Tunisia

Male parents are now better able to share care responsibilities with women thanks to the extension of paternity leave from 2 days to 7 days, with an additional 3 days for fathers of twins or children with health challenges, In fact, On July 31, 2024, Tunisia’s Parliament passed Law No. 2024-44, extending paternity leave. Fathers can now take leave flexibly within 30 days of their child’s birth, and the law applies equally to public- and private-sector employees, ensuring inclusivity. The reform also introduced longer maternity leave, prenatal leave, and postnatal leave for mothers of stillborn children, creating a supportive framework for families. By encouraging shared caregiving responsibilities, the law challenges traditional gender norms, enabling women to focus on career advancement while fostering equality within households. One of the key barriers to women’s career advancement is the unequal distribution of caregiving responsibilities, which disproportionately impacts their income, professional growth, and well-being. This reform is thus a landmark reform towards advancing gender equality and women’s economic empowerment, contributing to SDG 5 (Gender Equality) and SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth).
Contributing to this reform, lawmakers’ understanding of the benefits of expanded paternity leave improved due to UN Women’s pivotal technical inputs, evidence, and facilitation. Specifically, on July 12-13, 2024, 36 parliamentarians from critical commissions, including Defense, Security, Finance, and Human Rights, and international experts explored global best practices, particularly from the MENA region, and accessed evidence on the socioeconomic benefits of men’s caregiving. In this way, lawmakers accessed the necessary tools and recommendations to advocate for gender-responsive reforms. The timing of this intervention was critical, occurring as Parliament debated Bill 13/2024 on parental leave reforms. UN Women facilitated the workshop, creating a platform for informed decision-making, in partnership with Tunisia’s Parliament of the People’s Representatives (ARP).
Thus, recognizing the potential of paternity leave to shift traditional gender roles, UN Women played a pivotal role in addressing this structural inequality by supporting evidence-based policy discussions to promote shared caregiving responsibilities. UN Women’s expertise and strategic support ensured gender equality remained central to these discussions.
UN Women’s leadership was instrumental in this success, from convening stakeholders to providing technical expertise and fostering consensus. This initiative demonstrates how UN Women’s strategic interventions drive systemic change. The timely support not only advanced Tunisia’s legislative priorities but also laid the foundation for a societal shift toward gender equality, benefiting women, men, and families alike

Institutions are increasingly creating effective and risk-sensitive public policies in partnership with economic and social actors, putting the country's resources at the service of inclusive, sustainable, resilient socio-economic development (UNSDCF Effect 1 and SDG 16.6). Related public policies started to focus on achieving the SDGs and on addressing socio-economic gaps as 12 key ministries started using the updated Balanced Scorecard on Gender (BSG) sheets in their Annual Performance Reports 2024 which allow the integration of gender into each ministries’ budget for the year. These ministries include the Ministry of Family, Women, Children, and Seniors; Ministry of Justice; Central GBO Unit - Ministry of Finance; Ministry of Social Affairs; Ministry of Higher Education; Ministry of Health; Ministry of Interior; Ministry of Tourism; Ministry of Defense; Ministry of Commerce; Ministry of Equipment; Ministry of Technologies of Communication. The achieve this result, 22 women and 12 men representatives of the 12 key ministries increased their capacities to design, create and implement Gender-Responsive Budgeting (GRB) tools – in particular the new GRB sheet- and Law 2017-58 on Ending Violence Against Women. To facilitate this learning, UN Women conducted workshops on the use of BSG sheets in Annual Performance Reports in March and in July. The Gender Budgeting Office (GBO) unit co organized the workshops and provided the BSG sheets.
UN Women's collaboration with the GBO Unit and 12 crucial ministries, including seven pilot ministries, exemplifies the synergies between normative support, UN-system coordination, and operational activities to combat violence. The strategic integration of Gender-Responsive Budgeting (GRB) tools and Law 2017-58 into the ministries' capacities is a joint effort towards a common goal. This aligns with UN Women's normative support by promoting gender-responsive legislation and integrating gender perspectives into national policies.
Efforts to address structural barriers to women’s empowerment and gender equality include ensuring that the national budget prioritizes meeting these needs. The utilization of Gender-Responsive Budgeting (GRB) tools holds the potential to catalyse structural changes benefiting women and girls in several ways. By integrating GRB into budgetary processes, governments can allocate resources more effectively towards gender equality initiatives, including healthcare, education, and social protection programs that directly impact women and girls. This strategic allocation of funds can help address systemic inequalities and barriers to access faced by women and girls, ultimately leading to improved outcomes in areas such as maternal health, girls' education, and economic empowerment. Furthermore, incorporating GRB into budget planning fosters transparency and accountability, ensuring that gender considerations are mainstreamed throughout decision-making processes.