Tunisian economic crisis leaves university graduates facing long term unemployment

Economic hardship is deepening across Tunisia as rising costs, failing public services, and widespread joblessness affect residents nationwide, Al Jazeera reported. Unemployed university graduates in marginalized central regions continue to struggle to secure stable jobs years after finishing their education. [1]

Cherine Ghanmi, a university graduate from the town of al-Mazzunah in the central Sidi Bou Zid governorate, remains unemployed more than a decade after graduating in 2012, Al Jazeera reported. Ghanmi walked three miles to school as a child and hoped her degree would help lift her family out of poverty, but she continues to rely on her parents for financial support. [1]

The Arab Spring uprising began in Tunisia following the death of Mohamed Bouazizi by self immolation, which led to the deposition of longtime ruler Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011. Economic grievances and Bouazizi's self immolation triggered the 2010 and 2011 Jasmine Revolution in the country. [2][3]

Tunisia gained independence in 1956 under Habib Bourguiba, who established secular reforms and a one party system before Ben Ali took power in a 1987 coup. Many young Tunisians who completed their degrees in the years following the 2011 revolution still face severe economic difficulties and lack job opportunities. [1][3]