Around 125 representatives from 5 MENA countries (Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine and Tunisia) participated to the 4-years Integrated Sustainable Coastal Development Training Programme (ISCD-MENA region), financed by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and jointly implemented by NIRAS Natura AB and the regional organizations the Global Water Partnership – Mediterranean (GWP-Med) and Royal Marine Conservation Society (JREDS).
The training programme aimed to support the processes of change within the key organizations responsible for the planning, development and management of coastal areas to contribute to an integrated and sustainable development approach in the countries of the region and to strengthen the exchange between the institutions involved in the coastal management.
The Programme consists of 4 training sessions, the first one started in 2012/2013 and the last one was implemented in 2015/2016. Each session lasts 17 months and consists of 5 phases with two phases where the participants meet and three phases three phases of individual work carried out from home organizations. Each session terminated by the organization of a national seminar with the aim to strengthen networking and exchange on priority issues related to ICZM in their countries.
In this context, GWP-Med supported the 23 participants from Tunisia to organize 4 national seminars :
-The first national seminar focused on building the consensus on the priority challenges of coastal management in Tunisia as well as identifying action that can be supported by the trained group to overcome these challenges,
-The second national seminar discussed the recommendation from previous seminar in relation to the establishment of a multi-stakeholder national platform on Integrated Coastal Zone Management to enhance dialogue and collaboration among the different stakeholders,
-The third national seminar considered the developments resulting from the new Tunisian constitution in particular the decentralization process and the induced changes on the governance in coastal areas.
- The fourth and last national seminar aimed to capitalize on the participation of Tunisia in the training programme and consolidate its impacts.
This last national seminar was organized on 15th and 16th December 2016 in Tunis, Tunisia in collaboration with the Ministry of Development, Investment and International Cooperation (MDICI) and the Coastal Protection and Development Agency (APAL). The seminar included a closed session and a Highl level segment.
The closed session was restricted to the 4 sessions’ participants and a group of their colleagues with the objective to promote knowledge sharing and lessons learnt from the seminar. Furthermore, based on their training experience, participants formulated recommendations for better coastal management and selected the two of the highest priority: the ratification of the ICZM protocol and ICZM mainstreaming in the national planning processes in the perspective of the SDG fulfillment. These recommendations were discussed during the High Level Segment. The conclusions of the High Level Segment stressed the urgency of developing a global vision for the country in which ICZM priorities can be embedded. The conclusions referred also to the important role that can be played by civil society and the considerable needs for capacity building on the various aspects of ICZM at all levels.
The closed session was restricted to the 4 sessions’ participants and a group of their colleagues with the objective to promote knowledge sharing and lessons learnt from the seminar. Furthermore, based on their training experience, participants formulated recommendations for better coastal management and selected the two of the highest priority: the ratification of the ICZM protocol and ICZM mainstreaming in the national planning processes in the perspective of the SDG fulfillment. These recommendations were discussed during the High Level Segment. The conclusions of the High Level Segment stressed the urgency of developing a global vision for the country in which ICZM priorities can be embedded. The conclusions referred also to the important role that can be played by civil society and the considerable needs for capacity building on the various aspects of ICZM at all levels.
To continue their pleading for an integrated and sustainable management of coastal areas, the training participants met after the National Seminar in order to shape the follow-up actions to the seminar recommendations. Their action will consist at first level on developing communication tools to reach journalists and decisions makers (press paper, policy note, etc.).