'The national women's entrepreneurship and investment programme "Raidet" has contributed to reducing the unemployment rate among female university graduates,' Minister of Family, Women, Children and Seniors, Amel Belhaj Moussa, said on Monday. Speaking at ceremony dedicated to the delivery of funding notices under the Raidet programme, Moussa added that the number of requests for project funding on the platform of this programme exceeded 10,500, noting that more than 72% of women hold university degrees. "The unemployment rate among women was 20.5% in the first quarter of last year and fell to 20.1% in the fourth quarter," she pointed out. The Family Minister announced that on the celebration of Women's Day on August 13, 2023, a tribute will be paid to women who have been successful in launching projects within the framework of the Raidet programme. A special prize will be awarded to the Raidet programme, and a national awareness day will be organised to promote the programme. 403 funding notices for the launch of women's projects worth MD 5.5 million were handed over to women on Monday. These projects include the electrification of deep wells, cosmetic laboratories, a travel agency and a fruit tree nursery. The Minister of Family stressed that these new women-led projects will create 780 jobs and noted that a large number of grants have been awarded to women, with a maximum grant of 300,000 dinars. Khélifa Sboui, Director General of the Tunisian Solidarity Bank (BTS), expressed his institution's willingness to finance women's projects in Tunisia in order to speed up the socio-economic process. He pointed out that the Raidet programme is well known at regional level and confirmed that several countries were working to benefit from this experience, which he described as "successful".

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse