Core area “Peaceful and inclusive societies” Responsive services for the people

The constitution adopted in 2014 envisaged the restructuring of administrative authorities at the regional and municipal levels in Tunisia and a transfer of responsibilities to lower administrative tiers. The new constitution came into force in 2022; it is currently unclear what will happen with the decentralisation process going forward. The BMZ assisted selected cities and municipalities in recent years in fulfilling their new tasks with a view to enabling the delivery of services that are more reliable, more transparent and more responsive to people's needs, and with the aim of ensuring greater political participation.

Among other things, Germany's support has helped to set up citizens advice bureaus and to repair municipal buildings. Municipal authorities have received advice on organising their administrative procedures, on setting up municipal networks – for waste management, for example – and on budgetary planning and accountability.

A special focus was put on improving the opportunities for young people to get involved at the local level, for instance through community youth councils. An important goal of German-Tunisian cooperation activities is to foster people's trust in public institutions and thus strengthen the political system.

The participation of people in municipal policy-making has already been significantly increased. In addition, access to municipal services was improved for 530,000 Tunisians in the period from 2011 to 2019. Against the backdrop of powers being centralised and concentrated in the hands of the President, the BMZ will continuously monitor its engagement in this core area.