I am pleased the IDEMA programme enables, VNG International and CILG to share our knowledge and experience of decentralisation and local governance with Tunisia. I really hope the programme contributes to a more accountable and inclusive governance and enables the Government of Tunisia’s a long-term decentralization process.” Pieter Jeroense, Tunis.
In Tunisia, the implementation of a decentralization policy was a response to demands post January 2011. They called for more socio-spatial equity, dignity and democratization of local governance. They also denounced the social and economic injustice, as well as the imbalance between the regions. Thus, the Constitution of 27 January 2014 has made decentralization one of the cardinal principles on which the new territorial organization of the country is based.
On April 11, 2019 the new IDEMA programme (Decentralization and Effective Municipalities Initiative) was launched in Tunis in the presence of senior Tunisian government officials, Ton Lansink, Ambassador of the Netherlands, national and international partners and the Deputy Managing Director of the VNG: Pieter Jeroense. The project runs until July 2022 and will target 12 municipalities: Douar Hicher, Raoued, Ain Drahem, Béja, El Krib, Thibar, Bir Hfay, Hessi Ferid, Benguerdanne, Dehiba, Boughrara and Jemna.
Pieter Jeroense was able to discover the scene of local governance in Tunisia as well as the contribution of VNG International and CILG-VNG International, daughter company of VNG. At the same time, he was able to reiterate the support of the Netherlands and the VNG to Tunisia by emphasizing that the IDEMA programme is part of the technical assistance that VNG International and CILG-VNG International have been providing for years in the process of decentralization and local governance in Tunisia also welcoming this new collaboration reinforcing the already strong links between the Netherlands and Tunisia. As a matter of fact, throughout the programmes Dutch municipal expertise will be deployed in all three components of IDEMA targeting 12 Tunisian municipalities:
Chloé Krantz