The Observatoire national de la jeunesse is a public institution, belonging to the Ministry of youth and sports. It was founded in 2002. The ONJ aims to: (1) identify the youth phenomena by carrying out scientific studies and surveys to explore the youth situation in Tunisia; (2) carry out opinion polls to determine the evolution of the views of young people and their attitudes towards the issues that concern them; (3) organise training courses for youth activists in civil society and for young researchers concerned in issues relating to quantitative and qualitative research techniques; and (4) organise scientific workshops on academic issues.
The ONJ oversees research projects in partnership with: the World Bank, to carry out a qualitative scientific research on the obstacles to the integration of youth in public life (employment, education, civil and political activity); the United Nations Population Fund, to carry out a scientific evaluation of the youth survey completed in 2000, 2005 and 2010 so as to determine the qualities and shortcomings of the surveys to compare them in order to improve the implementation of other surveys; and with UNICEF, to carry out an annual report on the situation of young people in Tunisia, which will be completed in late 2013, and a qualitative study about drug use in schools in the city of greater Tunis. The ONJ has other partnerships in the areas of training, such as the Arab Partnership Program, which is supervised by the British Embassy in Tunis.
Persons involved in the project
Prof. Mohamed Jouili, Professor of sociology at the University of Tunis. He has good experience in the field of youth since he is the general director of the Observatoire national de la jeunesse and the executive director of the Agora project – youth and freedom of expression – being carried out in partnership with the UK Embassy. He is also doing research on new youth expression, marginalized youth in Tunisia, and youth and civil mobility. He is a specialist in quantitative approaches and an animator of many scientific workshops. In the field of human development, education and employment, Mohamed Jouili is an expert for the World Bank and the supervisor of research on obstacles to the integration of young people in Tunisia. In addition, he is a founding member of the Mediterranean University for Youth in partnership with the European Union, the North South centre (of the Council of Europe) and the League of Arab States.
Prof. Hassen Boubakri is Professor of Geography, researcher in international migration in the Maghreb and the Mediterranean. He works on migration policies of European countries and of countries of origin as well as on their impact on flows and modes of access of third country nationals in the European territory. The observation and analysis of the evolution of the categories of migrants (workers, students, families, graduates, businessmen and so on) and of types of migration (temporary migration, circular migration, irregular migration, migration skills, etc.) enable him to understand the changes taking place and their projection into the future, based on the prospects and outcomes of these developments. He has led studies and research programs on migration between sub-Saharan countries, the Maghreb and European countries. He also co-led, along with French sociologist Swanie Potot, the research program MICODEV (Globalization, Migration and Co-Development), for the University of Sousse-IRD-CNRS. He is associate researcher with European institutions such as Migration Policy Centre or Migrinter (CNRS), Poitiers.
Prof. Ahmed Khouaja is a sociologist, Professor in sociology of local development and public policy at the University of Tunis, expert consultant to the World Bank, UNFPA and other international and national organizations. He is specialized in socio-economic studies and action research and community development whether in rural or urban settings, studies on land management, local development, the preservation and enhancement of the environment, heritage and popular culture. He has written several publications and impact studies on the inclusion of young people in working life and on citoyennée, the family, women's conditions, and internal and external migration. Ahmed Khouaja is a founding member of the “Diraset Maghreb.Studies” research laboratory. He is also editor of the Tunisian Social Science journal RTSS, published by CERES since 1960.
The research team would also be made up of the following researchers not currently contracted by ONJ: Hafedh Zaafrane (economist, specialized in development economics, gender and youth), Makram Mandhouj (PhD candidate in Geography), Samiha Hamdi (Master student in Sociology), Imen Ben Daadouch (Master’s degree in Sociology and Development, specialized in gender studies), and Bouthayna El Adib (Master’s degree in Sociology and Development, specialized in gender and youth issues).
Main tasks attributed to ONJ:
-Partner in WP3, WP4, WP7 and WP8
