Carrying out a benchmarking study on sectoral dialogue practices At Handicap International – Humanity & Inclusion

Presentation of the project
2.1 A consortium for combined expertise
The DEFIS project is implemented by a consortium composed of three organizations, Handicap
International as lead, the Fondation Agir Contre l’Exclusion – Tunisie (FACE) as co-applicant
and the Center for Research on Social Studies (CRES) as associate.
Handicap International (HI): present in Tunisia since 1992, HI is an independent and impartial international solidarity association
, which intervenes in situations of poverty and exclusion,
conflicts and disasters. Working alongside disabled and vulnerable people, she
acts and testifies to meet their essential needs and improve their living conditions.
Fondation Agir Contre l’Exclusion (FACE): FACE was created in 2012 with the mission of promoting
the social and societal commitment of businesses in order to prevent and fight against all forms
of exclusion, discrimination and poverty by mobilizing its network of companies, public actors
and civil society.
Center for Research on Social Studies (CRES): CRES is a non-
administrative public establishment under the supervision of the Ministry of Social Affairs, responsible for developing studies and
evaluating public policies in the social field. CRES is specifically committed to
working towards the establishment of an inclusive social protection system.
2.2 Project objectives and intervention principles
The DEFIS project is part of a social inclusion approach defined as “a
process which allows people at risk of poverty and social exclusion to participate in
economic life , social and cultural, and to enjoy a decent standard of living. These people must be
involved in decision-making that affects their lives and benefit from better access to their
fundamental rights” (European Union).
It is structured around two objectives:
Effect 1. Improve support for individuals and families in vulnerable situations, through
better coordination of aid programs and a personalized aid plan.
In this context, it will be a question of:
i) Supporting Tunisian CSOs for the establishment and capitalization
of local, inclusive and intersectoral experiments, to support families
and people in vulnerable situations for their social inclusion and their access to rights
, which will contribute to the evolution of methods and practices;
ii) To carry out the re-engineering of the social work of the 3 lines of support of
MAS establishments and services to provide personalized intersectoral support
for these beneficiaries, drawing in particular on
experimental practices deployed in coordination with CSOs.
Effect 2. Bring the results of new approaches to social work and
field experiments to the strategic level, during the Sectoral Policy Dialogue.
The sectoral social inclusion policy dialogue carried out at regional and national scale with an
inclusive and multi-actor approach aims to involve the State and its services, the organizations in
charge of social protection, economic actors and social workers, social intervention professionals
and civil society (in particular associations and families who care for people
with specific needs). The sectoral dialogue will make it possible to monitor the progress of
social policy and to influence its progressive operationalization on the basis of
field experiences and open reflections and debates.
3 key principles underlie the action of the DEFIS project and will be reflected through the
operational approaches chosen for the implementation of the two aforementioned effects: The intersectoral approach consists of mobilizing a set of actors
around people in vulnerable situations
, traditionally public and associative to which add the private sector,
intervening in different areas. It must make it possible to better respond to the differentiated needs
of vulnerable people and to be more effective in the support provided.
The inclusive approach which consists of (i) placing the person in a
vulnerable situation at the heart of the project, by strengthening their self-confidence, their autonomy and their ability to act alone or with
others, and (ii) supporting communities , services and policies in a transformation
aimed at welcoming diversity.
Intersectionality which makes it possible to take into account in a given context the different
vulnerability factors which overlap and reinforce inequalities. These factors may relate to
gender, age, disability, social status, skin color, geographic origin, etc.
This study is part of effect 2 of the project. As such, three
complementary principles of intervention will be considered:
– Learning through action: the acquisition of new knowledge is insufficient on its own.
to initiate changes in practices. Beyond the training developed, it is necessary
to leave room for the co-construction of knowledge, through practice and coaching and to
associate it with times of reflective exchange allowing analytical perspective. Beyond the learning
intrinsic to the project, it will also draw on the experiences carried out by other actors,
including at the international level.
– Representation, accountability, autonomy and independence of civil society: which must organize itself
and ensure that CSOs, active in the intersectoral interventions that will be supported and within
the framework of the Sectoral Policy Dialogue, effectively carry their voice of the groups whose
rights they defend, by reporting to their peers and before the law, and by having the guarantee
of their freedom of speech and action, an essential factor in the promotion of rights and a condition for
effective participatory citizenship.
– Inclusion of economic actors and other relevant key actors in
supported intersectoral interventions, to move, in accordance with the objectives of the AMEN Social program, from
assistance to social inclusion, through employment or independent activity, productive and contributory .
3. Objective and expected results of the benchmarking study
This study is part of effect 2 of the DEFIS project. This study should make it possible, through
the documentation of significant experiences of sectoral dialogue in the field of
social inclusion or social social protection, to feed into the definition of the strategy proposed
within the framework of the DEFIS project.
Based on the lessons learned from the analysis of significant national and international experiences
and with regard to the Tunisian context and the particularities of its social policy, the results of the study
should make it possible:
– To define the conditions and determining factors for the establishment of a dialogue at
regional and national level corresponding at least to levels 5 (involvement) and 6 (partnership)
of the Arnstein scale;
– To determine the governance framework for the dialogue by relying on and promoting, if
possible, existing bodies. This includes the institutional anchoring of dialogue, management bodies
and their role, spaces for dialogue, etc.;
– To pre-identify the key actors to be mobilized and the skills required for
active participation in the future dialogue process. The respective place of citizens and professionals
including unions, CSOs, the private sector and public actors (services and decision-makers)
will need to be clarified;
– To formulate recommendations on the modalities of preparation, animation and monitoring of the
dialogue contributing to its effectiveness and impact;
– To formulate recommendations with a view to ensuring the inclusive nature of the dialogue with
dual attention paid to vulnerable populations and the representativeness of the territories.