Stories
Wednesday, March 10, 2021
Kaouther Kotersi knows a thing or two about determination and resilience. She was only 13 years old when she was involved in an accident that resulted in her losing her ability to walk. This marked the beginning of a long and difficult journey to fulfil her ambitions. Facing these challenges head on, at 30 years of age, Kotersi is now a member of the Municipal Council of Djerba Ajim, and a teacher at the Djerba Ajim Organization for the Intellectually Disabled.
I am Generation Equality: Racha Haffar, anti-trafficking activist
Wednesday, November 13, 2019
Billions of people across the world stand on the right side of history every day. They speak up, take a stand, mobilize, and take big and small actions to advance women’s rights. This is Generation Equality. Racha Haffar, 30, is an award-winning women rights activist from Tunisia, and the founder and president of ‘Not 4 Trade,’ the first anti-human trafficking NGO in Tunisia. She is member of UN Women’s Beijing+25 Youth Task Force.
From where I stand: “Equality between men and women…is a moral imperative”
Friday, July 12, 2019
Taher Sellami, a young entrepreneur and business student, is striving to use innovative technologies to drive social change in Tunisia and worldwide.
Reforming the laws that forced women to marry their rapists
Tuesday, June 25, 2019
Years of collective mobilization, strategizing and innovation by women’s rights groups culminated in the repeal or reform of archaic laws across the Northern Africa and Western Asia region
Friday, April 26, 2019
Maher Khalifi, a young Tunisian engineer, has developed a project that improves the coverage of Tunisia’s social protection system for rural women. The Tunisian Government has agreed to use a new application dubbed "Ahmini", which should allow 500,000 rural women to be integrated into social assistance system, allowing them access to benefits such as pensions. He is attending the Tunis Forum on Gender Equality (24 – 26 April), co-hosted by the Governments of Sweden and Tunisia in collaboration with UNDP and UN Women. The Forum is the first of many global meetings leading up to the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action.
Thursday, April 25, 2019
Hana Faidi, 23, is a project consultant for an economic empowerment project at the Libyan Women’s Forum based in Tripoli, Libya. She also hones women’s negotiation and mediation skills. She is among the 500 participants of the Tunis Forum on Gender Equality (24 – 26 April) to take stock of the progress made in the implementation of the Beijing Declaration, nearly 25 years on.
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
Durga Sob is a Nepalese activist who founded the Feminist Dalit Organization (FEDO) in 1994, just ahead of the adoption of the visionary Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. She is among the 500 activists meeting in Tunisia from 24-26 April for the Tunis Forum on Gender Equality to take stock of the progress made in the implementation of the Beijing Declaration, nearly 25 years on.
Take five: We need “initiatives to raise the status of women, led by Muslim leaders”
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
Bukuru Elie Khalfan, President and Legal Representative of the Northern Corridor Alliance of Imams for Humanitarian Development (AICNDH) in Burundi. Through his involvement in the #ImamsForShe campaign—launched in 2015 by the Muslims for Progressive Values Initiative in the spirit of UN Women’s #HeForShe campaign—he promotes women's rights and access to education, as well as women's empowerment through cooperatives.
The Tunis Forum on gender equality
Friday, April 12, 2019
Women, youth, champions of gender equality from all corners of the world gather in Tunis to take stock of progress made on women’s rights, leading up to the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. This will be the first of many global meetings leading up to the year 2020, calling for actions to accelerate progress and protect the hard-won gains of women’s rights.
Historic leap in Tunisia: Women make up 47 per cent of local government
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
Seven years after the 2011 Revolution and four years after the adoption of the Constitution, women now make up 47 per cent of the local council positions in Tunisia following the May 2018 elections. The dramatic increase in women members is the result of a 2016 electoral law that includes the principles of parity and alternation between men and women on candidate lists for all elections.
Sunday, March 11, 2018
UN Women, in partnership with the League of Arab States and the Ministry of Women, Family and Children of Tunisia, convened the Arab region intergovernmental preparatory meeting ahead of the 62nd session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW62) to be held at the United Nations headquarters in New York from 12 – 23 March.
From where I stand: “It would be a better world if women felt safe in public spaces”
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
Salma Belhassine is an activist from Tunisia and part of the Youth Leadership Programme, an initiative by UNDP in partnership with UN Women. She recently attended the ECOSOC Youth Forum at UN Headquarters in New York and spoke to UN Women about her efforts to end sexual harassment in public spaces.
Tunisia passes historic law to end violence against women and girls
Thursday, August 3, 2017
Tunisia made historic strides by passing its first national law to combat violence against women on 26 July, 2017.
From where I stand: “Women have to be at the heart of the Africa of tomorrow”
Thursday, July 20, 2017
Mehrezia Maïza Labidi chaired many of the plenary sessions that led to the birth of Tunisia’s new constitution, which includes a clause guaranteeing women’s rights. A vocal advocate for young women's participation and leadership in politics, she took part in the High-Level Women Leaders’ Forum for Africa’s Transformation and the launch of the African Women Leaders’ Network.
Leveraging the Technovation Challenge, Tunisian girls start coding
Monday, April 17, 2017
Girls across Tunisia are getting ready for the third edition of the Technovation Challenge, a global initiative that invites girls aged 10 – 18 years to learn and apply technology to solve problems within their communities. Working in teams, girls build mobile applications and use business planning to launch these apps, supported by mentors. Some 70 teams and more than 300 applicants have registered for the 2017 national pitch in Tunisia, and finalists would be announced in May 2017.
From where I stand: “One day, I want to wake up to find gender equality is real”
Friday, February 24, 2017
Hayfa Sdiri has created a platform for Tunisian youth, connecting entrepreneurs with ideas, skills and funders.
Tunisia moves closer to achieving gender equality in politics
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
Tunisia’s Parliament has approved an amendment ensuring that women have greater representation in local politics. This amendment, which applies to both municipal and regional elections, includes a proposal for “horizontal and vertical” gender parity in Article 49 of the electoral law.
Friday, October 9, 2015
Today as the evidence grows that inclusive peace processes are likelier to end in sustainable peace, UN Women applauds the decision of the Nobel Peace Committee to honour the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet.
Tunisia’s new Constitution: a breakthrough for women’s rights
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Following the revolution and months of protests starting in 2011, Tunisia’s Constituent Assembly adopted a new Constitution on 26 January 2014, considered a harbinger of change for gender equality in the Arab States.
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Remarks by UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka on security and women’s experiences in Egypt, Yemen and Syria, at a General Assembly side event on “Inclusive transition: The role of women in political transition in the MENA region,” New York, 24 September 2013.