(Offre en anglais) EUMEF lance un appel à candidature pour un atelier de renforcement des capacités Retour vers les opportunités

DGAP’s EU-Middle East Forum (EUMEF), in cooperation with the German Federal Foreign Office, the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations (ifa), the Robert Bosch Stiftung, the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, and the Rabat Social Studies Institute (RSSI), is welcoming applications for its upcoming capacity building workshop on “Socio-Economic Challenges and Opportunities: What Does the Future Hold for Morocco and Tunisia?”

The main protagonists and target group of the workshop are young and mid-level professionals (aged around 27-40) with at least two years of professional work experience in policy analysis or policy making in think tanks, academic research institutions, politics or civil society, with a focus on Morocco or Tunisia. Participants should come from or currently reside in Morocco, Tunisia, other countries of the MENA region, or the EU. The working language of the workshop is English. Participants will become part of EUMEF’s alumni network and receive information on professional activities of other alumni, grants, scholarships and future events.

Outline:

In 2011, people across the Middle East and North Africa took to the streets to protest the precarious socio-economic conditions in their countries. The slogan “bread, freedom, and social justice” expressed their central demand for a life in dignity based on better education and employment opportunities. The protests unquestionably brought about significant political change in many countries. However, five years after the uprisings, protesters’ central socioeconomic demands remain largely unmet. Poverty, significant inequalities in the job market, and high rates of unemployment and underemployment, especially among university graduates, carry the risk of further destabilizing an already volatile region.

Despite Tunisia’s political progress and its continuing democratization efforts, the country’s socioeconomic policies have not witnessed major developments since 2010. The persisting economic, social, and political marginalization of rural areas does not only hinder Tunisia’s economic development but has provided a fruitful ground for radical groups, who instrumentalize existing grievances and people’s lack of perspective in order to recruit new members. The growing gap between developed urban centers and marginalized rural areas, the disconnection of large parts of the population, particularly Tunisian youth, from the political process, and the overall absence of strong leadership have resulted in a crisis of state legitimacy. The recent increase in the number of demonstrations in Tunisia’s interior and southern governorates underline the country’s dire need for socio-economic reforms that foster economic development and focus on the integration of marginalized groups and regions into the labor market.

Notwithstanding structural differences in their economic and educational sectors, Morocco and Tunisia face comparable challenges with regard to employment policies. Similar to the Tunisian hinterland, the underdevelopment of the southern provinces constitutes a fundamental security, economic, and political concern for the Moroccan state. Moreover, youth unemployment rates of up to 18 percent, young people’s dependency on the informal sector, and geographical disparities call for new policies, especially in the field of education, in order to increase employment opportunities and to form a competitive workforce that matches the needs of the labor market.

Even though a number of reforms have been introduced since the popular protests in 2011, these have focused primarily on advancing greater political representation and participation.

Fundamental issues underlying many of Morocco’s socio-economic problems, such as corruption, favoritism and geographical marginalization, have remained largely unchallenged until now.

In order to counter regional instabilities and radicalization, the Maghreb states, together with their European partners, must develop strategies to achieve inclusive economic growth based on social justice, participation, and sustainability. Improving socio-economic conditions in the regions will not only benefit the Maghreb states, but would also help to ease migration flows from North Africa to Europe – an issue, which has been at the top of EU policy makers’ agendas. Many relevant questions emerge:

How can the disparities between urban and rural areas be reduced and eventually overcome? What is the role of the informal sector? To what degree can women’s participation in the labor force be increased and what would be the most effective policies to promote gender equality? In which way could a stronger cooperation with Europe result in positive outcomes for Tunisian, Moroccan, and European communities?

The scenario workshop aims to address these and related questions, while introducing participants from Morocco, Tunisia, other MENA countries and the EU to the technique of scenario planning. The methodology of scenario planning is particularly suitable to analyze complex problems and to deal with strategic challenges in unpredictable environments. Participants will tackle pressing issues by untangling complex systems, thinking about alternative futures, assessing potential consequences, and developing options for action. Scenario workshops provide a platform for structured communication, enabling diverse groups to share knowledge and perspectives and to foster critical self-reflection in an international and interdisciplinary framework. Consequently, scenario planning has recently emerged as a popular instrument in the field of policy analysis, advice and planning.

 Methodology:

The first day of the workshop will focus on an analysis of the current status and different factors influencing developments in Morocco and Tunisia respectively. Senior experts will provide inputs on different aspects of the topic and discuss them with the participants.

The scenario workshop will be conducted during the subsequent three days. The participants will be familiarized with the methodology under the guidance of strategic foresight experts through case studies on Morocco and Tunisia. In two working groups, they will analyze the current situation in the two countries, identify trends and factors of uncertainty, investigate the interplay between different factors and, finally, construct consistent and plausible scenarios for the two case studies. Within three days, the participants will go through all relevant steps of scenario construction (e.g. horizon scanning, an uncertainty-impact analysis and a morphological analysis).

They will identify potential opportunities and threats in order to create strategic options for shaping the future.

Objectives:

1. To analyze and generate knowledge about factors shaping socio-economic developments in Morocco and Tunisia in the mid-term

2.To sensitize participants for current tendencies and possible future trajectories of relevant actors in Morocco and Tunisia

3.Capacity building in the fields of alternative, strategic, future oriented, and joined thinking, structured communication, and democratic discussion culture

4.To connect young and mid-level professionals and multipliers from North Africa and the Middle East and Europe who work on similar subjects

 Target Group:

The main protagonists and target group of the workshop are young and mid-level professionals (aged around 27-40) with at least two years of professional work experience in policy analysis or policy making in think tanks, academic research institutions, politics or civil society, with a focus on Morocco or Tunisia. Participants should come from or currently reside in Morocco, Tunisia, other countries of the MENA region, or the EU.

The organizers will cover accommodation and provide for travel subsidies based on participants’ country of residence (maximum 350€ for participants travelling from the EU, 400€ for participants travelling from Tunisia or other countries of the MENA region and 50€ for participants based in Morocco).