Country: Tunisia
Donor: Italian Foreign Affairs’ Minister
Period: May ’08 – October ‘11
Subject area: social inclusion of people with disabilities
Local partner: Tunisian Minister for Social Affairs, the Solidarity and Tunisians Abroad (MASSTE)
Italian partner: A.I.F.O (Italian Association Raoul Follereau’s friends)
General aim: to support the social inclusion of people with disabilities
Specific aim: to consolidate public institutions’ competencies in the field of social inclusion for people with disabilities as well as to qualify the activities of the associations working in education, professional training and job-search sectors.
Recipients: this project’s direct recipients are about 30 public officials belonging to IPH and following Ministers: Health, Education, Social Affairs, Work; around 80 operators and associations’ directors involved in the social inclusion of people with disabilities and Specialized Educational Centers. The indirect recipients are people with disabilities and their families using the governmental services, associations and specialized education.
Project’s summary: the Italian government agreed to fund a project about social integration of people with disabilities. To that end, an agreement was signed on 5th October 2006. The project is part of Tunisian national strategy for promoting people with disabilities and their full integration in the society. The Tunisian government gives a particular attention to disability issues as well as social and professional support to families of people with disabilities. The main executive is the Minister for Social Affairs, Solidarity and Tunisians Abroad (MASSTE) which assigned technical assistance services and training to A.I.F.O (Italian Association Raoul Follereau’s friends). This association concluded a Temporary Association of Purpose for this project realization. At the base of technical assistance there is a chance for exchanging views on social inclusion politics and good practice, particularly present in public services and the integration between the public and private sector characterizing the Italian sociomedical services. The project has planned a series of workshops in Tunis on the evolution of norms and international and national policies on the theme of disability. A part of these workshops is addressed to public officers whereas the rest will deal with administrators and professionals belonging to Specialized Educational Centers. Two study-trips in Italy have been arranged for a delegation of public officers and associations’ representors. It’s a chance for discussion about services, structures and inclusion practices that have been explained during the training in Tunis: in Italy, they will be able to see their actual realization. These visits have been mainly arranged in Emilia-Romagna and Veneto.
In parallel to these activities, the project has planned assistance from a few Bologna University professors to the IPH (Institut pour la Promotion des Handicapees). Such assistance has included two trips of the Italian delegation to Tunis and one trip of the Tunisian delegation to Bologna. The training is to the benefit of operators working in a center or National Blinds Union and it’s about IT (hardware and software maintenance). Finally, training initiatives on information graphics and hearing aids maintenance have been implemented.