Tunesien – eneste livskraftige barn af Det Arabiske Forår, men…

Challenges facing democracy in Tunisia

Conveners: DIIS, LO/FTF Council, Confederation of Danish Industries in cooperation with the Danish-Arab Partnership Programme

Background

Tunisia is the only country in the Arab World that has managed to turn the uprising in 2011 into a genuine transition to democracy. The young democratic institutions do, however, face a number of challenges.

Terrorism has crippled the country’s vital tourist industry, unemployment is still high and social protests still continue. How do Tunisia move on from here? What social and economic reforms are needed to bring the country forward and stabilize the young democracy?

In order to discuss these questions, we are honored to host three distinguished guests:

Houcine Abassi, chairman of Tunisia’s influential labour union, UGTT

Khelil Ghariani, member of the executive bureau of Tunisia’s conference of industries (UTICA) and responsible for social affairs

Mahmoud Ben Romdhane, minister for social affairs in the current Tunisian government and a former human rights activist

UGTT and UTICA received the Nobel Peace Prize last year together with two other civil society organizations for their contribution to the democratization process

The debate is moderated by Kasper Ly Netterstrøm who is a doctoral student at DIIS and works on Tunisia’s transition to democracy.