Are street side markets that sell tax-free, smuggled goods at prices affordable to the poor a necessary evil?

Ahmed, 30, could not find a job that provided a decent living for himself and his elderly parents. The pittance he earned from selling traditional shoes in the old quarter of Tunis was barely enough to meet rising prices. He decided, a few months before the outbreak of the Tunisian Revolution in 2011, to leave […]

After working 10 years in a call centre, Walid Saidi has grown hard of hearing. What was supposed to be a temporary job to get documents proving employment so he could migrate to Canada, turned into a long-term job, with gruelling 10-hour days on the telephone. After undergoing medical tests five years ago, Saidi discovered […]

The crisis between the Tunisian government and lawyers has been snowballing after the latter went on strike and staged a protest on 6 December in front of the government headquarters, against new taxes imposed by the new public finance law; part of larger austerity measures to rescue the failing economy. The crisis between the Tunisian […]

Wounds of the past still haunt Omar El-Marwani, a 70-year-old former political detainee who had been tortured under the Ben Ali regime. The transitional justice process has been already activated on the ground after holding the first hearing session, which will pave the way for accountability and victims’ rehabilitation. Nevertheless, unlike others, Omar’s hope of […]

Fatima holds onto the olive tree branches to balance herself on the ladder so that she can start harvesting olives with a comb-like tool. Olives fall with a rhythmic sound on the carpet placed under the tree. The old woman climbs her tired feet higher up on the ladder to reach the distant branches, avoiding […]

Having pinned their hopes on the cement factory to save them from poverty and unemployment, the people of the village of Rwessat in Kairouan Governorate in central Tunisia are now suffering from toxic materials resulting from the factory, the only investment in their area. Having pinned their hopes on the cement factory to save them […]

Once a major pillar in Tunisia’s economy, state-owned enterprises (SOE) are suffering from the severe financial crisis, plaguing the economy. One such institution is the Gafsa Phosphate Company. It might be a clear-cut example of the SOEs deteriorated financial situation which is witnessing haphazard demonstrations destroying their production and exports. They have become heavy burdens […]