Highlighting the principle of leaving no one behind

Objective

Affirm the principle of leaving no one behind as a basic principle for achieving the 2030 Agenda and its Goals.

Overview

Tunisia has committed to the principle of leaving no one behind in its development plans. The 2021 VNR included a chapter dedicated to presenting the situation of religious and ethnic minorities in Tunisia and the most vulnerable groups, especially women and girls in rural areas, women victims of violence, children, young people, persons with disabilities, migrants and refugees.

The report presented the main challenges that needed to be addressed, which included the gap between women and men in access to the labour market and economic resources; violence against women; disparities between urban and rural areas; cases of verbal, physical or sexual abuse of children, mostly committed within the family; population ageing and its impact on pension systems; social and economic marginalization of young people, amid high unemployment rates and irregular migration; and the absence of data on persons with disabilities, which hinders their full and effective integration.

The chapter on leaving no one behind included some of the achievements and positive developments related to vulnerable groups, including:

• The high percentage of women graduating from scientific fields of higher education.
• Near-universal access to education in primary and middle schools.
• Programmes that empower rural women, such as the national programme “Raeda” to promote women’s entrepreneurship in rural areas.
• The May 2019 circular allowing refugees registered with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) who have a regular employment contract or are self-employed to register in the social security system of Tunisia.
• Law No. 61 of 2016 on preventing and combating trafficking in persons, which aims to prevent all forms of exploitation of persons, especially women and children.
• Law No. 50 of 2018 on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination.

Challenges

Limited capacity to implement development strategies aimed at empowering vulnerable groups.

Implementation Phase

Guiding Principles