April 23, 2019
Working with 33 municipalities nationwide, the Tunisia Accountability, Decentralization, and Effective Municipalities (TADAEEM) project has prioritized services in 31 municipalities and implemented data collection in approximately half. Most partner municipalities chose to focus on solid waste management, public lighting or roads.
TADAEEM held its first regional workshops in Mahdia on April 16-17 and in Sousse on April 23-24 to provide an opportunity for mayors and municipal staff to reflect on the current state of services and data collected together with TADAEEM. The events united diverse stakeholders invested in the project to improve municipal services, including the Ministry of Local Affairs and the Environment (MALE), municipality staff, governmental agency representatives and international development partners. In addition to discussing the current state of services and recommendations, participants shared insights and feedback on the TADAEEM process as well as common issues. This emphasizes the project’s comprehensive approach to meet citizens’ needs for municipal service improvement.
The MALE Minister opened the Sousse Workshop explaining their collaboration with TADAEEM. The workshops included breakout group sessions for knowledge sharing between municipalities and participating stakeholders and addressed critical questions for moving forward. TADAEEM opened the workshops presenting a summary of data and recommendations pertaining to solid waste management, public lighting and roads across all municipalities. Sector panel discussions provided an opportunity for municipal staff to present their perspectives and lessons learned. Participants expressed that the rich exchange of knowledge during these workshops will help manage service challenges more effectively and find solutions for identified obstacles. A report including expert and participant recommendations by sector was shared with participants for their reflection prior to TADAEEM’s national workshop later this year.
