Taking the floor in the 5th Demographic Summit in Budapest, Hungary, Minister of Family, Women, Children and the Elderly Amel Belhaj Moussa expressed Tunisia's commitment to its social role by adopting new human-oriented approaches and by making further efforts to establish a new system of social and economic development.
During a high-level ministerial meeting, the minister put emphasis on Tunisia's bet on the human capital, reminding of the Personal Status Code promulgated since the early days of the independence, making education compulsory for children (boys and girls) at the age of six and providing healthcare services for Tunisian families. She added that the new Tunisian Constitution, published in 2022, stipulates that the State is responsible for providing protection to families, children, the elderly, women as well as persons with special needs, reads a statement of the ministry.
The minister spoke of the demographic challenges facing Tunisia and its firm commitment to ensuring family protection and developing national approaches to protect the family, consolidating it social role and increasing its capacities in a changing world.
According to demographic figures, life expectancy in Tunisia has increased to 76 years as well as the number of families which stands at more than 3 million. The percentage of Tunisians over 60 will increase from 13% now to 22.6% in 2044, the same source said.
Moussa stressed that the population growth rate in Tunisia is one of the lowest rates (1.03%) in the world due to a decline in birth rates from 2.4% children per woman in 2014 to 1.8% children per woman in 2021.
The 5th Budapest Demographic Summit is held on September 14-16 in Budapest, Hungary under the theme of "Family is the key to security."
The event, which is attended by official international delegations, civil society activists and media professionals, is addressing ways to overcome challenges facing the family.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse