Tunisia: At this moment in time when the country tries to take control of its destiny, the new challenges ahead of us.

Undoubtedly, the extreme abundance of international news in recent months will turn 2011 into the year of revolutions. Some of them have drawn worldwide attention, while some others, less exposed, less violent or more subtle have been totally forgotten by the media.
But of all the Arab revolutions, it is the one that took place in Tunisia that will be remembered in History books of future generations as the one that opened the way for new realms of possibility. This great and sudden popular movement was able to vibrate throughout the region, dragging in its wake a gush of mixed hope, uncertainty, joy and fear. A revolution needs to be read in history, and for the time being, no one knows to what extent a real democratic transition will take place. 

With the downfall of Ben Ali, difficult economic and social realities, under-estimated so far, also unfolded in front of the eyes of international solidarity actors such as Triangle G H. In the field, Olivier Routeau carried-out an exploration mission revealing in fact the numerous challenges that the country will have to face within a political context remaining difficult.

A democratic victory not quite achieved.

« The time of euphoria seems now to give way to that of relative concern about the future of Tunisia -explains Olivier Routeau- notably regarding the increased popularity of forces some would not hesitate to consider as « extremist ». A vast majority of Tunisians feel an immense pride for what they have been able to accomplish peacefully, but they are at the same time very lucid regarding limits, in terms of democratic maturity of a people that has known nothing but authoritarian regimes (…) Fears about the future are numerous, and the country’s capacity to overcome them will really determine if the revolution will give birth to demographic transition or if Tunisia will encounter a new dark period ».
It is above all the difficulty of civil society to structure itself that appeared at the aftermath of the revolution, considering institutions and their participation in the new political debates, in which everyone wishes to take part. At the time of the visit of Olivier Routeau on the field, 49 official parties had already emerged: «Rally calls have little echo, when no one can curb his desire to enter the debate, to express his opinion, and to participate in the country’s reconstruction », a division still strongly prone to favor the sole organized political groups: those inherited from « Benalism » and so-called extremist parties.
In this context of mixed hope and uncertainty, new international solidarity actions emerge. In fact, the days following the Tunisian revolution were also marked by the massive influx of humanitarian actors wishing to be ready to welcome the flood of refugees fleeing the neighboring revolution in Libya.

In times when, from uprisings to revolts, priorities have accumulated for NGOs, at least 79 different organizations crossed the Tunisian-Libyan border to handle the flow of refugees fleeing fighting in the neighboring country. At the same time, the real economic and social situation of Tunisia started to unfold in front of the eyes of NGOs, especially that of the countryside. A crisis situation which had hitherto

escaped  everyone’s notice, including that of certain Tunisians coming from more favored areas, too long deluded with the propaganda prevailing until then, and having always praised the agricultural wealth of less touristic areas in the country.

An economy to rebuild: Tunisian countryside in sight.

Travelling through Tunisia today is moving from one world to another, in a country split in two, with on one side rich coastal tourism and industries, and on the other side the center of the country and its countryside, ignored by the economic policy prevailing until today. In concrete terms, difficulties are numerous, and vary according to the region. « The major problem however probably remains the access to employment. Some areas are indeed significantly affected by unemployment, from 60 to 75% in some cities, according to estimates of the population itself, in the absence of any official statistics on the question » explains Olivier Routeau insisting in his status report on the other issue apparently affecting the region: water.

Scarcity of the resource itself and lack of means favoring access to the latter add to a widely criticized water resource management. Tunisians in fact denounce its illegal use by the Algerian neighbor, via a certain number of water reservoirs (dams in particular). In addition, the succession of bad seasons in recent years really killed off the numerous seasonal workers of agricultural areas.

The economic withdrawal from the countryside such as the Center and the North West of the country, nevertheless rich in resources, has also been the result of a severe lack of product processing facilities. This is the case in the governorate of Sidi Bouzid, where an important part of the milk production is doomed to be discarded for lack of adequate storing capacities and of any processing facility nearby.

« Another problem, related to agriculture, is the lack of structuring of the sector with regard to small producers and the resulting vulnerability of the latter », says Olivier Routeau making a statement of a corrupted system that has always favored, in defiance of the law, a minority being in favor with the power, in order to develop large farms to its greater benefit. « The impossibility for small producers to merge and/or associate, under the former regime, prevented any questioning of the system in general and of reported infringements they could be the victims of ». Fortified by this knowledge, Triangle wished to make its stance, beyond emergency, in a field neglected until then.

Observe and understand in order to act more efficiently: Triangle is making its stance.

« It is obvious that power will not be able to do everything » –Explains Patrick Verbuggen, co-founder of TGH, for who the future work in partnership with the Tunisians is above all a matter of solidarity with « those Mediterranean countries which are so close geographically, historically and culturally ».
Triangle wants to position its action as a support process, not as assistance. For the NGO, as pointed out by the exploratory mission, « The skills and projects are most of the time already existing, most of the work in terms of development consisting in supporting these initiatives, hence the relevance to focus part of the project on the structuring of producers cooperatives and on the supporting of local initiatives ».

Given the lack of infrastructures identified by this observation mission, the NGO’s future projects should be able to identify two pilot initiatives at this level with a view to modelize approaches that are generating local employment, to reevaluate products’ added value to the benefit of producers, but also to better use resources in some cases.