America Abroad Media's Third Tunisian Townhall

(Washington DC – January 9, 2012) AAM announces the successful broadcast of our third Tunisian town hall, and the first in a series of television events, as part of a year-long series examining Tunisia's democratic transition.

AAM's Tunis-based office, called the Tunisia Media Partnership (TMP), collaborated with Al Wataniya Television to host the January 7th event, which brought together audience members from 11 towns and governorates across Tunisia to discuss economic development in their country.

The ninety-minute program featured discussion amongst the 40 audience participants from the coast, interior, and south of Tunisia. 

Panelists included:

• Said Al-Aydi, former Minister of Employment (until late December, 2011)
• Fawzi Elloumi, business owner with offices across Tunisia employing over 8,500 people
• Mohsen Hassan, economic expert and activist

The wide-ranging discussion focused on the increasing poverty rate in Tunisia, the role of the government and the private sector in fighting unemployment, and the discrepencies in the economic development of the coastal and rural areas.  

Al Wataniya is the national television station which reaches large audiences across Tunisia. This program is scheduled to air on Al Wataniya 2 on January 14th, marking the one year anniversary of the the fall of former president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali and the culmination of the Tunisian Revolution.

TMP will continue to partner with local Tunisian television and radio stations to produce timely and engaging discussions on issues affecting Tunisians during their historic democratic transition. Learn more about TMP »

AAM will provide a full transcript of the event, in English, shortly.

Highlight clip: In the opening sequence, the host discusses the issues on the table – economic development, poverty and unemployment.

Highlight clip: Awatef, an audience member and underpaid laborer, speaks out about discrimination and why the voice of the poor are not being heard.