Before engaging in this course facilitated by Mr. Yogesh Ghore and Mr Gord Cunningham .I thought that whenever we talk about economy, it should be related to the macroscopic aspect of the government problems and responsibilities .However, the first day we came to understand that economy starts from the local community where assets and resources are awaiting to be exploited to uplift the life standard in general. Also, given the knowledge that there are some concepts and economic systems which should be understood to better choose the preferable one that suits our community. Here are what we have learnt during our daily classes in Two weeks:

     

• The Traditional Economic System: Related to using traditional aspects of community to generate revenues, for instance in Tunisia: we have a religious and socio-cultural festival where local farmers and traders display their products so people can consume and have fun .Here, tradition is no longer seen as a restriction for looking for a newly modern life style but rather a way of making profits while  preserving    our own culture and habits. However ,it is based on farming substance and cannot generate so much economic growth.

•    Communist or “Central Command” System: where a central apparatus defines who owns what and manage the flows of investment and profits by defining the quotas system for example to restrict the monopolies at large.

• Capitalist or “Market” System:                       

It does not require the interference of the government but rather it is defined by the sets of the force of supply and demands.

•        Pure Capitalist or Market System: Here we start to talk about losses and profits. Therefore, the more people buy your products, the more you will get more profits so this profitability will determine what to produce more to satisfy people demands for it.

• ·         State Capitalism: Usually described as an economic system in which the state is responsible for managing the commercial economic activity, with management and organization of the means of production in a capitalist manner, including the system of capital accumulation, wage labor, and centralized management. Even though, the socialist state can implement such system because what counts here is more the benefits regardless of the political doctrine. Herby, so many criticism targeted the socialists for upholding such system, for instance the Soviet Union was labeled as state capital more than social.
• Alternative Capitalism :It is related to social entrepreneurship, creating values like sustainability, environmentally friendly and all the revolutionary that advocates for social ,ecological and financial benefits .Currently,entrepreneurs opt  for it,  for its impact in preserving the ecosystem while getting profits.

•     A Post-Capitalist Economic System: It includes a number of proposals for a new economic system to replace capitalism which was judged to be non-beneficial and quite obsolete.

At this level, It was beneficial to learn that inside our economy there is a flowing input from money which needs to stay there if we really want to see the surrounding actors and assets develop. by investing in their money and just making it circulate like in the exercise that we done (buyers and sellers inside and outside the community .This is how we create the value addition to what we are doing .

Putting this in my context ,I would consider that kasserine (my community) has so much natural resources ,strong culture ,and social mechanisms considered the backbone of any change .Such wealth multipliers are ignored because people there do not realize that  human capital counts .Nonetheless ,this resulted in losing the political and the economic power even that my community was a focal factor during the revolution .youth died because they wanted social justice, it was a unmeasured price but for a moment you expect as a citizen that the promises’ of the government will come alive as a compensation .All of these facts turned to be premises of blurry understanding for how we can invest in our “multiple forms of wealth”. The reasons are diverse from lack of social driven community to lack of initiative, to accumulate more into a neglecting of working on the assets and considering that sustainability starts locally

STUDY CASE:RK MACDONALD:

 

The R.K. MacDonald is a registered Eden Alternative Long-Term Care ,which means they have a holistic approach of how they should treat their residents in terms of affection and respect as our interviewee (manager) told us during  a site visit .Though ,from the first glimpse you smell the old pleasant and ancient architecture and often reflected on those lovely seniors .I was surprised to learn that this nursing home is not only a center where seniors and retired people live and enjoy the fresh air in their garden .Actually ,they are applying an innovative sustainable development alternative system.

This home is considerably: “one of three Eden Alternative designated Homes in Nova Scotia and One of nine in Canada. At present, one hundred and thirty seven Elders live in the community.Often inspired from Bill Thomas who is an American expert.The Rk Macdonald has been successful in integrating their work into this Eden Alternative Long-term Care system. Otherwise, the center is based on core values as it follows:

• Passion
• Respect
• Accountability
• commitment
• Excellence

They are including also the seniors in gardening activities which fits their skills in order to entertain them and make them feel at ease when being doers ,not passive, and Outdated .Also, this garden provides them with 2% of the whole needs along with 8 % coming from Local farmers .The manager told us that the rest comes from big corporations like CYSCO and Armstrong companies .The reasons are often related to lack of marketing and inability to provide the whole supply from small farmers to such nursing house .Also ,these companies often make operation of cleaning the products from dietary ,cheese ,pork ,meat ,chicken … easy because they have advanced machines and technologies .Added to that ,the prices are usually reasonable with big stocks and come at doors through delivery service which are merely absent in local farms. However, the Rk Macdonald tries to invest in the local community by supplying milk, some fruits, fish, and some meat and chicken when the farmers call and promote their products because the manager is not familiar with the district.

In the classroom, we raised some questions about the definition of what is local. Can we consider a Canadian company “Armstrong “local? Is local can be defined on the very small area we are living in or in terms of common shared cultural, religious and ,socio-economic aspects ?

                                                       

It is very important to put women in the process whenever we try to analyze the mapping of the value chain for example within a given market because women are not the only actors in this context. Men are considered as well to engage women especially that some of them can be very market-oriented in the informal sector: craftsmanship, beauty products (Aloe Vera plant in Ethiopia case was used to produce soap).

However, women cannot stay stuck in this informal stage ,they need to show more their skills to help promote the Active Based Community development and shared key values of business management .This existential question of whether we should analyze gender from a perspective of women is incomplete _in my opinion as women and men are the ones to decide on how to share
 roles because both of them create of what we call a community .

Simply put, any exclusion of any of these two parties will create a gender based violence from domestic to an unbalanced dynamic of powers .”Women should push themselves “like Mm.Eileen says ,they need to move from audience level to doers level .Business is not mainly about making profits on the interest of social impact or vice versa .we need to make sure the compromise
 is achieved in everything we do. Mainly, those two dichotomies go hands in hands to empower both women and men. Local needs to be open to the global and all aspects of the process from socio-cultural, to gender ,to political .Otherwise, it results in a blurry understanding if we exclude one component.

Women need to be empowered economically as well because if she does not have a stable income .She might accept any kind of abuse .Simply ,she has nowhere to go .However ,she is not In need to go only for the upper decision- making posts to be an empowered agent of change .In fact ,we have seen that savings group or cooperatives are doing amazing job by sustaining each other ,borrowing from each other ,and even providing loans in case of health problems .Such models are the heart of a positively active community which bumps life inside its veins .We may live all our lives around multiple forms of wealth from human to natural and so on … Despite that ,we do not realize that such assets can give us a respectful standard of life for both sexes .Economy starts local and Local can go global while preserving our culture and our identity and even gaining a
 political influence to put things on the right truck.

 

Always put on your gender lenses...

References :
This report was realized thanks to these Resources:

 : http://www.rkmacdonald.ca/ 

Coady International institute

 

Canada 2014

Talking about citizenship ,some will identify it as the legislative recognition of our legitimate belonging to a specific country as mentioned in the constitution.

However,citizenship as a concept is considered complex and rich with: meanings ,struggles and questions ,for instance : Do we  need the constitutional aknowledgment and the collective agreement that we are part of fhe "whole " to fully claim that  we are citizens? Does a person who lived in the seperated Ethiopia and Eriteria during 1991 consider himself/herself Ethiopian or Eriterian?

Do indigenous people in Canada known as "First Nations" introduce themselves as citizens of Canada,though they are partially rejecting the idea of this global recognition of their "land " as such?

Such questions lead to understand citizenship as being related not only to the state  legal status but rather to the natural rights :How "I" preceive my belonging ,my rights ,and duties upon the background I uphold and where I was born ?

A Palestinian may live in what is known as Isreal but he would not aknowledge himself as being Isreali in terms of citizenship but rather as a Palestinian living on an occupied land within the known "ISRAELI PALESTINIAN CONFLICT"dilemma .At this level,We came to understand that our sense of belonging is not only based on paying taxes ,or memorizing the national anathema but rather  on set of strings :

• Legislative
• Natural
• Social (family ,community,state..)

Actually,this process is fluid and keeps moving until we reach the broader meaning : The global where "Me "gets used  to live along with "others"beyond limits and frontiers especially in the TECH era.

Later,I was shocked after I answered a questionnaire to see how much I am committed to the progress and the development of my community ,I found out that citizen-driven community is almost absent in Tunisia or let's say under construction  .This lack of awareness towards the creation of such active citizenship started to sparkle after the revolution ,accompanied with thousands of associations and fondations .
Coming back to the main questionnaire ,I have been wondering about these main points :

• How many Tunisians care about the ecosystem or even understand this concept ?
• How many Tunisians are  interested in  buying local food and products instead of the foreign ones?
• How many Tunisians go for shopping while finding alternatives instead of using  plastic bags?

• How many Tunisians think that throwing trash in public spaces harm the environment  ?

Approximately ,25% of Tunisians consider that those criteria or ways of conduct are what reflect our citizenship and how much we are engaged towards the improvement of our community.

As a logical linking to the theory of change Approach:citizenship should be also considered as an asset to make the needed change .Thus,a civic engagement and a well-elaborated schedule of activities should be taken into consideration in our educational curricula and the civil society  .If the the Tunisian Government  and NGOs want to contribute towards the creation of a conscious and aware generation of leaders .Then ,the policy-makers and the decision-makers should work to develop simple activities :like gardening at school level , and develop it in  way which gives more value to the practical side , almost absent in our  pedagogy teaching methods .

Academically speaking, in Coady approach there are two types of  change causation :

Intended Causation :"the relationship between mosquitos and mosquio bites "SCRIVEN1991,PG,)

The unitended causation :the relationship between mosquitos ,mosquio bites and malaria"

Otherwise,a poor education system like the "LMD"will improve the rates of literacy which is  an intended causation reflected in the skyrocketing  numbers of graduates .However,the unitended causation is how these graduates end up unemployed because of the lack of skills ,citizenship awareness ,and civic engagement.

Coady Institute ,Canada ,2014

To conclude ,citizenship is an  intersection of what we had and what we should work on to reach sustainability and developement in our communities .Tunisia should work on developing such layers because of the large gap between the academic and the non-academic education.
I would prefer to accetuate that Citizenship is rich and full of meanings and dilemma which should be analysed and grasped .From there we can come up to master the different other apporaches which I will explain in my next article :"Concepts of citizenship,women's rights and Empowerment"

References:Eileen Alma

Global change Leaders Program 

Canada ,2014

I was somehow blocked before coming to Canada within the "COADY INSTITUTE PROGRAM FOR SUPPORTING WOMEN GLOBAL LEADERS", i always preceived change as big picture to which we are  struggling to reach as Tunisian youth ,especially after the Arab spring.
However,i came to understand that the change is not a sudden event or a vision but rather a fluid thematic area called :"Theory of change ".
This theory puts "change" under its focus as united blocks where all actors work in harmony to bring long-term goals ,and by actors we mean for exemple:Goverment (local and central),the civil society(grassroots ,NGOS ..),media (formal and non-formal like social media),policy makers ,advocates ...

THE LIST GOES ON ACTUALLY FROM THE TOP TO THE BOTTOM IN THE SOCIETAL STRUCTURAL PROCESS.

In fact,any facilitator who wants to duplicates such activity with his mentees can ask them to start narrowing the different pillars with whom the participant is interesting to build partnerships ,or negotiating  to get sponsorship ,or rather lobbying to make this change possible.

This mapping is called:"Pathway of  a change Map" where he/she will start even to put himself in the shoes of an actor with whom he does not  even agree as it will help to figure out your potential partners and also the general mindset of such components.

Actually ,in Tunisia we have like any other country such web of activities which are often tied to an intervention in order to bring the change that we need .

I was surprised to learn that a country like "HAITI"which is located in the  Carribeans somehow has the same fragmented autocratic pillars as in Tunisia .This scenario of shattered actors who are stuck into egocentric competition without looking for a common interest to empower the country on all lever,have affected as well the way citizens behave (we will learn about the behavioural trend in other articles).

Coming back to the theory of change ,we cannot talk about such gain if the stakeholders reject the culture of communication and block any fruitful negotiations,for instance:In Tunisia if an association is working on engaging youth in decision-making ,it will automatically avoid any discussion with any political party just to protect itsef from the accusation of being supported by that actor .Here ,we have got a big ALARM,as political parties and the civil society should pave the way for :strategic planning ,negotiations,creation of commonly understood long-term goals and policies for the better of the country .we cannot work each in his own ocean.
These steps make up this process of "theory of change Approach".
Eventually ,this process is crowned by an evaluation of  the measurable indicators (qualitative which "reflects people judgments and perceptions and involvement of quality ,extent ,or congruence within a given situation") and (quantative:statistical statement about the situation ,involvement of percentage,frequency,ratio or variance").
 Describing indicators is very important but we cannot say an indicator is  being smart but rather :

"valid,Reliable,simple,specific ,accurate,useful,affordable,timely ,measurable....."

To end our article for today ,we should not confuse  the pre-conditions and the actors as the pre-conditions are the factors which will help us to implement and achieve our long-term goals and actors are the stakeholders .Giving an exemple of the pre-conditions for my project which is a social entreprise ,i need funding ,mentorship ,supportive community ,and the grassroots to make this initiative a reality and the actors will be more related to what i have mentioned in the beginning of this article (civil society ,labor unions,government with its agenices ..)

*This article was produced based on lectures presented by Molly DEN HEYER and an extract from CENTER FOR THEORY OF CHANGE 

VISIT THIS LINK FOR MORE DETAILS :

http://www.theoryofchange.org/what-is-theory-of-change/

The Youth Volunteering Award is part of the Arab Youth Volunteering for a Better Future Project. This project runs under the initiative led by the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme in line with regional strategies of the United Nations (UN) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The project’s main focus is connected to the importance of working with and for young people. The main actions seek to strengthen the infrastructure necessary to build the skills and capacities of youth in the region, and enhance their social inclusion and active participation in the development of their countries. The project is currently implemented in: Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia and Yemen.

The Youth Volunteering Award aims to recognize the efforts and achievements of young volunteers, contribute to informing the public about the importance of volunteer workand ensure the contribution of volunteers aiming to achieve peace and development.

The award consists of two phases, first at the national level and then at the regional. Three candidates will be selected in national level and their stories will be published. The candidates then automatically continue competing on regional level. Regardless of the result,the national winners will be invited to participate in the official ceremony in one of the regional Arab countries in December 2014.

for more details :http://www.unv.org/

                                                                                                                                                                                                   Peace is mainly the state of no war, this is how we define it  as  Peace advocates .As we have been educated that peace refers to the antonymous state of war where killings and   chemical weapons do not not exist.

However ,as we start to experience more and meet different people ,we came to believe and encounter a bitter truth .This factual truth is often harsh to embrace because it tells us that we are ignorant about peace .

Because peace is not only a static fact but rather a psychic one: where we as youth act as a catalyst to bring it and reach it. If we perceive all what is going on right now all over the world, we will figure out that all these happenings from strikes and conflicts are quite related to the absence of peace attitude not peace state of being or wellness as most prefer to refer to it.

In fact ,within our organization called Young Leaders Entrepreneurs or even within my academic research ,I found that most of youth whether in Tunisia or abroad suffer from two points :stereotypes and rejecting differences .Even on the geopolitical scene ,we are oblivious about how peace generates itself until it fades away because youth are targeted as key feature of manipulation and misuse by politicians not treated as  key stone of change and progress .

I have  started a project two years ago which is  called “New Generation Initiative “where we gathered 60 high school students from the GreaterTunis to be mixed together and  work together to solve some problematic situations related to leadership capacity building.

This experiment allowed as a team of experts to understand how different social classes and even often mixed with stereotypes and social fabric falsified by parental and patriarchal society mislead those youth to be victims of social clashes and ancestral grudge .

we convinced them that this upcoming generation should discuss instead of hatred ,should co-work instead of judging each other ,and never give  the chance for those who want to fish in murky waters to achieve their evil plans.

Moreover ,I want to say that youth are not the means for peace but rather a key component of making a change through educating them about peace ,conflict analysis, and  conflict transformation rather than 

conflict resolution because sometimes we cannot solve a problem but rather transform all its negative energy to a positive one through usage: of arts ,intercultural exchange programs, and sports because love is contagious and can be taught instead of submerging them with etiquettes and morals without constructive teachings about meditation along with peace attitude. .

I am eager to share my experience in Nepal  about peace mediation and that of Zurich institute will be an addition to the fruitful debates and round-table discussion to speak about Tunisia struggle to experience peace as a feature of social justice.

Youth are not ignorant about today’s up to date events ,they are getting more and more active within the civil society apparatus to advocate or lobby for ending impunity ,wars and ,gender-based violence as traits of how a dictator regime can work to deprive its youth and its overall citizens from their rights to enjoy peace as a guarantee of economic prosperity. Because investors would not invest their money in a country full of conflicts and civil war. Taking the example of my continent Africa which is full of natural resources but it is torn between politics gold diggers and weaponry companies along with drugs mafia.

Thus, world peace is threatened because of perpetuated wars, gang rapes, religious fanatics ,and sects clashes like in Lebanon.

Consequently, the world is split between: victimizers and victims. Personally, i consider that arranging more events and supporting youth initiatives will act as an  active platform for youth and worldwide activists to make such happenings naked as we always say :”Enough is Enough”.

we should plan effective strategies and implement global projects and write well-elaborated advocacies as the Earth’s natural resources are going less and less.

Acting now is better than nothing, we should work for peace as a World peace not to be geographically limited because peace knows no barriers, no frontiers ,and no discriminatory criteria based :on race, color ,or religion.

Nilson Mandela ,Ghandi, and Mother Theresa all struggled along with others to unite humanity because  a one hand cannot clap .we should sustain each other ,help each other ,and collaborate as one soul and body to make our nations shine under the sun of co-existence ,acceptance, and forgiveness.

I remember that Kmla Bhasin in Nepal once said :”If we want peace ,we should share light and if we want light we should forgive each other’s mistakes .Nobody is isolated from committing mistakes .we all do “

Coming to this point ,we understand that peaceful co-existence is vital especially in a country full of diverse ethnicities and minorities like in Iraq. We cannot dominate otherness, we should accept it as a feature of diversity and richness .

Because if we try to oblige others to adapt our scope of view and repress their thoughts .Certainly, they will rebel one day like we did in Tunisia because of a corrupt government full of nepotism and impunity .

we as Tunisians protested and confronted this regime barbarism because we wanted peace and justice not violence and uncivilized pickets like Ben Ali ousted president addressed  the media describing us

To conclude ,as a Tunisian ,I can presume that my country is now undertaking an adventure to transit from dictatorship to democracy .Peace should no be t taken for granted .
In contrary to that ,sometime we should fight for it if we truly want to live in its auspicious world .

"An unidentified fan in the audience holds a placard saying "Long live Tunisia, Long live Kasserine and Long live liberty" during the handball World Championship Group A match between France and Tunisia in Kristianstad January 14, 2011. Tunisian President Zine al-Abedine Ben Ali stepped aside on Friday after failing to quell the worst anti-government unrest in his two decades in power. (Reuters)"

the beauty :Chaanbi Park

 I walk out of the average citizen's understanding of terrorism , knowing that everyone feels misunderstood. Everyone is in need of security, of love even under a corrupt regime like Ben Ali's. There are many times in life when we don’t have such desires, but that’s a sad fact mitigated by our aspiration to gain back our normal life . Anyone who really pays attention to the current situation which identifies with the new geopolitical breaking news. In one of the single finest details  ever captured on the spot, the attacks on the Channbi Mountain reflects all of our simple shock, all of our pessimism, and in the end, a selfishness  to give away all kind of revolutionary demands like: justice, dignity and even the ecosystem for a bit of security and fake freedom..we start to boycott linguistically all kind of amusement whenever we think about the revolution as if it was the apple which cursed us to dwell in earth, up  to the Resurrection Day.

I was wondering about why  Kasserine was doomed to be that  inevitable victim of terrorism and I did not find any hypothesis except the fact that in any tragedy ,the hero was always doomed to reach his tragic ending because of his pride and overrated ego .

For me ,kasserine was a piece of earth where the god of courage and bravery was metamorphosed into a Channbi Mountain because he was fighting back with the rest of the inhabitants all kind of oppression and impunity in a divinely grandeur . such historical  battles and struggles against colonialism and corruption as  traced  in history and our ancestors hearts ,stroke  my mind with a sense of grandeur and  power.

 Battle of the Kasserine Pass:WW2

Living in a bustling city where people help each other ,despite the economic crisis and sky-rocketing inflations .Breathing a fresh air mixed with the flavor of militants memories .Showing off how manly we are because when someone tries to harass a lady ,all of her city «heroes ” will beat him because dignity  here is a lifestyle not a political  slogan  .

All of these features often contradictory and complicated cannot justify making us a target for terrorism instead of a target  to establish hospitals ,universities and schools .

Enough is Enough .... Terrorism is not a consequence of piled disappointments or frustrations which burst in a given  moment as the media is trying to portray us  .."This plan B " was used to revenge all of those who said no for Ben Ali or any idiot who is trying to kill this sublime and picturesque beauty.

Imagine yourself watching the same scene each day :our mountain which is part of our soul burned and what is left are the flames absorbing your laughters and your jumps  there ......once …

Sbeitla

……………………..To be continued ………….