Tunisia

Final Evaluation – I Am the President – May 2020

This report captures findings from the final evaluation of the project “I Am the President,” implemented over 18 months from September 2018 to March 2020. The project was funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs and implemented by Search-Tunisia in collaboration with Ma’an, a Palestinian non-profit media organization with a regional satellite network focusing on youth engagement and programming.

The project aimed to promote youth participation in inclusive democratic processes and empower the next generation of Tunisian democratic political leaders through the launch of the reality television show “I Am the President.”

The final evaluation highlights how the program’s activities and trainings helped to successfully increase Tunisian youth’s understanding and support for local and national democratic political processes. 96% of surveyed youth reported that Tunisians believe that youth participation in the democratic processes can make a positive change, almost ten points above the baseline conducted before the show. Additionally, a total of 83% of surveyed viewers agreed that the show increased their knowledge of the political and decision-making process, while close to 80 percent of viewers agreed that the show encouraged them to reflect and get informed on the social issues and challenges that were discussed. Furthermore, the results indicate that the show led to positive action. 61% of viewers wanted to take a more active role in their community, and close to 30% of participants reported becoming involved in local initiatives as a result of the show, including in online awareness campaigns for gender-based violence, election campaigns, cleaning campaigns and campaigns in response to COVID-19 crisis.

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Final Evaluation – “The Adventures of Daly” Graphic Novel Campaign – November 2018

“The Adventures of Daly” Graphic Novel Campaign (TUN014) was a project implemented by Search for Common Ground in Tunisia between August 2017 and November 2018.

The goal of this project was to reduce support for violent extremist messaging within Tunisian communities by enhancing their access to and engagement with locally credible voices that counter violent extremist narratives. The project had to main objectives:

  1. Build the capacity of key Tunisian stakeholders to understand, develop, and discuss relevant alternative narratives to violent extremism that address the underlying needs and grievances of the target groups vulnerable to extremist recruitment.
  2. Amplify credible alternative narratives to violent extremism in Tunisian communities using locally relevant comic book stories.

The evaluation found that overall the project was highly relevant to the context of youth in the five different regions that were targeted. The relevance of the project was also noticed on the level of the activities that were organized in order to identify the current push and pull factors leading youth to join violent extremist groups. The specific drivers of radicalization identified for the different areas corresponded to the reality of youth living in those areas and were reflected well in the comic book stories.

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Mid-term Evaluation – Promoting Civilian Engagement in Security Sector Reform Processes in Tunisia – May 2018

“Promoting Civilian Engagement in Security Sector Reform Processes in Tunisia” was a project implemented by Search for Common Ground in collaboration with Al-Kawakibi Democracy Transition Center (KADEM) between October 1, 2015 and March 31, 2018.

The project aimed at facilitating the transition from a vertical security reform system within government to mechanisms involving civil society and media through the collaborative development and implementation of local initiatives. The project sought to meet its overall goal through building and maintaining communication and collaboration between the security sector and civil society actors in four chosen localities. It also worked towards effectively engaging media throughout the process.

The evaluation showed that the project was successful in reaching its objectives and outcomes. It contributed to increasing the transparency of the security sector reform efforts by involving civil society, media and local authorities to improve communication between the public and security sector through collaborative development of local initiatives.

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The Adventures of Daly: Graphic Novel Campaign

Violent extremist recruitment continues to threaten Tunisian youth, especially those in vulnerable and marginalized communities. With the help of the International Institute of Debate, the Observatoire National de la Jeunesse, the graphic designers of Lab 619, Tunisian media company Snapshot Production, and our donors, we launched The Adventures […]

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Ms. Nadia Transforms Her Student’s Life

Khouloud Sghaier has not had an easy life. Seven years ago, the 10-year-old student from Tunis, Tunisia lost her father. At school, she was often teased about the way she looks. “They call me rhinoceros,” she explained. In the past, older men physically abused her. She struggles opening […]

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Final Evaluation – Bottom-Up Approach to Countering Violent Extremism in Tunisia – August 2017

The Bottom-Up Approach to Countering Violent Extremism in Tunisia was funded by the US Department of State and the Canadian Foreign Affairs.

This program aimed to increase the ability of vulnerable communities to prevent and counter violent extremism in Tunisia by helping members of the Tunisian society approach conflicts and differences in a constructive manner, through cooperation and dialogue. The project addressed violent extremism at the local level in order to increase the engagement of stakeholders and produce knowledge of the factors that drive Tunisians to support violent extremist propaganda or groups. The project then sought to transform that knowledge into concrete community-based activities, to strengthen the capacity of stakeholders in preventing violent extremism. The report is based on qualitative information collected through focus group discussions and interviews with 10 partner NGOs in 6 communities.

The report indicates that the project has succeeded in increasing the engagement of diverse stakeholders and strengthening the capacities of local partner NGOs to ignite dialogue initiatives within their communities and deliver activities around countering violent extremism. The participants noted that the program contributed to raising communities’ awareness on the drivers of violent extremism. The program has promoted local research and information-sharing on the drivers of violent extremism in order to enhance community relationships with local authorities and security forces, promote alternative narratives, and strengthen ties at the community level to advance youth and women’s roles in building resilient communities and effectively countering and preventing extremist recruitment.

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1001 Nights: Building Children’s Resilience to Violence

We have launched 1001 Nights: Building Children’s Resilience to Violence,  a 12-month project  to strengthen Tunisian youth’s resilience to violent narratives through increased education and engagement with positive human values. To achieve this, we partnered with the animation company Big Bad Boo Productions to implement a multimedia curriculum, […]

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