Report on Jasmine Foundation Annual Conference 2015

Jasmine Foundation organized its third annual conference on June 11th and 12th 2015, around the theme of The Participatory Governance; at Ramada Plaza Hotel, Gammarth, Tunis.
In her opening speech, Dr. Tesnim Chirchi, the executive director of Jasmine Foundation, elaborated that the choice of participatory governance as a theme for the third annual conference was not made randomly. Indeed, “Participatory governance is a way of thinking and managing freedom and citizenship in a given society. Its understanding is strongly related to the reform of the state in democratic transition”.
Participatory governance is about conceiving representative democracy in a more collaborative manner. Participatory governance takes into consideration traditional institutions of democracy, such as the Parliament, but tends to include more actors in the process of decision-making. The aim of Jasmine Foundation Annual Conference was to look for the means by which each citizen can partake in the exercise of power and in the implementation of local and national policies. Dr. Tesnim Chirchi put an emphasis on the importance of creating Tunisian’s proper models of participatory governance. “Participation is not simply an idea. It is about creating mechanisms which reflect the Tunisian specificities. The Constitution affirms decentralization; yet how can we make sure that this will become a reality?”
To answer these questions, four panellists from the academic world, the political sphere and the international cooperation have expressed themselves. Pr. André Roux, Ms. Madi Sharma, Dr Jamal-Eddine Garbi, and Mr. Imed Hammami (MP) have delivered their vision on participatory governance in Tunisia.
The following is a full report of the conference, including the concept note, the programme, the panellists and the proceedings.