Good Governance and Anti-Corruption in Tunisia - March 2020

Good Governance
and Anti-Corruption
in Tunisia
A MENA-OECD GOVERNANCE PROGRAMME PROJECT
Main achievements (March 2020)

Existing efforts
of the Tunisian Government
to address corruption
✔ Creation of a National Anti-Corruption
Agency (2014)
✔ Adoption of laws guaranteeing access to
Information (2016) and the protection
of whistleblowers (2017)
✔ Introduction of an online public
procurement platform “TUNEPS” (2013)
✔ Creation of governance units in ministries,
governorates, capital municipalities and
state-owned enterprises (2016)
Corruption costs
are estimated to represent
of Tunisia’s GDPii
of Tunisians believe they can make
a difference in the fight against corruption
of Tunisians believe
corruption has increased in 2017
are afraid to report
corruption for fear of retaliationiii
but
CORRUPTION IS PERCEIVED AS THE 3RD
MAIN PROBLEM IN THE COUNTRY
AFTER UNEMPLOYMENT AND THE MANAGEMENT OF THE ECONOMY i
.
Good Governance and Anti-Corruption in Tunisia 32 Good Governance and Anti-Corruption in Tunisia

Signing Ceremony for the UK-Tunisia Memorandum of Understanding with Mrs. Louise de
Sousa, Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Tunisia, Mr. Alistair Burt, Minister of State for the
Middle East of the United Kingdom, Mr. Kamel Ayadi, President of HCCAF, Tunisia, Mr. Rolf Alter,
Director of the OECD Public Governance Directorate and Mr. Hedi Mekni, Secretary General of
the Tunisian Government (Tunis, 3 August 2017)
With the financial support of the Foreign and
Commonwealth Office of the UK, the OECD
implemented the project “Good Governance and
Anti-Corruption in Tunisia” in coordination with
its Tunisian counterparts from 2017 until 2020.
The project focuses on creating greater trust
between citizens and their administration, im-
proving governance efficiency and transparency,
and promoting inclusivity and opportunities
for marginalised groups.
Partners Beneficiaries:
n Presidency of the Government
n Ministry of Civil Service,
Governance and Anti-Corruption
n Ministry of Local Affairs
n High Committee for Administrative
and Financial Control (HCCAF)
n National anti-corruption agency
(INLUCC)
n National Commission for access to
information (INAI)
n High Authority for Public
Procurement (HAICOP)
n Administrative Tribunal and
Regional Chambers
n Financing Bank for Small and
Medium Enterprises (BFPME)
n National Federation of Tunisian
Cities (FNVT)
n Municipalities
n Control bodies
n Inspectorates
n SMEs
n Public enterprises
n Media
n Civil society
Three focus areas:
OFFICIAL VISIT OF THE HEAD
OF THE GOVERNMENT OF
TUNISIA TO THE OECD
“The OECD is a major ally in
our fight against corruption.
Together, we are addressing
both its preventive and
coercive side, affecting
citizens as well as
enterprises, at the central
and local level”
(Paris, 14 February 2019)
CITIZENS ADMINISTRATION
BUSINESS
ENVIRONMENT

Create responsiveness
for citizens
1
6 Good Governance and Anti-Corruption in Tunisia
Step
1
Step
1
Step
2
Step
3
CONDUCT
VULNERABILITY SCANS
ELABORATE
CITIZEN CHARTERS
EMPOWER CITIZENS
TO MONITOR CHARTER
COMMITMENTS
STEP 1: CONDUCT VULNERABILITY SCANS
n Identify processes vulnerable to corruption.
n Provide specific recommendations to improve service
delivery.
Key Partners
and Beneficiaries
Governance and
Anti-Corruption
n Municipality of Béja
n Municipality of Tozeur
n Sahloul Hospital of
Sousse
n Administrative Tribunal
of Sidi Bouzid
n Regional hospital of
Tataouine
n Charles-Nicolle hospital
of Tunis
n Civil society
organisations
Good Governance and Anti-Corruption in Tunisia 7
EMPOWER CITIZENS TO MONITOR THE COMMITMENTS
n Encourage citizens to monitor the commitments of
citizen charters and keep their public service providers
accountable.
59%
of Tunisians believe
they can make a
difference in the fight
against corruption IV
The OECD cooperates with 6 public services
to improve their quality and responsiveness
to citizens by following a 3-step methodology:
STEP 2: ELABORATE CITIZEN CHARTERS
n Encourage institutions to develop citizen charters in a
participatory way.
n Support institutions to implement the charters.

TAX COLLECTION IN BÉJA / 80,000 inhabitants
n Only 47%of the city’s ordinary revenues were collected
in 2017 V
.
n Example of charter’s commitment: Improve the munici-
pality’s website by creating a webpage explaining the
role of the municipal tax in the development of Béja.
ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL IN SIDI BOUZID / 16,000 enterprises
n Surveyed citizens were not aware of the existence of the
regional chamber of the Administrative Tribunal in Sidi
Bouzid, created in 2018 VI
.
n Example of charter’s commitment: Organize information
campaigns on the role and functions of the Administrative
Tribunal at least 3 times a year.
WASTE MANAGEMENT IN TOZEUR / 40,000 inhabitants
n 44% of citizens think that waste management is the top
environmental concern for Tozeur VII
.
n Example of charter’s commitment: Ensure the collection
of garbage at least once every two days
CHARLES-NICOLLE HOSPITAL IN TUNIS / 2900 patients daily
n The Charles-Nicolle hospital is the biggest public hospital
in Tunisia
n Example of charter’s commitment: Improve the quality
and speed of the reception of patients by implementing
an automatic queuing system.
SOUSSE HOSPITAL / 800 patients daily
n 26% of surveyed patients in 2018 found the quality of
care in Tunisian hospitals to be “bad” or “very bad” VIII
.
and speed of the reception of patients by using an
appointment management application.
REGIONAL HOSPITAL IN TATAOUINE / 150,000 inhabitants
n Waiting time for consultations is between 3 to 4 hours
following registration IX
.
and speed of the reception of patients.
1
Tozeur
Beja
Sousse
Tunis
Did you know?
Decree No. 2018-1067
of 25 December 2018
renders citizens’ charters
mandatory for local and
national public services.
The decree also mandates
an annual self-assessment
of the commitments of the
charters.
Create responsiveness
for citizens
Sidi Bouzid
Tataouine

Create connections
in the administration
The project strengthens coordination among key central
and local governance and anti-corruption actors in order
to create a more effective anti-corruption system, in three
main domains:
2
✔Better governance coordination
Many institutions are
currently working on
fighting corruption.
Overlaps in their
competences and lack
of coordination among
them undermine
the efficiency of the
anti-corruption
structure as a whole
3 THE NATIONAL ANTI-CORRUPTION STRATEGY
n Contributing to the National Anti-corruption Congress, encour-
aging synergies between all anti-corruption entities.
n Supporting the creation of a mixed working group bringing
together representatives from the Government, the INAI
and civil society to work on the implementation of the
2016 ATI law in public institutions.
n Supporting the implementation of the ATI law
through an ATI Guide for public officials.
2 ACCESS TO INFORMATION (ATI)
Key Partners
and Beneficiaries
n Presidency of
Government
n National Anti-
Corruption Agency
(INLUCC)
n National Access
to Information
Commission (INAI)
Did you know?
Governance units are tasked with ensuring the application of
good governance principles, the monitoring of compliance with
codes of ethics, and the prevention and follow-up of corruption
cases, in each ministry, governorate, municipality and state-
owned enterprise.
1 GOVERNANCE UNITS
n Strengthening the capacities of governance units and their
coordination through a training programme covering corruption
detection and prevention, strategy-planning, reporting, and
monitoring.
n Supportingtheharmonisationoftheirfunctionsandtheefficient
implementation of their mandate through a procedural guide.
The ATI Guide for
public officials was
disseminated to
the 647 public
institutions covered
by the ATI law.

2
✔Better public auditing
Key Partners
and Beneficiaries
n High Committee for
Administrative and
Financial Affairs
(HCCAF)
n General Control body
for Civil Service (CGSP)
for Finance (CGF)
for state property and
land affairs (CGDEAF)
n Ministerial
Inspectorates
The OECD provides international
methods of public auditing to Tunisian
inspection and audit officials
in public institutions:
n Supporting HCCAF in testing and adopting a new and more
efficient method for the follow-up of audit recommendations:
the proximity follow-up approach.
2 THE FOLLOW-UP OF AUDIT RECOMMENDATIONS
Over 100
inspectors were
trained in 2019-2020
The percentage of audit
recommendations addressed
after the first follow-up
mission increased from 42%
to 80% compared with the
classical paper-based approach
42%
80%
Since 2017, close to
100 control reports
were subject to a
proximity follow-up
mission in various
sectors
Create connections
in the administration
1 GENERAL CONTROL BODIES
n Strengthening capacities of auditors through a training pro-
gramme on risk-based auditing, the quality of audit reports,
and detecting and investigating fraud and corruption.
n Helping audit entities focus their limited resources
on high-risk areas prone to corruption through a
guide on risk assessment in audit planning.
n Encouraging the sustainable dissemination of
standardstaughtandcontainedinguidesthrough
a training-of-trainers programme.
3 MINISTERIAL INSPECTORATES
n Providing a methodological guide and training inspectors to
adopt more efficient and harmonised working methods in line
with international standards.
n Agreeing on a Code of Ethics for inspectors to promote common
standards for ethical behaviour of inspectors.
Audit
recommendations
in Tunisia rarely
resulted in the expected
change since there
was no mechanism to
monitor their
implementation X
What is the proximity
follow-up approach? The
proximity follow-up is a
new method to enhance
the monitoring of audit
recommendations that
relies on conducting the
supervision mission of the
controlled entity in person,
verifying how the reported
anomalies have been
addressed and corrected
(instead of just paper
evidence).
Code d’éthique de l’inspecteur
administratif, financier et
technique en Tunisie
Guide méthodologique de
l’inspecteur administratif et
financier en Tunisie

Create prosperity through
a business enabling
environment
3
SMEs account for
of the Tunisian
economy
of employment
of all companies
in Tunisia XI
14 Good Governance and Anti-Corruption in Tunisia Good Governance and Anti-Corruption in Tunisia 15
Key Partners
and Beneficiaries
Governance and Anti-
Corruption
n Administrative Tribunal
and regional Chambers
n Financing Bank for
Small and Medium
Enterprises (BFPME)
n SMEs
The OECD supports better access
to local public services for SMEs
in two domains:
Did you know?
In 2018, the BFPME financed 1621 SME projects for a
total cost of investments of nearly £321 million. 30.023
jobs were created thanks to its support.
n Supporting the Administrative Tribunal and its regional
chambers in improving the information and orientation of
citizens and SMEs on services they provide.
n Training judges to adopt digital tools to accelerate the
drafting of judgements.
n Providing brochures for citizens
and SMEs detailing the required
documents and steps to file an
appeal and to apply for legal aid.
1 ACCESS TO JUSTICE SERVICES

CHAMBERS OF THE
ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL
2 ACCESS TO COACHING IN THE POST-CREATION PHASE
n Assisting the Bank Financing Small and Medium Enterprises
(BFPME) in creating a team of “post-creation” coaches and
building their capacities to support SMEs in their early
development stages.
Kasserine
Gafsa
Tozeur
Gabès
Medenine
Sousse
Tunis
Bizerta
Nabeul
Beja
Kef
Kairouan Monastir
SfaxSidi Bouzid
✔Better access to local public services

3
The OECD supports public authorities to
create opportunities of public contracts
for SMEs, through three pillars:
25%of the
volume of public
contracts is lost
by the State to
corruption XII
Key Partners
and Beneficiaries
n High Authority for
Public Procurement
(HAICOP)
n 5 pilot entities:
- The Ministry of
Equipment
- The Ministry of
Transport
- The Ministry of
Agriculture
- The National Railway
Company (SNCFT)
- The Electricity and
Gas Company (STEG)
n SMEs
n Elaborating a risk management strategy and conducting
capacity- building sessions for public procurement officials
from HAICOP and 5 pilot entities to support the adoption
of the strategy and implementation tools to improve the
performance and integrity of the public procurement system.
3 RISK MANAGEMENT IN PUBLIC PROCUREMENT
HAICOP adopted and
implemented its own
risk management
strategy and tools for
public procurement
30% of HAICOP
officials and
70 procurement
civil servants were
trained to apply
risk management to
public procurement
operations
1 ACCESS TO PUBLIC CONTRACTS
n Providing recommendations, based on inter-
national experience, to enhance the regulatory
framework to improve SMEs’ access to public
procurement.
2 E-PROCUREMENT SYSTEM “TUNEPS”
n Strengthening the capacities of SMEs and public authorities to
use TUNEPS, focusing in particular on SMEs owned by women
and youth.
The Ministry
of Equipment
The Ministry of
Agriculture
The Ministry
of Transport
The National
Railway Company
(SNCFT)
The Electricity
and Gas Company
(STEG)
✔More transparency in public procurement
Create prosperity through
a business enabling
environment

1 2
Key outcomes
for the administration
Increased coordination
among ATI stakeholders
through the elaboration
of a guide for public
officials of 647
institutions.
Implementation and
generalisation of the
new follow-up method
to all HCCAF controllers,
following its successful
primary results of
doubling the number of
audit recommendations
addressed.
Improvement of audit
processes and working
methods, through the
training of over 80% of
controllers of the three
general control bodies
on improving auditing
methods (56.5% of
them are women).
Key outcomes
for citizens
Adoption of quality
commitments and
watchdog mechanisms
in the Sahloul hospital
in Sousse, the regional
hospital in Tataouine
and the Charles-Nicolle
hospital in Tunis, in the
Administrative Tribunal
in Sidi Bouzid and in the
municipalities of Béja
and Tozeur, thanks to
vulnerability scans and
citizen charters.
Adoption of a decree
making the adoption
of citizen charters
compulsory for all public
administrations and
mandating a yearly
self-assessment.
Adoption of a circular
providing a common
methodology for the
elaboration of citizen
charters and ways to
monitor and evaluate
the mechanism.

3
Improvement of the
information and
orientation of SMEs
on justice services
available to them and
establishment of a
post-creation coaching
service for SMEs.
The Adoption and
implementation of a risk
management strategy
and tools in public
procurement, notably
through the training
of 30% of HAICOP
officials and 5 pilot
entities in applying risk
management to public
procurement
operations.
Optimisation of HAICOP’s
e-procurement
platform TUNEPS, by
integrating it with
other platforms, and
enhanced capacities of
contracting authorities
and suppliers to use the
platform.

NOTESKey outcomes
for an enabling business
environment

NOTES
I
Afrobarometer, 1 October 2018.
II
Jeune Afrique, 25 September 2018.
III
Afrobarometer, 1 October 2018.
IV
Ibid.
V
Financial account of the municipality of Beja for the year 2017 (2018).
VI
Consultation of Civil Society Organisations in Sidi Bouzid by the OECD, October 2019
VII
EMRHOD Consulting for the OECD and ATCP (2018), Trois enquêtes sur terrain : Sousse, Tozeur Béja.
VIII
Ibid.
IX
Consultation of Civil Society Organisations in Tataouine by the OECD, December 2019
X
OECD (2014), Examen de l’OCDE du Système de contrôle et d’audit de la Tunisie : Gestion des risques dans les institutions publiques
XI
Confederation of Tunisian Citizen Enterprises (2015), L’accès au financement des PME en Tunisie.
XII
HuffPost, 2 April 2018.

For more information please contact:
Amira Tlili
Policy Analyst and Project Coordinator
amira.tlili@oecd.org
Follow us on Twitter:
#Hawkama4Tunisia
@OECDgov
@UKinTunisia
Information about the project is available at:
oe.cd/hawkama4tunisia

Good Governance and Anti-Corruption in Tunisia - March 2020

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