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WFP Tunisia and Morocco Country Brief, November 2018

Countries
Tunisia
+ 1 more
Sources
WFP
Publication date

In Numbers

  • WFP provides capacity-strengthening activities aiming at enhancing Government-run National School Meals Programmes that reach 260,000 children (125,000 girls and 135,000 boys) in Tunisia; and 1.4 m children (660,000 girls and 740,000 boys) in Morocco

  • US$ 1.7 m allocated by the Tunisian Government for the construction and equipment of a pilot central kitchen and a first School Food Bank hub

Operational Context

Tunisia has undergone significant changes following the Revolution of January 2011. The strategic direction of the Government currently focuses on strengthening democracy, while laying the groundwork for a stronger economic recovery. Tunisia has a GNI per capita of USD 11,490 purchasing power parity (World Bank, 2017). The 2017 UNDP Human Development Index (HDI) ranks Tunisia 95 out 189 countries and 58 on the Gender Inequality Index (GII 2017).

Morocco is a middle-income yet food-deficit country, where the agricultural production fluctuates yearly as a result of weather variations. Morocco relies heavily on international markets to meet its consumption needs.

Morocco is ranked 123 out of 189 countries on the 2017 HDI and 123 on the GII 2017.
WFP has positioned itself on a technical advisory role through capacity strengthening activities in both countries, with the provision of technical assistance aiming to improve the national school feeding systems.

Operational Updates

Tunisia:

• On 26 November, WFP and the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) signed an agreement to support the renovation and equipment of six school canteens, to operate them under the decentralised model, and to enable them to switch from providing cold sandwiches to hot meals. The agreement also includes the needs assessment and rehabilitation of three “satellite” schools, where the pupils will benefit from daily meals produced at and delivered from the pilot central kitchen in the Nadhour district, Zaghouan governorate.

• From 21 to 23 November, WFP led the United Nations Country Team in hosting a Global Preparedness Partnership (GPP) scoping mission into Tunisia; aiming to support the Government in reaching adequate levels of preparedness to respond to natural disasters. The mission was organized in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, the National Office of Civil Protection, the UN Resident Coordinator Office (RCO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), who collaborated to assess existing national capacities in the area of preparedness. The mission deliverables will include a plan, timeline, and budget to further determine how to address the gaps and move forward with a GPP Diagnostic Review.

• In the framework of WFP Tunisia’s support to South-South exchanges, a high-level official of the Ministry of Education participated in the 7th EvalMENA General Assembly and Conference in Rabat, Morocco, on 28 and 29 November.
During a WFP-convened panel, the Special Adviser to the Minister of Education outlined the Government’s perspective on the utility and purpose of evaluation and gave an overview of Tunisia’s experience in developing its 2017 strategic review of food and nutrition security and in evaluating its national school feeding programme.

Morocco:

• The multi-sectorial government stakeholders who participated in the consultations for the Strategic Review (SR) of the Food and Nutrition Situation in Morocco provided their feedback to the Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) expert drafting the report. The document is currently being revised prior to its final validation by an inter-ministerial steering committee convened by the Secretary General of the Ministry of General Affairs and Governance.