The background for the trip is Norway’s goal of strengthening cooperation between the Tunisian and Norwegian parliaments.  

“Tunisia is the one country in the Middle East that came through the Arab Spring with democratic trends moving in the right direction,” says Nybakk. “The Norwegian Storting has a responsibility to support parliaments in emerging democracies, so this is an important trip.”  

Since the revolution in 2011, Tunis has taken many important steps towards becoming a full-fledged democracy: free elections have been held, a new constitution with democratic rights has been put in place, and women’s rights have been strengthened.  

 

The Dialogue Quartet and female parliamentarians  

Marit Nybakk’s official visit to Tunis will include a variety of meetings: with the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet, with the Prime Minister, with the President of Tunisia’s parliament and with several ministers in the Tunisian government.  

The Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet came together in the summer of 2013, when the democratization process was in danger of collapsing as a result of political killings and widespread social unrest. The quartet managed to establish an alternative and a platform amid the national political crisis.  

Nybakk has emphasized the importance of a separate meeting with women in the parliament.

“Women’s active participation in all areas of society is essential for economic growth, stability and social development,” says Nybakk.  

 

Support for the Ombudsman

To date Tunis has not established an Ombudsman for Children. The Norwegian Ombudsman for Children has long assisted the Tunisian authorities with a view to creating such an institution, and is present in Tunisia at the same time as Nybakk.

The ombudsman and Nybakk will both participate in a panel discussion in the Tunisian parliament at which the topic will be aired.  

“An ombudsman ensures that children’s rights are placed on the political agenda,” says Nybakk. “The ombudsman’s effort to institutionalize this office in Tunisia has my full support.”