Tunisia Results Report 2021–2023

Tunisia’s fourth 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... achieved modest early resultsEarly results refer to concrete changes in government practice related to transparency, citizen participation, and/or public accountability as a result of a commitment’s implementation. OGP’s Inde..., with most progress in opening up governance at the municipal level. The E-Government Unit of the Presidency, civil society steering committeeThe Steering Committee is OGP’s executive decision-making body. Its role is to develop, promote and safeguard OGP’s values, principles and interests; establish OGP’s core ideas, policies, and ru... members, international partners, and engaged municipalities were key drivers of reforms. Significant political shifts and government reorganization inhibited implementation of many of the action plan’s most ambitious elements.

Early Results

Tunisia’s fourth action plan was implemented in the context of significant government upheaval and reorganization. While most commitments made some implementation progress, few achieved notable early results.

The IRM observed the most notable results in the co-creation of municipal youthRecognizing that investing in youth means investing in a better future, OGP participating governments are creating meaningful opportunities for youth to participate in government processes. Technical ... action plans and continued support to municipalities implementing open government plans. Commitments that made the greatest progress were often those spearheaded by the E-Government Unit in coordination with funding partners.

Tunisia achieved modest early results for the ongoing reforms on 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... and access to information. Concrete progress included draft decrees to operationalize the Access to Information Authority, collaborative development of an open government strategy and a manual on audit publication, as well as revitalization of the national open data portal.

CompletionImplementers must follow through on their commitments for them to achieve impact. For each commitment, OGP’s Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) evaluates the degree to which the activities outlin...

The plan’s implementation was affected by major political shifts, including the suspension of the 2014 Constitution and the dissolution of parliament in 2021 and the introduction of a new constitution in August 2022.[1] These events disrupted the continuity of several commitments and introduced uncertainties in the open government process. Changes within the Presidency of the Government and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic presented additional obstacles. Tunisian reformers continued to try to make headway despite the challenging context. Commitments requiring stable institutional support, such as those on public sector integrity and financial 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, faced difficulties. Consequently, 8 of the 13 commitments were either not started or achieved limited progress.

Participation and Co-Creation

Tunisia’s OGP process is overseen by the E-Government Unit and managed by an OGP Steering Committee comprised of government and civil society members. The steering committee played a central role in shaping the co-creation process and commitment design.^[2] The action plan priorities were identified through online public consultations, comment periods, and steering committee working groups. Steering committee members also monitored implementation progress despite some coordination challenges.^[3] Several civil society organizations drove implementation progress, such as in Commitments 2 and 7. Over the last decade, a small but dedicated civil society community has contributed to Tunisia’s open government reforms. As such, broadening civil society involvement remains a key opportunity to strengthen the movement and implementation of ambitious reforms.

The action plan cycle revealed resource constraints, especially in terms of cross-governmental coordination. The E-Government Unit faced occasional unresponsiveness from some government departments, highlighting the need for improved communication and collaboration mechanisms.^[4] The Director of the E-Government Unit and Point of Contact since Tunisia’s ascension to OGP left government service during the implementation period, which temporarily slowed momentum.^[5] OGP efforts were reinvigorated when the interim director of the E-Government Unit assumed leadership of the OGP process.

Implementation in Context

The implementation of Tunisia’s fourth national action plan unfolded amidst a period of significant governance changes. On 25 July 2021, the Tunisian President suspended the 2014 Constitution, dissolved the parliament and sidelined various independent institutions.[6] This led to a substantial reshaping of the institutional landscape. The country operated without a parliament until early 2023 and without a constitution until July 2022. A referendum was held for the new 2022 constitution while legislative elections in 2022 and 2023 established a new parliament.[7] This period of transition affected the momentum and focus of OGP initiatives. The shift of executive competencies from the Presidency of the Government, which had been the epicenter of power under the 2014 Constitution, to the Presidency of the Republic, altered the dynamics of governance.^[8] The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic further complicated the landscape as several government programs and action plans were suspended and budget priorities were shifted.[9]

[1] Constitution of the Republic of Tunisia. August 2022. https://shorturl.at/4lPLS.

[2] International organization representative, interview by IRM Researcher, 9 November 2023; “Stages of preparing for the fourth national action plan for the Open Government Partnership (2021–2022) by the Joint Advisory Committee tasked with following up on the preparation and implementation of this plan,” Open Government Partnership Tunisia, February 2021, http://www.ogptunisie.gov.tn/?p=4718.

[3] Civil society representative, interview by IRM Researcher, 8 November 2023.

[4] Civil society representative, interview by IRM Researcher, 3 November 2023.

[5] Civil society representative, interview by IRM Researcher.

[6] “Presidential Decree n° 2021-69 dated 26 July 2021, ending the functions of the head of government and members of the government,” Government of Tunisia, 26 July 2021, http://www.iort.gov.tn/WD120AWP/WD120Awp.exe/CTX_4984-25-rUYjsddugY/RechercheJORT/SYNC_ 1497127144; “Le Secrétaire général de l’INLUCC démis de ses fonctions,” [INLUCC Secretary General dismissed], La Presse, 20 August 2021, https://lapresse.tn/2021/08/20/le-secretaire-general-de-linlucc-demis-de-ses-fonctions; Presidency of the Republic, “Decision of the Presidency of the Republic of 25 July 2021,” Facebook, 25 July 2021, https://www.facebook.com/Presidence.tn/posts/4462752577116098.

[7] Francesca Ebel, “New constitution gives some Tunisians hope, others concern,” Associated Press, 29 July 2022, https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-africa-tunisia-constitutions-06c915ec08ed05686a09081d74287cb6.

[8] Tarek Amara and Angus McDowall, “Tunisian president ousts government in move critics call a coup,” Reuters, 26 July 2021, https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/tunisian-president-relieves-prime-minister-his-post-2021-07-25.

[9] Tarek Amara, “Tunisia says health care system collapsing due to COVID-19,” Reuters, 8 July 2021, https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/tunisia-says-health-care-system-collapsing-due-covid-19-2021-07-08.