Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

List of issues in relation to the fourth periodic report of Tunisia *

1.The State Party is invited to submit in writing the information requested below (preferably not exceeding 10,700 words) by 30 April 2026.

A.General information

2.Please provide information on the protection accorded at the constitutional or legislative level to the rights enshrined in the Covenant and describe the measures that have been taken to ensure that those rights are fully justiciable in the domestic legal order. Please indicate whether the State Party has considered ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Covenant. Please update the information given in paragraph 41 of the State Party’s reportrelating to cases in which provisions of the Covenant have been applied by or invoked before the courts, specifying whether reference was made to the Covenant itself or solely to economic, social and cultural rights.

3.Please describe measures taken to ensure the independence of the judiciary with a view to protecting economic, social and cultural rights. Please provide information on the progress made in setting up the Constitutional Court referred to in paragraph 50 of the State Party’s report and on the measures taken to guarantee the Court’s independence, and indicate whether a review of the constitutionality of draft legislation has ever been conducted in connection with a right protected by the Covenant. Please provide information on measures taken to uphold freedom of expression and the work of human rights defenders, trade unions and civil society and to prevent all forms of repression against them, and describe the impact of those measures.

4.Please provide information on the progress made in the establishment of the Human Rights Commission, on the current status of the High Committee on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and on the efforts made by the State Party to ensure that the institution responsible for monitoring human rights can discharge its mandate effectively and independently, in full compliance with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles). Please indicate whether the mandate of the Human Rights Commission, and that of the High Committee on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms if it continues to operate, covers economic, social and cultural rights.

5.With reference to the Committee’s previous recommendation,please provide information on trade and investment agreements signed by the State Party and on any studies conducted to assess the impact of these agreements on economic, social and cultural rights in the regions concerned. Please also provide information on the development of the National Plan on Business and Human Rights referred to paragraph 64 of the State Party’s report. Please include information on the environmental impact of large-scale investment projects, in particular with regard to the effective implementation of laws and other measures related to human rights, and on the environmental impact assessments conducted before such projects are launched. In this regard, please provide information on the extent to which the communities concerned participate in human rights and environmental impact assessments of large-scale investment projects. Please specify measures taken to ensure that individuals and communities affected by such projects can seek effective remedies, and give examples of such cases.

6.Please provide information on measures taken by the State Party with regard to the mitigation of climate change, including specific measures aimed at meeting the nationally determined contributions for reducing emissions that the State Party has set itself under the Paris Agreement, and the impact of those measures. Please also provide information on the progress made in reducing per capita greenhouse gas emissions and on targets that the State Party has set for further reductions. With respect to climate change adaptation policies and measures, please provide information on:

(a)How the State Party assesses the impacts of climate change on the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights, in particular for marginalized and disadvantaged individuals and groups;

(b)Whether the State Party has developed or plans to develop a national adaptation plan, with an adequate allocation of all required resources, to address the impacts of climate change on, inter alia, economic, social and cultural rights;

(c)Measures taken to strengthen preparedness for and responses to natural disasters, disaster risk reduction measures and measures taken to adopt a strategy to this end, with an adequate allocation of financial resources;

(d)Which institutions are tasked with the development and implementation of climate change adaptation measures and policies for slow-onset impacts in different areas, such as agriculture, housing and health, how coordination among the institutions responsible for disaster preparedness and management is ensured and how the communities concerned are consulted;

(e)Efforts made by the State Party to seek international assistance and cooperation in order to take climate change mitigation measures, as well as the results of those efforts.

B.Issues relating to the general provisions of the Covenant (arts. 1–5)

Maximum available resources (art. 2 (1))

7.Please also provide updated information on the evolution of the following, covering the past 10 years:

(a)The proportion of the population living below the nationally defined poverty line, by region;

(b)Levels of inequality, before and after taxes and transfers, if possible stated both as the ratio between the total income of the richest 10 per cent of the population and the total income of the poorest 40 per cent and as the ratio between the assets owned by the richest 10 per cent of the population and the assets owned by the poorest 50 per cent;

(c)The economy, in particular through the annual variations of gross domestic product (GDP), GDP per capita and the level of public debt in proportion to GDP;

(d)The proportion of public revenue generated through taxes and as a percentage of GDP, the proportion of public revenue obtained through direct and indirect taxes, the corporate tax revenue rate and the percentage of total revenue generated from personal tax collected on the incomes of the richest 10 per cent of the population, as well as providing an evaluation of the amount of tax evasion and tax avoidance and the fiscal cost of the main tax benefits;

(e)Public expenditure as a percentage of GDP and, within total public expenditure, the proportion of the public budget allocated to social spending, including social security, food, water and sanitation, housing, health and education;

(f)The proportion of the public budget allocated to defence.

8.Please provide information on the results of the legislative and institutional measures mentioned by the State Party in connection with combating corruption, such as the Organic Act on the reporting of corruption and protection of whistle-blowers,the Organic Act on the Good Governance and Anti-Corruption Commissionand the National Anti-Corruption Strategy, covering the period from 2016 to 2020,as well as all efforts to ensure transparency and accountability in the conduct of public affairs and to provide effective protection for victims of corruption, their lawyers, anti-corruption activists, whistle-blowers and witnesses. Please provide updated information on the current status of the Anti-Corruption Commission. Please also provide information on the cases filed with anti-corruption bodies in the past five years, particularly those brought against high-level officials, including the number of cases filed, investigated and prosecuted and the sentences handed down.

Non-discrimination (art. 2 (2))

9.With reference to the Committee’s previous recommendations,please provide information on the measures taken by the State Party to adopt a comprehensive anti‑discrimination law prohibiting direct, indirect, multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination in the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights, on all prohibited grounds, in both the public and private spheres. With reference to the Committee’s previous recommendations,please provide information on the progress made in the review of the Criminal Code referred to in paragraph 87 of the State Party’s report, in particular regarding the offences sometimes used as a pretext to harass LGBTQI+ persons, and on the measures taken to implement the recommendations made by the Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in his report on his visit to Tunisia in June 2021.

10.Please provide information on the measures taken to promote independence and equal opportunities for persons with disabilities, the options available to ensure that they are able to undertake routine administrative procedures, the criteria for awarding disability benefits and the penalties in place for non-compliance with accessibility standards.

Equal rights of men and women (art. 3)

11.Please describe the measures taken to eliminate legal provisions that discriminate on the basis of sex, including in matters of inheritance, and provide information on the list of discriminatory provisions to be amended, as mentioned in paragraph 91 of the State Party’s report, as well as on the status of such amendments. Please provide statistical data, disaggregated by age, sex, gender, employment sector, disability, region, and ethnic or national origin, on the evolution of the gender pay gap over the last five years, on access to land ownership, on job losses among women and men and on working conditions in the formal and informal sectors, with a particular focus on women working in the agricultural and textile sectors and on domestic workers.

C.Issues relating to the specific provisions of the Covenant (arts. 6–15)

Right to work (art. 6)

12.In addition to the data on the unemployment rate provided by the State Party up to the first quarter of 2023, please provide comprehensive and updated data on the enjoyment of the right to work in the State Party, including data on labour market participation, employment, unemployment and underemployment of the most disadvantaged and marginalized groups, disaggregated by age, disability, sex, region, ethnic or national origin and economic sector. Please also provide updated information on the results of the policies for the employment of women and men referred to in paragraphs 94 to 137 of the State Party’s report.

13.With reference to the Committee’s previous recommendations,please provide updated statistics covering the last five years on the extent of the informal economy in the State Party for the most disadvantaged and marginalized groups, disaggregated by age, disability, sex, region, ethnic or national origin and economic sector, and provide information on measures taken to promote the transition from the informal to the formal economy and the protection of workers employed in the informal sector, with a particular focus on women in the agricultural and textile sectors and domestic workers.

Right to just and favourable conditions of work (art. 7)

14.In view of the information provided in paragraphs 191 and 192 of the State Party’s report, please specify:

(a)The action taken to ensure that the minimum wage is determined in such a way as to ensure that working people and their families can exercise their right to a decent standard of living. Please include information on the mechanisms in place to ensure effective application of the minimum wage;

(b)The general minimum wage as a percentage of the poverty line for urban families for the past five years;

(c)The evolution of the minimum wage since the submission of the report;

(d)The difference between the general minimum wage and any other minimum wage system existing in the State Party, in particular the minimum wage for agricultural workers.

15.In the light of the information provided in paragraphs 153 and 155 of the State Party’s report, please provide updated details on:

(a)The statistics provided in paragraph 153 on labour inspections, indicating the types of offences identified and the economic sector and region in which the inspections were conducted;

(b)The statistics provided in paragraph 155 on labour inspectors, broken down by region.

Refugees and asylum-seekers (arts. 3, 6, 11, 12 and 13)

16.Please provide updated information on the asylum bill referred to in paragraph 49 of the State Party’s report and specify the conditions under which refugees and asylum-seekers have access to work permits, healthcare and education. Please provide information on the migration agreement signed with the European Union and its possible impact on the economic, social and cultural rights of refugees and asylum-seekers. In this regard, please provide information on the measures taken to ensure that all persons applying for international protection have access to fair and efficient asylum procedures, protection against refoulement and an independent appeal mechanism.Please indicate whether asylum procedures remain suspended and, if so, describe the measures in place to protect asylum‑seekers in the meantime and specify what their legal status is.

Trade union rights (art. 8)

17.Please provide information on how the State Party ensures, in law and in practice, that all workers can exercise their right to form, join and be members of a trade union, as well as their right to strike, without being subjected to unwarranted restrictions or fear of reprisals. Please also provide information on measures taken by the State Party to address the demands of persons on strike over pay and working conditions, and describe the impact of those measures.

Right to social security (art. 9)

18.In view of the information provided in paragraphs 157 to 165 of the State Party’s report, please provide:

(a)Statistics on changes in social security affiliation rates over the last five years, broken down by sex, disability, age, region, ethnic or national origin and economic sector;

(b)An analysis of the results of the measures taken to achieve universal social security coverage, including for workers in the informal economy, workers in the agricultural and textile sectors and domestic workers;

(c)Information on the coverage, utilization rates and amounts of non-contributory benefits, including old-age, family allowance, disability and dependency benefits;

(d)Information on the indexation of non-contributory benefits, specifying whether these benefits are sufficient to ensure an adequate standard of living;

(e)Information and statistics on pension and unemployment insurance benefits.

Violence against women (arts. 3 and 10)

19.In the light of the information provided in paragraph 174 of the State Party’s report, please provide updated statistical data on the number of recorded cases of gender-based violence against women, disaggregated by age, disability, ethnic or national origin, level of education, employment status and region. With reference to paragraphs 166 to 187 of the State Party’s report, please provide information on the impact of the measures taken and, in particular, information on:

(a)The creation of and funding for centres for victims, and the number of people working in those centres, by region;

(b)The availability of places in centres for victims, by region, for women and their children, and measures in place to ensure that the centres are accessible for women with disabilities and migrant or asylum-seeking women;

(c)The occupancy rate of centres for victims and the length of time required to allocate a space in a shelter to women who are victims or survivors of violence;

(d)Measures taken to ensure that all female victims or survivors of violence enjoy the right to legal aid as described in paragraph 173 of the report;

(e)The incidence of violence against women in the workplace, and measures taken to combat it.

Right to an adequate standard of living (art. 11)

20.Please provide information on the number of persons or households in the State Party who are unable to access adequate food or have difficulty in doing so. In addition, please provide information on measures taken to ensure that everyone, particularly persons from disadvantaged and marginalized groups, has access to adequate food at affordable prices. Please provide information on the specific steps being taken by the State Party to support local agricultural production and the productivity of small-scale farmers, as well as to promote sustainable local food systems in order to guarantee the right to adequate food.

21.Please report on the impact of the anti-poverty measures described in paragraphs 188 to 196 of the State Party’s report, including the 2016–2020 Development Plan, on reducing the reportedly very high rates of poverty and extreme poverty. Please provide annual statistics, covering the last six years, on the extent and severity of poverty, disaggregated by sex, age, disability, region, ethnic origin and economic sector, and specify the mechanisms used to measure these indicators, especially for the most vulnerable groups.

22.Please report on the progress achieved through programmes for access to safe drinking water and sanitation described in paragraphs 197 to 208 of the State Party’s report, particularly in rural and remote areas. Please also provide information on the effectiveness of the measures taken to improve water resources management, especially in the agricultural sector, and their measured impact to date. In particular, please provide information on:

(a)The number of homes and schools with access to drinking water and sanitation;

(b)The quality and cost of drinking water in each region;

(c)The rate of water use for human consumption and agricultural purposes, and measures taken to optimize and reduce water use in agriculture and the textile sector;

(d)The rate and frequency of interruptions to the water and electricity supply, and the system in place to inform the population of any such incidents affecting them;

(e)Measures taken to prevent and combat illegal wells;

(f)Measures taken in follow-up to the report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation.

23.Please also provide information on the impact of the measures described in paragraphs 212 to 228 of the State Party’s report on reducing the shortage of low-cost housing and on the enjoyment of the right to housing, based on the criteria of legal security of tenure, habitability, affordability, accessibility and cultural adequacy. Please also provide details of the socioeconomic profile of people who have had access to social housing, and of any bureaucratic hurdles citizens may face in obtaining such access. Please provide information on results obtained by the investigation and reconciliation committees referred to in paragraph 225 of the State Party’s report with regard to the prevention of evictions of persons in vulnerable situations.

Right to physical and mental health (art. 12)

24.Please provide information on the public and private health insurance systems, in particular the National Social Security Fund, the National Pension and Social Insurance Fund and the coverage of the AMEN social programme, indicating affiliation rates disaggregated by age, sex, employment sector, disability, ethnic or national origin and region, and outlining differences in the level of health coverage. Provide information on measures aimed at increasing the health budget in order to strengthen the national health system, and on measures to guarantee the accessibility, availability and quality of health services, particularly in rural areas. Please report on the progress achieved through the measures described in paragraphs 229 to 237 of the State Party’s report, and provide, in particular:

(a)Information on the numbers of healthcare personnel, doctors, specialists and medical equipment, broken down by region;

(b)Details, by region, of the availability of medications and any supply disruptions;

(c)Information on the incidence of teenage pregnancy in the last five years, disaggregated by age, ethnic or national origin and urban/rural region, as well as the measures adopted to prevent such pregnancies and the impact of those measures;

(d)An account of the results of measures taken to eliminate clientelism and corruption in the healthcare sector;

(e)Details of the measures taken to prevent HIV infections, treat those affected and avoid discrimination against people living with HIV;

(f)Information on the measures taken to prevent discrimination against LGBTQI+ persons in healthcare.

Right to education (arts. 13 and 14)

25.Please provide updated statistical information on the enrolment, dropout and completion rates for primary and secondary school students in the public and private education systems, disaggregated by age, sex, region, disability, income, ethnic or national origin or other relevant indicators. Please provide information on measures taken to ensure the safety of students and teachers in schools, as well as on relevant indicators, broken down by region.

26.Please provide information on the impact of the measures to reduce gender inequality, disability inequality and regional and economic disparities in education, as described in paragraphs 238 to 264 of the State Party’s report. Please also provide information on the measures that have been taken to improve the accessibility of school infrastructure, particularly with regard to girls’ toilets, and to ensure the availability of inclusive education adapted to the needs of children with disabilities. Please provide an update to the information provided in paragraphs 263 and 264 of the State Party’s report on measures taken to reduce the illiteracy rate, and the impact of those measures.

Cultural rights (art. 15)

27.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations,please provide information explaining why, as indicated in paragraph 273 of the State Party’s report, the National Institute of Statistics does not collect data disaggregated by ethnicity and culture, which makes it impossible to assess the real situation of Amazighs, black Tunisians and other minorities. Please also provide information on measures taken to support associations teaching the Amazigh language, indicating the rate of funding where appropriate, and on measures taken to support inclusive cultural activities that are accessible to persons with disabilities and artistic initiatives by persons with disabilities. Please provide information on steps taken to increase investment in information and communications technology in education and to provide digital connectivity, in particular for students belonging to marginalized and disadvantaged groups. To this end, please provide an update to the information given in paragraph 82 of the State Party’s report with regard to coverage of Internet access, broken down by region.