World Bank and Tunisian Government Deepen Partnership to Strengthen Social Protection System
The World Bank and the Tunisian government are strengthening their partnership to enhance the country's social protection system, with the approval of an additional $90 million in funding for the Social Development Promotion Project in Tunisia. This support will help populations create better prospects for their lives and strengthen their livelihoods. The new funding builds on the successful results of the initial $700 million project implemented over the past five years, which provided:
- Emergency cash transfers to over 895,000 households
- Permanent cash transfers under the AMEN program, a flagship social assistance program in Tunisia, to over 386,000 beneficiary households
- Family allowances to over 150,000 children under the age of 6 The new funding will reinforce these achievements, improving the efficiency and long-term financial sustainability of Tunisia's social protection system.
Key Objectives
The support will also:
- Extend family allowances to approximately 450,000 children aged 6-18 from poor and low-income households, contributing to reducing education barriers and dropout rates
- Support the creation of a national fund for the promotion of people with disabilities, aimed at financing specific benefits to promote their social and professional inclusion
Quotes
"This additional funding demonstrates our continued commitment to supporting Tunisia in establishing a more comprehensive, adaptable, and resilient social protection system," said Alexandre Arrobbio, World Bank Operations Manager for Tunisia. "By expanding family allowances to school-age children and strengthening support for people with disabilities, we are contributing to protecting vulnerable households and offering better prospects for children across the country." "The reforms supported by this project go beyond cash transfers," said Mohamed El Aziz Ben Ghachem, Senior Social Protection Specialist at the World Bank. "The modernization of the targeting system, the establishment of a unified registry of beneficiaries, the piloting of economic inclusion initiatives, and the continuation of the harmonization of various social assistance and social security programs in Tunisia will lay the foundations for a modern, integrated, and data-driven social protection system."
Next Steps
The new funding will also accelerate the digitization of Tunisia's social protection system, including:
- Supporting the establishment of an integrated registry of social benefit recipients
- Expanding the use of digital payment tools
- Piloting economic inclusion initiatives combining independent work and salaried employment, helping beneficiary households of the Amen program to better seize employment opportunities and become more autonomous.
