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In light of the political transition in Tunisia, the World Bank Group (WBG) is in the process of developing a new Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for the 2016-2020 grant period. This CPF will not only guide the WBG’s operations in Tunisia but it also aims to support the Tunisian Government development plan detailed in the Orientation Note for 2016-2020 published in July 2015.
The first step was the publication of an extended summary of the Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) in May 2015 by the WBG in Arabic, English and French. The SCD identified key challenges for development in Tunisia. Moreover, it served as a working document for the in-country consultations the WBG conducted with various stakeholders in Tunisian society including civil society representatives, economists, academics, and parliamentarians from across Tunisia. These in-country consultations were well-received by both WBG officials and Tunisian stakeholders. The final SCD document (in English) was published in the website at the end of June 2015.
The second step of this process was the publication of the first draft of the CPF for Tunisia on October 19 2015 in English and French in addition to a brief summary in Arabic. The CPF highlighted the main pillars of the WBG’s new partnership strategy for Tunisia. Once again, the WBG engaged Tunisian stakeholders to discuss the draft and conducted seven in-country consultations from November 2nd 2015 to December 2nd 2015. The first two sessions were to discuss thematic pillars in Zaghouan, a small town in Northeastern Tunisia, and Beja, an agricultural city in Northwestern Tunisia. Moreover, five global sessions were conducted in the capital, Tunis, and southern cities such as Tataouine, Medenine, Jerba and Tozeur.
This statement titled “Note générale de la société civile sur le Cadre de Partenariat Pays présenté par la Banque Mondiale pour la Tunisie 2016-2020”, concludes that the second draft does not address all the issues in order to provide an inclusive economic framework for the current Tunisian context. The main critique is that this second draft is based upon the Orientation Note proposed by the Tunisian government in July 2015. The note heavily relies on public private partnerships (PPPs) that will further deepen social issues such as unemployment and regional disparities. The statement also mentions that PPPs work against the three main demands of the 2011 revolution, i.e. Employment, Freedom and National Dignity, and neglect the disenfranchised populations in Tunisia that are predominantly young, rural and women. This statement also includes a list of asks regarding each CPF pillar of the WBG overarching goal for the 2016-2020 period, i.e. “support Tunisia to renew its social contract by defining a fair economic model with opportunities for all”.
Tunisian civil society has relayed this statement to WBG officials in the country office, the regional office as well as to high ranking officials during President Kim’s visit to Tunisia. The final CPF draft will be voted on during the WBG Board of Directors meeting in May 2016. Tunisian civil society is hopeful that the final draft will include their asks as scheduling a round of consultations on the final CPF document is highly unlikely.
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This article by Muna Rehman originally appeared on bicusa.org on May 06, 2016 at 08:06PM
