27th August 2020 – Tunis, Tunisia
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by world leaders in 2015 embody a roadmap for progress that is sustainable and leaves no one behind. Achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment is integral to each of the 17 goals. Through this vision, the Tunisian Ministry of Women, Family, Children and Elderly Affairs, led by Minister Asma Shiri Laabidi, in collaboration with UNODC, UN Women, UNDP, UNFPA, ILO, and UNOPS organized the international forum "Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from a gender perspective: Tunisia's post-COVD-19 Priorities” in Tunis, Tunisia.
The forum aimed at showcasing the Tunisian government’s efforts to support women’s rights during COVID19, at shedding light on the COVID19 caused challenges in achieving the SDGs and exploring how to mobilize present knowledge, partnerships and capacities to face these challenges.
This aim was actualized by the forum gathering representatives of the various Member States, international and national organizations, Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and experts from different fields, who worked together to draft a set of recommendations on priorities in relation to the SDGs from a gender point of view.
Amongst other interventions, UNODC led the session on “Criminal justice responses to Violence Against Women and Girls (VAW&G) in times of the pandemic” during the panel focused on COVID19 and VAW&G. During the event, Selim Azzabi, Minister of Development, Investment and International Cooperation added that in 2016 Tunisia adopted the law on the elimination of all forms of VAW&G, which is an important achievement for Tunisian women. Such discussions paved the way to one of the main results of the forum, which is the creation of the national observatory of VAW&G.
The forum findings contribute to the Tunisian Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) and the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework. Recommendations produced at the forum will be used to draw a new road map for actions and guide future public policies in Tunisia in relation to gender equality.
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