Education International’s Tunisian affiliates celebrate Nobel Peace Prize
The 2015 Nobel Peace Prize honouring the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet for its role in helping build democracy following the country’s revolution includes five of Education International’s very own affiliates.
Today’s announcement that the Norwegian Nobel Committee decided to award the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize to the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet for its “decisive contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia in the wake of the Jasmine Revolution of 2011” includes Education International (EI)’s five Tunisian affiliates.
The Quartet includes four civil society organsiations, the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT, Union Générale Tunisienne du Travail), the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts (UTICA, Union Tunisienne de l'Industrie, du Commerce et de l'Artisanat), the Tunisian Human Rights League (LTDH, La Ligue Tunisienne pour la Défense des Droits de l'Homme), and the Tunisian Order of Lawyers (Ordre National des Avocats de Tunisie).
Education International’s five Tunisian affiliates, Fédération générale de l'enseignement supérieur et de la recherche scientifique (FGESRS), Syndicat général de l'enseignement de base (SGEB), Syndicat Général de l'Enseignement Secondaire (SGES), Syndicat Général des Inspecteurs de l'Enseignement Primaire (SGIEP), and the Syndicat National des Médecins, Dentistes et Pharmaciens Hospitalo Universitaires (SNMDPHU) are all members of the UGTT.
“This award is the culmination of the UGTT historical path since its founding in 1946, where it participated in the national movement for independence and sacrificed with martyrs, also elaborated an economic and social program that helped building a modern country, which led to the development of social and human rights and restored social relationships and played a key role in the revolution of 2011, and contributed to protect Tunisia from the civil war,” said Taher Dhaker, EI’s Arab Countries Cross Regional Structure (ACCRS) Committee chair and a member of the SGEB.
The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to the Quartet, rather than the four individual organisations.
