Migration has long shaped Tunisia which is at the same time a country of origin, transit and destination for migrants. Tunisia requires support to adopt a coherent and consistent approach for addressing irregular migration and protecting migrants. Promotion of evidence-based migration policy development and capacity-building are therefore required in Tunisia for local government and civil society actors, but also for the new generation of practitioners. This has been mentioned as a priority area of focus by institutional actors including the Ministry of Social Affairs, the State Secretary for Migrations, academic institutes, as well as local NGOs.
This 16-month project will seek to enhance contextualized knowledge on migratory flows in Tunisia and the broader Mediterranean region, with a view to strengthening the capacities of Tunisian professionals and students. The proposed project, implemented by IOM Tunisia together with governmental partners and relevant civil society and international actors, will take a three-fold approach: (1) a course on Migration in Tunisia will be developed in August 2014, to train a total of 30 students and professionals, with theory contents and field visits; (2) Research and academic studies on migration will be encouraged and financed; and (3) A series of round-tables will be held between local actors and academics to define training and research needs on migration in Tunisia, and draft papers with recommendations in this field.