The USAID Funded TADAEEM project supported Tunisia’s national strategy launch on construction waste management by providing support to the Ministry of Local Affairs and Environment (MALE) and partner municipalities during the Megara international conference held in Tunis on October 25-26, 2018.
The Megara conference drew a large group representing Tunisian, other African and European municipalities.
TADAEEM played a lead role in the design and execution of the technical workshops, which focused on the 4 pillars of the National Strategy for Solid Waste Management. The TADAEEM service delivery experts led and facilitated discussions at each of the workshops covering the 4 pillars:
- Vision and policy for solid waste management
- Finance and cost/revenue structures
- Institutional and capacity requirements
- Citizen’s engagement and participation requirements
TADAEEM’s experts shared best practices based on their fieldwork. The project has developed Service Delivery Improvement Plans (SDIPs) for solid waste management in 7 medium and small municipalities in Tunisia. The SDIPs were developed after a diagnostic of the service and serves as a tailored action plan for each municipality. More importantly, it is a tool for the municipalities to use for planning, budgeting and engagement with other actors.
During the sessions, participants discussed challenges, successes, value chains and recommendations for the implementation of a national strategy on construction waste management. The conference also provided networking opportunities with national and international counterparts.
“Our Ministry thanks the TADAEEM program for helping us organize a reflection workshop on the National Waste Management Strategy. This workshop was successful thanks to the combined efforts made for its organization. This program has a future vision and is looking for the perfect strategies to be used by all 350 municipalities in Tunisia.” – M. Samira ABIDI, Director General of Environment at MALE
An email address (strategiedechet2018@gmail.com) has been created for all participants to send their opinions and additional recommendations for the national strategy’s response to citizens’ expectations. The event also helped to gather information for the digitized system to be implemented by national entities in collaboration with TADAEEM for the management of construction waste.