ATCE publishes overview of twenty years of Change

On the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the Change, the Tunisian External Communication Agency (ATCE) published three booklets, some fifty pages, which present facts, data, statistics, landmarks, dates and analyses on the major achievements the country accomplished under the President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali's leadership.

 TUNIS - On the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the Change, the Tunisian External Communication Agency (ATCE) published three booklets, some fifty pages, which present facts, data, statistics, landmarks, dates and analyses on the major achievements the country accomplished under the President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali's leadership.

The first booklet, titled "Tunisia, an Overview," covers a wide range of themes and issues: the Republic of Tunisia from a variety of standpoints, including in particular the country's history, government, foreign policy, economy, society, tourism, culture and media and sports.

In the second booklet, the "Main Social and Economic Indicators," looks at such files like improvement in standards of living, the population policy, health indicators, women, education, employment, economic growth, boosting production, opening up the economy and promoting the information and communication society. In the third booklet, which is entirely devoted to "Women of Tunisia," ATCE reminds of the initiatives and measures taken by President Ben Ali to "open up larger prospects for women and offer them wider access to various educational and occupational fields...."

In the first booklet, ATCE looks at the Republic of Tunisia from a variety of perspectives. The political system of the overview notably highlights Tunisia's entry into a new stage of social and political development, with President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali's accession, in 1987, to the highest executive office, pointing up the Head of State's decision to abolish lifetime presidency and the holding of free and fair multiparty legislative elections in 1989, 1994, 1999 and 2004.

This section of the booklet also emphasises the Head of State's February 13, 2002 proposal of the far-reaching constitutional reform designed to introduce deep changes in the country's political life and in the process of building "Tomorrow's Republic," as part of the consolidation of the components of the republican system, the society of freedom and the reinforcement of democracy, pluralism, civil liberties and human rights.

With respect to foreign policy, the booklet highlights Tunisia's constant moderate and balanced diplomacy, while being committed to the United Nations' Charter and international legality.

It also stresses the special interest Tunisia takes in the building of the Arab Maghreb grouping as a constant strategic choice, underscoring the New Era's will to reassert the Tunisian people's Arab and Islamic belonging and vitalise relations with all Arab countries.

This chapter also reminds of Tunisia's active efforts to serve security, stability and development in the African continent and promote co-operation and co-development between the two Mediterranean shores, in addition to its important role within the United Nations.

The first booklet also reviews the major presidential international initiatives over the past two decades, such as President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali's 1993 call for the holding of an international conference on terrorism, under the auspices of the United Nations.

This conference would adopt an international anti-terrorism code of ethics which all the states would be committed to.

It also reminds of the call he issued in 1999 for setting up a World Solidarity Fund which the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted on December 20, 2002, in a resolution providing for its establishment.

These initiatives also include the proclamation by the United Nations, in 2005, of the "International Year for Sports and Physical Education" on President Ben Ali's initiative, so as to promote the role of sports and physical education for all, in addition to Tunisia's call in 1998 for convening a World Summit on the Information Society, under the UN auspices, the second phase of which was hosted by Tunisia in November 2005.

The chapter on Tunisia's economy points out that the country focused, due its limited natural resources, on strengthening its human resources.

Hence, the bulk of the national budget has been allocated to education, healthcare, housing and social services. It also reminds, in this respect, of some indicators which evidence the remarkable increase in the per capita income, which went up from 960 in 1987 to 4,294.6 dinars in 2007; in addition to an average growth rate of 5 percentage points which Tunisia has been regularly recording since 1987.

The first booklet points out, in the "Education and Training" chapter, that the State expenses in the fields of education and training have recorded an average annual rise of 10 pc during the period of 1987-2007, which is the highest rate worldwide; and the State is deeply concerned to further enhance the human capital by ensuring the young graduates' socio-professional integration.

The chapter on culture and communication shows the extent to which Tunisia is the crossroads of various cultures and civilisations.

It is also known for its rich cultural heritage and the valuable contributions it made to universal civilisations.

The media landscape offers great diversity and pluralism: some 266 national publications and nearly 1100 foreign newspapers and magazines are distributed in Tunisia.

There are more than 1060 Tunisian journalists and more than 70 foreign correspondents practicing their profession in Tunisia.

The Tunisian media landscape has been enriched with the launching, in November 2003, of the first private radio station, "Radio Mosaïque FM," the operation of the first private television station in Tunisia, "Hannibal TV," in February 2005, and the launching, in July 2005, of the second private radio station, "Radio Jawhara" station.

A "Cultural Radio" station was created on May 29, 2006.

A third private radio station, "Ezzeitouna Radio for the Holy Koran," started broadcasting its programmes on September 13, 2007.

The section devoted to youth and sports sheds light on the gains and achievements which reflect President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali's special care for youths.

In this connection, ATCE's emphasis is laid on the key presidential measures that target this category, and on the regional and international sports events Tunisia played host to during the last twenty years.

The second booklet, that focuses on the most important economic and social indicators, is a wealth of figures that materialise the efforts exerted since the Change in matters of improving the living standards and boosting the social gains in the health, employment and education fields.

The booklet also underlines the State's efforts in stepping up the economic development pace and preserving the general economic balances and diversifying the country's economic bases. The third booklet, which looks at the Tunisian women's gains in the Change Era, highlights women's key position in the societal design initiated by the November 7 Change.

The President of the Republic's decisions enabled Tunisia to achieve an excellent ranking in this field within its civilisational environment.

In this connection, the ATCE document cites the main measures and initiatives undertaken during the last two decades to evidence the efforts deployed by New Era Tunisia to open up broader prospects for women, to offer them wider access to various educational and occupational fields, as well as to high responsibility and decision-making positions, demonstrating in this way that Tunisian women are equal to men in all development fields. The booklet also lists the different revisions brought to the Personal Status Code.

TAP