Girl Power in Tunisia [6th December 2007]

[6th December 2007]

This a report written by intern Cheryl Stevens about the reception for the Ambassador of the Republic of Tunisia.

Today is Wednesday, November 7, 2007. Henry and I have gone to the reception for Mrs. Hamida Mrabet Labidi, the Ambassador of the Republic of Tunisia. The reception was a buffet reception in the House of Commons, Dining Room B. The main purpose of this reception was to discuss and commemorate twenty years of Tunisia’s developments and successes as well as celebrating Mrs. Hamida Mrabet Labidi becoming Ambassador.

When we first arrived, we could barely fit in the room because it was overcrowded. We made our way to an open area and met a social worker from the Tunisian Embassy in London. He did not have a business card. He has been here for one year and will be here for one more year. He speaks Arabic and French and his religion is Muslim. We spoke a little about Muslims who both drink wine and pray. He doesn’t see anything wrong with that.

Next, the Ambassador gave a speech about how proud she was that Tunisia has come so far in its developments. She spoke of how her country has gone from protective to liberal and open with much social development. She described a developed middle class where 80% of Tunisians now own their own homes.

Two fields the Ambassador was keen on discussing were women and education. Today women in Tunisia represent 15% of the seats in the upper house and 23% in the lower house. Regarding education, there has been increased funding and support in both primary and secondary schools. She was pleased with the direction education is taking in her country. She continued to express her excitement with the remarkable increases Tunisia has made in all other aspects: social, economic, political, etc. She also commented on how happy she was about the relationship between Tunisia and the United Kingdom.

The next guest we met was from the Spanish and Portuguese Jews’ Congregation. He was born in Tunisia and told us that there were about 1600 Jewish citizens left in the country. He has been to a few Parliamentary receptions before and spoke a bit of Hebrew with Henry.

We briefly met the Consulate of Tunisia. He seemed very rushed in conversation but happy to meet us nonetheless. We also met a Counsellor of the Embassy of Tunisia. We spoke with him briefly as well.

The last guest we met worked for TUNISAIR. He was born in Tunisia and likes living in London. He asked about New Jersey! He was kind and seemed very interested in knowing more about us.

If I were to recommend anything for this event it would be to request a larger room. There were too many people cramped in such a small space that everyone was practically on top of one another. This factor also made it difficult to socialise with others.

My first reception was nice. I’ve met some interesting people and learned quite a bit about Tunisia. The food was delightful and we were given Tunisian dates as we left.