December 2016, the Tunisian government announced his willingness to join the MobiliseYourCity initiative to promote sustainable urban mobility planning, to reduce the impacts of urban transport on the climate and to improve the quality of life in urban areas in Tunisian cities. The initiative coordinated by CODATU is now launched with an operational start scheduled for December 2017.
The need for a National Urban Mobility Policy
Following Tunisia’s bid for the MobiliseYourCity initiative, MobiliseDays were organized on March 1st and 2nd, 2017 in Tunis under the name of the Urban Mobility Forum. The event entitled “Towards a National Urban Mobility Policy in Tunisia for Better Local Governance and Sustainable Financing Mechanisms” was aimed primarily at discussing the strategic orientations to be followed for a national sustainable urban mobility policy and contributing to the reflection on actions to be undertaken within the framework of MobiliseYourCity.
Several issues and measures emerged during this event and helped to develop an activity program for the initiative in Tunisia focused on the development and implementation of a national urban mobility policy. The main actions of this initiative will include transport governance, the institutional and regulatory framework, financing mechanisms, and capacity development.
MobiliseYourCity initiative starts in Tunisia at the end of the year
On September 27th, 2017, the various partners of MobiliseYourCity Tunisia met at the Ministry of Transport of Tunisia in the presence of senior ministerial officials to present the activity program of the initiative and to prepare its implementation. The planned activities will aim to establish a diagnosis of urban mobility and an inventory of greenhouse gas emissions in order to build a vision of sustainable urban mobility in Tunisia. The implementation of this vision will be further elaborated within the framework of the initiative through studies on the necessary changes to the regulatory framework and financing mechanisms in the country.
Various international technical and financial partners are involved, such as GIZ, AFD, and Cerema. The kick-off meeting allowed them to agree with the Ministry of Transport, project leader in Tunisia, and its local partners namely the National Agency for Energy Management and the Ministry of Energy, Equipment, Housing and Spatial Planning, on the calendar of the initiative throughout the year 2018.
At the end of 2018, MobiliseYourCity will have to allow the Ministry of Transport of Tunisia and its partners to have an action plan for sustainable urban mobility in accordance with the national policy co-constructed with Tunisian stakeholders.