Tunisia Action Plan Review 2023-2025

Tunisia’s fifth action planAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open governmen... largely continues ongoing reforms to strengthen government transparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More. It includes promising commitments to continue opening data, with a focus on public project performance and environmental data. Commitments with the most promise also seek to strengthen fiscal transparency and support open government at the municipal level.

Tunisia’s fifth action plan comprises 15 commitments covering natural resource governance transparency, public participation and open government at the local level, public accountability and integrity, and development and digitalization of administrative services. The plan also includes reform on the inclusion of women and persons with disabilities for the first time and aligns with broader government strategies such as the National Open Public Data Program. Furthermore, five Tunisian local governments are currently members of the OGP Local program.[1]

This review analyzes six promising commitments in depth. Four of these commitments are implemented by the E-Government Unit of the Presidency which serves as the focal point for OGP in Tunisia, and one implemented by the civil society organization Solidar. These six commitments continue ongoing reforms with support from civil society and international partners. They share a strong open government lens and are less likely to be impacted by political dynamics. Promising commitments include Commitments 1, 4, 6, and 7, which aim to strengthen budget transparency and open dataBy opening up data and making it sharable and reusable, governments can enable informed debate, better decision making, and the development of innovative new services. Technical specifications: Polici..., while Commitments 8 and 9 seek to strengthen open government at the municipal level and increase the civic participation of underrepresented groups.

Tunisia’s fifth action plan aims to incrementally consolidate and expand commitments from previous plans. Continued commitments either incorporated lessons, have a strengthened design, or have more participatory elements than their predecessors. Other commitments have an expanded scope such as an increase in the number of engaged municipalities or targeted government agencies. Most commitments in this action plan have a modest potential for results.

Similar to the previous action plan, most commitments seek to enhance government transparency, with some aiming to enhance public accountabilityAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, public accountability occurs when ”rules, regulations, and mechanisms in place call upon government actors to justify their actions, act upon criticisms ... More or civic participation. While access to information is vital, it can be viewed as a step towards more ambitious reforms that increase opportunities for civic participation and public accountability. As such, creating channels for citizens to better hold their government accountable remains an area for opportunity. Four commitments (2 and 3 on digitalization of public services as well as 11 and 12 on public sector integrity) have an unclear potential for results primarily due to a weak open government lens.

At the time of writing, Tunisia is under an eligibility review for falling below the OGP eligibility criteria regarding budget transparency and asset disclosure as well as the civic space check with regards to the environment in which civil society operates.[2] The status of Tunisia’s civic space makes the potential to realize the objectives of Commitments 10 and 13 unclear.[3] Prevailing rhetoric may also complicate collaboration between the government and civil society organizations (CSOs) during implementation. The passage of Decree-Law No. 2022-54 on Cybercrime has led to an increased prosecution of journalists, lawyers, and activists.[4] If passed, Draft Decree Law No. 027/2023 could increase government control over the work and finances of CSOs, which in turn further restricts civic space.[5] Protecting freedoms of expression, association, and assembly is important for reformers to achieve open government objectives.

Tunisia’s OGP process continues to benefit from an engaged team in government, a dedicated OGP Advisory Committee, and international partners. However, it continues to lack a high-level government point of contact for OGP. To develop the action plan, Tunisia held in-person sessions and used an online e-participation platform to receive commitment proposals. The OGP team conducted sessions and engaged citizens and groups outside of the capital.[6] Advocacy efforts led by the committee resulted in the inclusion of Commitment 1 on fiscal transparency as well as a proposal for gender data dissemination, though the latter was ultimately not adopted.[7]

Civil society reported satisfaction with the co-creation process while indicating areas of improvement. Positively, new CSOs were invited to participate. However, this can hinder the quality of commitment proposals when not accompanied by sufficient sensitization.[8] The E-Government Unit noted that they welcome new proposals and are available for clarifications and explanations as needed.[9] Civil society further highlighted that there is also opportunity for more media attention to reach citizens and groups beyond those already participating in the development of the action plan.[10]

Promising Commitments

The following review looks at the four commitments or clusters that the IRM identified as having the potential to realize the most promising results. Promising commitments address a policy area that is important to stakeholders or the national context. They must be verifiable, have a relevant open government lens, and have modest or substantial potential for results. This review also provides an analysis of challenges, opportunities, and recommendations to contribute to the learning and implementation process of this action plan.

Table 1. Promising Commitments

[1] These are Carthage, Dar Chaabane El Fehri, El Kef, Regueb, and Zriba. For more information, see: “OGP Local,” Open Government Partnership, https://www.opengovpartnership.org/ogp-local.

[2] “Tunisia – Eligibility Review Letter (September 2022),” Open Government Partnership, 26 September 2022, https://www.opengovpartnership.org/documents/tunisia-eligibility-review-letter-september-2022; “Tunisia – Under Review Letter (July 2021),” Open Government Partnership, 15 July 2021, https://www.opengovpartnership.org/documents/tunisia-under-review-letter-july-2021; “2024 OGP Eligibility Scores – Public,” Open Government Partnership, 3 July 2024, https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xOIX3xGcwHYnjY5lG1ceV6f9Rtj6JwmMa5x8e41WB0I/edit.

[3] “New draft law threatens freedom of association,” Civicus, 2 December 2023, https://monitor.civicus.org/explore/new-draft-law-threatens-freedom-of-association; “Tunisia’s escalating crackdown: Anti-racism and migrants’ rights activism under attack,” Civicus, 23 May 2024, https://lens.civicus.org/tunisias-escalating-crackdown.

[4] “Décret-loi n° 2022-54 du 13 septembre 2022, relatif à la lutte contre les infractions se rapportant aux systèmes d’information et de communication,” Center for Security Sector Governance, 13 September 2022, https://legislation-securite.tn/latest-laws/decret-loi-n-2022-54-du-13-septembre-2022-relatif-a-la-lutte-contre-les-infractions-se-rapportant-aux-systemes-dinformation-et-de-communication; “Analysis of Tunisia: Decree-law No 54 of 2022,” Article-19, January 2023, https://www.article19.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Analysis-of-decree-law-54-English.pdf; “Tunisia: Authorities escalate clampdown on media, freedom of expression,” Amnesty International, 30 May 2024, https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/05/tunisia-authorities-escalate-clampdown-on-media-freedom-of-expression.

[5] “Draft Decree Law No. 027/2023 regulating associations,” Assembly of People’s Representatives, 12 October 2023, https://www.arp.tn/ar_SY/loi/project/3957; “New draft law threatens freedom of associationFreedom of association — the right to join a formal or informal group to take collective action — is a universal right and can be used as a mechanism for public accountability. Technical specifica...,” Civicus. 

[6] Civil society representative, interview by IRM researcher, 23 May 2024.

[7] International organization representative, correspondence with IRM researcher, 20 August 2024.

[8] Civil society representative, interview by IRM researcher, 28 May 2024.

[9] E-Government Unit of the Presidency, pre-publication review comment, 29 October 2024.

[10] Civil society representative, interview, 23 May 2024.