial Division and the National Anti-Corruption Commission, and in 2019 with the Court of Accounts and the Association of Public Inspectors.

She stressed that the programme continues today with the organisation of the Youth Caravan Against Corruption in Tunisia and awareness-raising events. In June, it had organised legal essay competitions for law students on the subject of corruption, on “Reporting on Corruption and Corrupters”, she added.

She pointed out that the summer camp included, in particular, a demonstration of legal debates on combating corruption and promoting transparency, in which Gabes University won first place.

Jebali added that the National Centre for State Courts will continue to organise other courses of the debate programme for young people as part of a new programme on “access to justice”.

In September, it will also launch a programme to encourage young people from law schools to initiate small projects related to the fight against corruption. The winning project will receive funding for its implementation from the Centre for National State Courts through the US Embassy.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

The National Union of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT), in a statement on Friday, called on President Kais Saied to respect the independence of the media and “stop interfering in their content”.

The union called on the President of the Republic to apply the law in appointing officials at the head of public media institutions, especially the radio and television, “respect the independence of public, confiscated and private media and refrain from parachute appointments, in which the President of the Republic has basically resorted to symbols of propaganda and disinformation during the period of media blackout,” according to the same statement.

President Kais Saied had indicated during his meeting on Friday at the Carthage Palace with the CEO of

Tunisian Television, Awatef Dali, that “the national television should be at the service of Tunisians and not at the service of lobbies hiding behind the curtain”. He considered that “a number of programmes and the order of the news in the news bulletin of Tunisian Television (Watania 1) are to blame”.

The SNJT stressed in the same statement, in response to the dialogue between President Kais Saied and the CEO of Tunisian Television, that the public media must play its primary role as a public service at the service of the state and society and express the people’s demands and concerns within the framework of information and objectivity, and adopt the priorities of news, education and entertainment, and not be a propaganda tool for the ruling authorities, whatever they may be.

It called on all professional structures and regulatory bodies to publicly reject these practices and to defend the right of women and citizens to a free media that reflects different political and intellectual orientations and represents the diversity and pluralism of Tunisian society.

In this context, the union stressed that it is not the role of the executive authority to control and monitor media content, but rather that of the editorial boards within the institutions and the independent High Authority for Audiovisual Media.

It called on the staff of Tunisian Television in particular and the rest of the public media institutions in general to address these “serious practices and deviations and any attempt to use the public institution to serve the authority or any other entity,” according to the text of the statement.

It considered that “the intervention of the President of the Republic is part of a context of censorship of the public media, sexism and the undermining of the principle of pluralism, diversity and objectivity”, especially in Tunisian television and radio and the TAP news agency, in addition to exclusionary practices, in particular the prevention of civil society and political forces from appearing on Tunisian television, which is funded by taxpayers’ money.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

A harvest policy will be included in all future fisheries management plans in Seychelles, said a top government official on Thursday.

The announcement followed the Cabinet of Minister’s approval of the Harvest Strategy Policy and the management standards for Seychelles’ fisheries on Wednesday.

The policy expects to underpin objectives to ensure that individual fisheries in Seychelles are able to be best managed according to their particular biological characteristics and the associated socio-economic objectives.

The principal secretary for fisheries, Roy Clarisse, said: “What this means is that in all the fisheries management plans in Seychelles, the harvest policy component will be included.”

He said that in addition, it will provide a framework that guides the development and implementation of harvest strategies for all fisheries in the Seychelles.

“A harvest strategy indicates the limit to fish, so that the stock remains sustainable by establishing limits so that when they are in dangerous levels, the rules start kicking in so that we may begin to control the efforts being made,” explained Clarisse.

He added that this may be through either the number of boats or days or even through seasons when fishing is allowed.

“Before stocks are depleted to a certain level we will have rules in place. Of course, we have consulted all the stakeholders as this is a participatory programme to ensure that we agree on where our fish stocks are and decide on what measures we should have in place while we are fishing,” added the principal secretary.

Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean, has recently intensified its efforts to protect its fish stock through its fisheries management plan.

Clarisse said that “We are also working on the revision of the Fisheries Act, which is in its final stages, and that should provide a legal framework. The fisheries laws also have the legal component dealing with the management aspect, which also includes the harvest strategy.”

The new addition to the regulations also provides standards to enable Seychelles to meet best practices for implementing harvest strategies in fishery management planning.

With this new measure, the authorities can now take action depending on whether the fish stocks increase or decrease.

Clarisse said that it is important that we have the participation of all local partners and that “the most important aspect is the information that they provide so that the authorities can have a reliable stock assessment.”

“This we can all agree on the amount of stock, and at what point we will stop fishing so that it remains sustainable and can continue reproducing,” explained Clarisse.

“The positive side is that we assess the situation with the information provided by fishers if there is a possibility to fish more,” he added.

“When fishers go out to fish, the aim is for optimal fishing that is not only economically viable, but also sustainable.”

The measure also allows for room to increase or decrease fishing with the agreement of the fishers, so that “when the agreed upon parameters are reached, the authorities and fisheries do not have to re-think of what decisions they will have to take”.

The harvest strategy is the information the authorities collect on the different fisheries types.

“This is a measure that will allow for control for the various fishing happening in the Seychelles waters,” said Clarisse.’

To properly implement the new measure, SFA will also need to have more manpower – which it has also informed the Cabinet of Ministers that it needs to build up its capacity.

Clarisse explained that “it becomes the work of the board of SFA, who now has the responsibility to ensure that SFA has the capacity in terms of human and technical capacity to implement it.”

He concluded by saying that this is a gradual process and will be implemented in terms of priority areas first, such as beginning with the spanner crabs, lobsters and sea cucumber fishing.

Fisheries is the second top contributor to the Seychelles’ economy.

Source: Seychelles News Agency

With the aim of creating an opportunity for Seychellois craftspeople to display their products as well as provide business opportunities for them, a four-day exhibition of local artisanal works is being held at the Carrefour des Arts in the capital Victoria.

Under the theme “Reviv Lartizana Seselwa” – Creole for “Relive Seychellois Craftwork”- the exhibition was organised by the National Arts and Crafts Council (NACC) in collaboration with the crafts steering committee.

The exhibition, which is open until August 4, is made up of an array of craftwork from over 20 artisans of two groups – Group de Artisans Seychelles and Cooperative des Artisans. With all the exhibits on sale, items have been crafted from vacoa, fiber, raffia, bamboo, wood, sand and coconut.

There are also ceramic, textile and crochet works among others on display.

Albest said NACC wants to inspire the Seychellois youths. (Seychelles Nation) Photo License: CC-BY

In an interview with SNA, the person responsible for craft development at NACC, Juliette Albest, shared that as the theme states, the aim of the exhibition is to relive artisanal work.

“We also want to inspire our youth, showing them that artisanal crafts are of high quality and they can make a living out of it. We want to inspire them to create. We would also like more Seychellois to support local work as well as buy them. There are many talents in our country,” said Albest.

Stopping before the work of Florent Servina, a 71-year-old artisan, Albest shared that the former policeman recently conducted two workshops with students from the Seychelles Institute of Technology (SIT) and Seychelles Institute of Arts and Design (SIAD), showing them how to carve into coconuts.

The work of the student is also displayed in the exhibition.

For over 40 years, Servina has been crafting with coconut, recreating different animals – tortoise, bird, monkey, and bat among others.

Albest outlined that the exhibition is being held in line with the mandate of NACC, which is to develop this sector.

There is the possibility to showcase work produced during workshops at schools and district level. (Seychelles Nation) Photo License: CC-BY

“With the creation of the crafts steering committee, it has been outlined that there is the need to pass on artisanal work knowledge. They are putting together a plan on how to meet with agency and relevant authorities to find solutions to this challenge,” she said.

NACC is also working on other projects that will help achieve its mandate.

“There is the possibility to showcase work produced during workshops at schools and district level that are currently being conducted. Soon there will be a young Creolophone artist exhibition in which pupils from different schools will be participating. This will be held in October as part of the Creole Festival,” said Albest.

Source: Seychelles News Agency