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CAUTION: The following links and
accompanying text have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation
in Tunisia in the early years of the 21st Century. Some of these links
may lead to websites that present allegations that are unsubstantiated,
misleading or even false. No attempt has been made to validate
their authenticity or to verify their content. HOW TO USE THIS WEBPAGE Students If you are looking
for material to use in a term-paper, you are advised to scan the postings on
this page and others to see which aspects of poverty are of particular
interest to you. You might be
interested in exploring the relationship between distribution of labor and
per-capita GDP, for example. Perhaps
your paper could focus on life expectancy or infant mortality. Other factors of interest might be
unemployment, literacy, access to basic services, etc. On the other hand, you might choose to
include some of the possible outgrowths of poverty such as Human Trafficking,
Street Children,
or even Prostitution. There is a lot to the subject of
Poverty. Scan other countries as well
as this one. Draw comparisons between
activity in adjacent countries and/or regions. Meanwhile, check out some of the Term-Paper resources
that are available on-line. Teachers Check out some of
the Resources
for Teachers attached to this website. *** Extreme Weather *** Tunisia
is experiencing changes in its climate due to global warming. Historical climate data shows that extreme
weather events are becoming more frequent and intense. While the exact
details of future extreme weather events in Tunisia may vary, projections
indicate that the risk of heavy rainfall and flooding may increase. – adapted from Microsoft BING Copilot *** ARCHIVES *** The World Factbook - Tunisia U.S. Central Intelligence Agency CIA www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/ts.html [accessed 17
November 2020] World Factbook
website has moved to ---> www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/tunisia/ [accessed 11 January 2021] ECONOMIC OVERVIEW - its economy –
structurally designed to favor vested interests – faced an array of challenges
exposed by the 2008 global financial crisis that helped precipitate the 2011
Arab Spring revolution GDP -
per capita (PPP): $11,900 (2017
est.) Labor
force - by occupation: agriculture:
14.8% industry:
33.2% services: 51.7% (2014 est.) Unemployment
rate: 15.5% (2017
est.) Population
below poverty line: 15.5% (2010
est.) Maternal
mortality rate: 43 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.) Infant
mortality rate: total: 11 deaths/1,000 live births Life
expectancy at birth: total population: 76.3 years Drinking
water source: improved: total: 98.2% of
population Physicians
density: 1.3 physicians/1,000 population (2017) Sanitation
facility access: improved: total: 95.9% of
population Electricity
access: electrification - total population: 100% (2016) The
Borgen Project - Tunisia borgenproject.org/category/tunisia/ [accessed 20 January
2021] The Borgen Project works with U.S. leaders to utilize the United
States’ platform behind efforts toward improving living conditions for the
world’s poor. It is an innovative,
national campaign that is working to make poverty a focus of U.S. foreign
policy. It believes that leaders of
the most powerful nation on earth should be doing more to address global
poverty. From ending segregation to providing women with the right to vote,
nearly every wrong ever righted in history was achieved through advocacy. The
Borgen Project addresses the big picture, operating
at the political level advancing policies and programs that improve living
conditions for those living on less than $1 per day. ~
Women’s Rights In Tunisia And Entrepreneurship borgenproject.org/womens-rights-in-tunisia-2/ ~
Poverty In Tunisia After The Arab Spring borgenproject.org/tunisia-after-the-arab-spring/ ~
6 Facts About Healthcare In Tunisia borgenproject.org/6-facts-about-healthcare-in-tunisia/ ~
Tunisian Poverty After The Arab Spring borgenproject.org/tunisian-poverty/ ~
World Bank’s Project Restores Tunisian Oases borgenproject.org/world-bank-restores-tunisian-oases/ ~
6 Facts About Healthcare In Tunisia borgenproject.org/healthcare-in-tunisia/ ~
Efforts To Reduce Homelessness In Tunisia borgenproject.org/homelessness-in-tunisia/ ~
7 Facts About Education In Tunisia borgenproject.org/7-facts-about-education-in-tunisia/ ~
Top 10 Facts About Hunger In Tunisia borgenproject.org/top-10-facts-about-hunger-in-tunisia/ What
Lies Behind the Protests in Tunisia? Abdul Rahman, NEWSclick, 25 Jan 2021 www.newsclick.in/the-people-want-fall-regime-lies-behind-protests-tunisia [accessed 25 January 2021] LACK OF
STATE RESPONSE TO RISING POVERTY AND UNEMPLOYMENT -- In
a country where the tourism sector is the largest employer after agriculture,
global lockdowns have greatly affected the sector. The decline in tourist
inflow, which would otherwise have peaked between June and October, led to
massive seasonal and permanent unemployment.
Tunisia’s
economy shrank almost 9% last year – the largest contraction since its
independence in 1953. The official rate of unemployment is around 16%.
However, the majority of those employed are in seasonal and temporary jobs.
Unemployment in the age group of 15 to 25 is over 36%. Though the government
has tried some ad hoc measures like banning companies from firing employees
during the lockdowns, these are not sustainable. The rising prices of
essential commodities have added to the woes of the poor and working class
people at a time when incomes have shrunk. The
lack of income and employment opportunities has led to the largest exodus of
Tunisians from the country in recent years. As per the Tunisian Forum for
Economic and Social Rights, the country saw a massive jump in migration last
year, with 12,883 Tunisians leaving for Italy alone. In 2019, the total
number of migrants to Italy was just 2,654. The real numbers are likely to be
higher because a large number of migrants are unaccounted. Hundreds Arrested in Tunisia After ‘Facade Democracy’ Protests Jihen Laghmari and Souhail Karam, Bloomberg, 18 January 2021 [accessed 19 January 2021] Similar
protests against the lack of opportunity broke out in Sidi
Bouzid in late 2019 after a young man set himself
on fire, echoing the act of suicidal despair by a street vendor there in
December 2010 that sparked the Arab Spring uprisings. The powerful
UGTT trade union called for the demonstrations to end to avoid a violent
escalation while acknowledging the “legitimacy of the anger simmering among
Tunisian youths, worn out by unemployment, marginalization, poverty,
discrimination and social inequality.” The
World Bank in Tunisia www.worldbank.org/en/country/tunisia/overview [accessed 21 April 2021] Tunisia
remains a country of contrasts: while important progress has been made on political
transition toward an open, democratic system of governance, economic
transition has not kept pace. Looking back a few years … Advameg, Inc., Encyclopedia of the Nations www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Africa/Tunisia-ECONOMY.html [accessed 12 January 2021] Tunisians
live a middle class life-style with almost 80% of household owning their own
home. After a
period of socialist economic policies Tunisia began a structural reform
program with the IMF designed to encourage a market-based economy.
Privatization of state-owned enterprises began in 1987 with 67 of the
government's 189 companies privatized through 1995. Despite
the beneficial effects that privatizing state-owned enterprises and
introducing market reforms can have on the economy (including increasing
foreign investment), there are drawbacks. Unemployment remained high in 2003,
and the government acknowledged that jobs were being lost through
privatization. All
material used herein reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107
for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE RESPECT
COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT ARTICLES. Cite this webpage as: Prof. Martin
Patt, "Poverty - Tunisia", http://gvnet.com/poverty/Tunisia.htm,
[accessed <date>] |
