Month: May 2024

MAHDIA: Grain production in the governorate of Mahdia for the 2023-2024 season, is expected to reach 81,760 quintals, according to estimates made by the Regional Agricultural Development Commission (CRDA).

The harvest is distributed between 6,150 quintals of irrigated grains and 75,610 quintals of rainfed grains, including 39,550 quintals of barley wheat and 36,060 of durum wheat, knowing that the cultivated area is 10,960 ha.

To ensure the smooth running of the harvest scheduled for June 6, the CRDA provided 19 combine harvesters.

Grain cultivation in Mahdia recorded a decline due to the lack of rainfall although the region made a production of nearly 520,000 quintals in the 2016-2017 season.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Sousse: The Regional Agricultural Development Authority (CRDA) in Sousse has estimated the grain production in the region for the current agricultural season at 98,904 quintals.

A working session held on Wednesday under the chairmanship of local governor, Nabil Ferjani, kicked off the barley harvest, while the durum harvest was scheduled for June 3.

During the meeting, Emna Rouin, an engineer from the CRDA’s crop production department, said that the drop in rainfall and high temperatures had had a negative impact on crop growth, as the harvestable sown area was estimated at 9,112 hectares out of a total sown area of 21,307 hectares.

With an estimated harvest of 54,390 quintals, the Msaken delegation leads the region in terms of grain production for the current agricultural season, followed by the Sidi El Hani delegation with 11,160 quintals.

During the meeting, it was stressed that a number of precautions should be taken to ensure a successful harvest season and to prevent the crop from being damaged by f
ire.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Sousse: The Sousse court of Appeal has referred the ‘Instalingo” case to the Criminal Chamber of the Sousse Court of First Instance to set a date for public hearings, court spokesman Hedi khassib told TAP on Wednesday.

The Court of Appeal referred the case file received Wednesday, after the Court of Cassation, on Tuesday, rejected all the appeals filed by the defence of the defendants against the previous decision of the indictment chamber of the Sousse Court of Appeal. The latter had ruled since July 20, 2023, to refer the case file to the Criminal Chamber in Sousse and to maintain the charges against all the defendqnts in this case.

Deputy prosecutor at the Sousse Court of Appeal, Ridha Belhaj Amor told TAP on July 21 that the Court of Appeal had decided to refer 41 defendants in the “Instalingo” case to the Criminal Chamber of the Sousse Court of First Instance.

He added that “among them, 14 defendants were detained and the rest were either at liberty or had fled”.

He explained that the appeals court h
ad issued a number of charges against those involved in the case, including “attempting to undermine state security externally, attempting to change the form of the government, inciting people to attack each other and insulting the head of state”.

He added that they also faced charges of “money laundering for 27 defendants”, “illicit enrichment for three defendants”, “making profits abroad without a licence from the Central Bank for two defendants” and “engaging in debt swapping and trading between residents and non-residents without a licence from the Central Bank for three defendants”.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Tunis: Scaled-up technical cooperation between Tunisia and the World Health Organisation (WHO) was discussed at a working session held Wednesday on the sidelines of the 77th session of the World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva, Switzerland.

This covers the national pharmaceutical industry and vaccine production, in particular, through available funding lines.

The working session was attended by Health Minister Ali Mrabet, WHO Envoy for Multilateral Affairs at the Office of the Director General Stéphanie Seydoux and Coordinator of mRNA technology transfer programme for Tunisia Martin Friede.

The possibility of organising joint events to spotlight the recommendations of the Djerba Declaration in the health sector, in collaboration with the WHO and the International Organisation of La Francophonie, was raised, mainly in connection to e-health and equal access to healthcare.

This follows the Francophone meeting on the mRNA Technology Transfer Programme held on October 27, 2023, under Tunisia’s chairmanship an
d with attendance of WHO Director General.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Tunis: Minister of Women, Family, Children and the Elderly Amel Belhaj Moussa handed over on Wednesday a batch of financing notices for new 219 women-led projects worth TND 2.3 million under the RAIDET national programme for the promotion of women’s entrepreneurship.

“The funding will help create some 358 direct jobs,” she indicated, adding that “20% of the recepient women are higher-education graduates and 80% have professional qualification or specialiased training.”

The overall number of projects funded by the RAIDET programme has risen to 3,898 since the launch of the programme in December 2022, she indicated, pointing out that these projects have contributed to the creation of 5,963 direct jobs thanks to funding worth over TND 37.9 million.

Since its launch in August 2022, the RAIDET online platform have received over 16,800 funding requests.

The ministry is currently considering a further 1,000 requests for funding or creation of projects, she said, specifying that the various projects funded in var
ious regions across Tunisia are classified as follows: 74% small businesses, 21% services, 3% agriculture, 2% trade and 1% handicrafts.

Monastir took the lion’s share with 20 projects, followed by Sfax (17), Ariana (16), Medenine and Zaghouan (12 each), Gabes, Nabeul, Bizerte and Tunis (11 each), Kasserine, Kairouan, Jendouba, Ben Arous, Sidi Bouzid, Beja, Gafsa, Manouba, Tozeur, Kebili, Mahdia, Tataouine, Sousse and Siliana (between 4 and 10).

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Tunis: The Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) and UNICEF on Wednesday signed a partnership agreement aimed at supporting education and training systems for Tunisian teenagers who are not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET).

Under the agreement, the AICS will inject pound 3.5 million in financial support for the Second Chance School programme run by UNICEF in partnership with the Ministries of Education, Social Affairs, Employment and Vocational Training, it said in a statement.

The new funding for the Second Chance School programme will enable 9,000 teenagers to receive support and guidance to reintegrate into education, training or employment, UNICEF said in a statement.

The Second Chance School is responsible for receiving, guiding, rehabilitating and accompanying young people between the ages of 12 and 18 who have dropped out of school without obtaining a school certificate that concludes an educational stage or a vocational training qualification.

It enables them to continue stu
dying in educational institutions affiliated with the Ministry of Education, join the vocational training system, or prepare for integration into the labour market.

The Second Chance School in Bab al-Khadra, Tunis, was launched on April 6, 2021.

It was followed by the Second Chance School in Kairouan which opened its doors to school dropouts between the ages of 12 and 18 on January 15, 2024.

A study by the United Nations Office in Tunis, the International Labour Organisation and the United Nations Development Programme in Tunisia, published in September 2023, revealed that a quarter of young people are not in Education, Training or Employment.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Tunis: The newly elected executive committee of the General Union of Tunisian Students (UGET) unveiled its new composition on Wednesday, during a press conference held at the headquarters of the National Union of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT).

This new committee will contribute on a national scale to enhancing the social conditions of students and condemning normalisation with the Zionist entity, UGET President Montassar Ben Salem said.

He expressed solidarity with journalists detained under Decree 54, specifying that the new executive committee will work towards the rehabilitation of UGET and the achievement of students’ demands, aimed at preserving democratic education, reforming higher education, and improving students’ lives.

‘The students’ organisation aims to bolster principles of freedom of expression, press freedom, and union and political action in the country, while condemning normalisation with the Zionist entity.’

The UGET president underscored that the situation within universities has witnesse
d deterioration in terms of freedom of expression due to the implementation of Decree-Law 54 and encroachments on union freedom.

He noted that a number of students in Beja, Sousse, Bizerte, and Tunis have been summoned before disciplinary boards after participating in protests.

Ben Salem outlined the difficulties faced by students within universities in terms of education (BMD system), infrastructure of university facilities, lack of administrative staff and agents in dormitories, stating that only 14 out of 74 university canteens meet quality standards.

He indicated that the recent congress of the union, held on May 25 and 26 in Tunis, saw the participation of 86% of the 963 registered participants, in addition to 267 observers affiliated with UGET, representing 107 bureaus.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse