STUDY Starting Points for a National Employment Strategy for Tunisia HANS-HEINRICH BASS, ROBERT KAPPEL AND KARL WOHLMUTH April 2017 n Economic problems and social injustices triggered the 2011 revolution in Tunisia. Much has happened in Tunisia since then; the democratic development of the coun­try has reaped praise worldwide. However, efforts towards economic reform have so far been scant. The young Tunisians, especially in the interior of the country, are still awaiting an economic and social»dividend« from the democratic revolution. If there is not a new impetus from employment policy, the political process in Tunisia is in danger of faltering. n The best way to achieve social justice and societal stability over the long term is through decent, dignified and adequately remunerated work. Tunisia is character­ised by underemployment, while the proportion of jobs that are precarious has been skyrocketing for some time. Many graduates of schools of higher learning and people with vocational degrees are no longer finding adequate jobs, while many others are working in the steadily growing informal sector. For this reason, Tunisia urgently needs a new industrial policy and a broad, all-embracing national employ­ment strategy. n There are conceivable ways out of Tunisia’s job crisis. An effective employment pol­icy presupposes a strengthening of the private business sector, especially through the promotion of small and medium-scale enterprises. Beyond this, new forms of integration of the Tunisian economy into regional and global value chains need to be instituted. It is only through reindustrialisation along a broad front that the jobs needed can be created and safeguarded on a sustainable basis.