Tunisia - Nine Tunisian municipalities will soon benefit from the Inclusive Climate Action in Tunisian Municipalities (ICATM) project, which was launched Wednesday in Tunis.

Funded by Global Affairs Canada and implemented by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), this project, which will run till February 2029, aims to strengthen the resilience of local communities while placing equity and inclusion at the heart of this endeavour.

The municipalities that will be selected are called upon to identify ideas and projects that will help sole issues caused by climate change (coastal erosion, flooding, drought and loss of biodiversity), said Chief Engineer at the Environment Minsitry Hamda Aloui, who is responsible for coordinating this new Tunisian-Canadian cooperation programme at the national level.

"We are currently in the pre-selection phase from 68 applicants who applied to the call for expressions of interest that have already been launched, in order to benefit from this programme.".

To this end, a steering committee has been set up to select the municipalities based on criteria designed to ensure a balance between regions and also in terms of project selection (sea level rise, drought, water, flooding and the various climatic hazards).

The sought-after projects will have to meet the goals of the ACICT programme, in terms of support for strengthening climate adaptation and resilience, by promoting an approach based on equity and inclusion for women, young people and vulnerable populations, such as rural female farmers.

Speaking at the meeting to launch the programme, Environment Minister Habib Abid said that the Environment and Interior ministries, which are partners in this project, together with Tunisian experts, would be helping these municipalities to implement their project ideas.

This programme will help share experience between municipalities in Montreal and Tunisia, mainly in terms of sorting domestic waste at source, and transforming waste into organic fertiliser...

For her part, Managing Director of the International Development Center for Innovative Local Governance (CILG) Neila Akrimi said that Tunisia is the only country in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to have been chosen from over 100 applicants to receive funding from the ACICT project.

"Tunisian municipalities would do well to draw inspiration from the expertise and know-how of Canadian municipalities, whose environmental protection policies are applied at municipal and local levels, through clear and successful projects," she indicated.

The project is funded by Global Affairs Canada and implemented by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) and its partner in Tunisia, the International Development Center for Innovative Local Governance (CILG).

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