CALL FOR APPLICATION – Building a collaborative approach to tackle Informality-CIPE عودة إلى الفرص

CALL FOR APPLICATION – Building a collaborative approach to tackle Informality

The informal sector, which is defined as labor and business that operates outside the regulatory framework required by government, poses a major challenge in Tunisia, and requires comprehensive policy reforms that consider the nature of social and economic conditions in the country. According to some statistics Tunisia’s informal economy is estimated to account for around 35% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employ over 40% of the labor force. This represents a huge loss for state revenues and a missed opportunity for economic growth. Past approaches to address the issue of informality have mostly approached the problem from a security perspective that conflates informal and illegal activities, crime, and even terrorism and has led to heavy-handed measures to suppress informal trade. This approach failed to deal with the root causes of informality and neglected to consider drivers such as the lack of incentives to formalize, poor governance, excessive regulations, and a high tax burden, among others.

The Center for International and Private Enterprise (CIPE), in collaboration with l’Institut Arabe des Chefs d’Entreprise (IACE), will launch an initiative to tackle informality in Tunisia and help Tunisian actors find address the issue more effectively, and with new approaches. The goal is to help key partners develop the tools and skills necessary to lead advocacy efforts to reform laws and regulations, remove administrative barriers, and create incentives to make it easier for informal actors to join the formal economy. Under this initiative, CIPE will train up to 35 Tunisian reformers through a hands-on approach over five days to effectively address the legal and regulatory challenges that push a large segment of citizens to operate informally. Elena Panaritis, CEO and Founder of Thought for Action, former member of Greek Parliament, and a well-known expert on informality, will deliver an interactive five-day program on the subject. By the end of this leadership-level course, participants will be asked to work collectively to develop an informality road map, with support from CIPE, IACE, and Ms. Panaritis, that can be used later to advocate for reforms. 

If you are a professional interested in participating in this high-level program and think you meet the requirements, feel free to apply by sending your application to cipetunisiaoffice@cipe.org after reading the details below. If accepted, you will be contacted with further information. 

Trainer’s Biography: https://t4action.org/our-approach/