through which one becomes a stakeholder of all exchanges, social and cultural
integration which means that one can maintain relational links and that one has
access to a common symbolic heritage.
537. In a world threatened by fundamentalism and terrorism, the World Solidarity
Fund appears like an antidote for the dehumanization of the world and the shock
of civilizations. The World Soldarity Fund proposed by Tunisia in 1999 and
adopted by the UN in December 2000 is a powerful vector of partnership and
rapprochement between peoples, in the service of peace, social progress, shared
well-being and security in the world.
538. It is in recognition of Tunisia’s efforts and its commitment in the field of
information and communication technology that it had been chosen by the United
Nations General Assembly to host the second phase of the World Summit on
Information Society from 16 to 18 November 2005 whose deliberations had
resulted in two important documents titled: « Tunis Commitment » and « Tunis
Diary ».
The challenges posed by these two international documents are that much more
vital as the mastery of the information highways touches the very heart of civil
and political rights: public information, freedom of expression, secret of private life
and the protection of personal information, individual freedom. They can be a
poweful vector of the right to human development just as they can be tools for
segregation, dominance, hegemony and a hindrance to the sovereignty of less
well-equipped States and of transnational organized crime.
II- The Right of the Regions to Development
539. Springing from the firm conviction that national development can only be
equitable and efficient where it covers all the regions, Tunisia has elevated
regional development to the position of absolute priority considering that it
represents a powerful lever for the concretization of the principle of equal
opportunities and of opportunities for all Tunisians no matter what their
geographical location.
540. The constantly renewed interest in the development of the region, of all the
regions, also indicates the conviction that the attainment of the objectives fixed by
the international community and the confronting of the challenges arising from the
new context require the mobilization of all energies and all the living forces of the
Nation.
541. A global and coherent strategy based on the continuous consolidation of
achievements, of a strengthening of the means deployed for the benefit of each
region and of the elimination of all obstacles to development, had been
implemented and is fundamentally based on two main lines:
•
•
The first aims at establishing the region as a full actor in the
developent process and enabling it to fully valorize and exploit its
existing and potential resources;
The second consists in promoting a greater complementarity
between the regions for the purpose of creating synergies capable
of accelerating their development and of strengthening national
cohesion.
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