Dear comrades, dear friends,
It is a great pleasure for Tunisia as a country that inspired the Arab revolution to welcome the Progressive Alliance at its meeting today in Tunisia with the aim to initiate and establish a new dynamic within the great social democratic family.
From the very first moment Ettakatol welcomed this dynamic to create a new basis for dialogue and interaction between social democratic parties, but also, and especially, with the trade unions and the different civil society actors.
In Tunisia, during the years of dictatorship, Ettakatol was the spearhead in the fight for the values of liberty and democracy that are dear to us. Today, our party contributes to the consolidation of the democratic transition in order to achieve the objectives of the Revolution.
Therefore, we welcome this new stage with enthusiasm and the confidence that it will certainly be fruitful and strengthen the actions of progressive democrats and their influence all over the world.
Mustapha Ben Jaafar
Secretary General of Ettakatol
President of the National Constituent Assembly
You are cordially invited to the Progressive Alliance Conference on February 21 and 22, 2014 in Tunis hosted by Ettakatol. In Tunis, the capital of Tunisia, we will gather participants from political parties, trade unions and progressive civil society from around the world. The aim of this conference is to provide a forum for political discussions, networking and sharing of best practices in order to promote new ideas on progressive campaigning as well as to discuss first steps to achieve social growth and to build up alliances for decent work for all.
In the context of the Decent Work Campaign of the Progressive Alliance we want to discuss social growth and decent work in view of the increased international trade and mobility of capital which gave new hope to many people, especially in newly emerging economies. However, most of the world’s population is not seeing their lives improving as a result of economic growth, technological advances and globalization. Inequality is on the rise. Unemployment is endemic in some areas and too many are underemployed, or not paid for their performed work. People in developing and developed countries are working more for less money, and more and more people – overwhelmingly women – are forced to make their living in the so-called informal economy and in precarious jobs, lacking basic rights at work and social protection. Against this background, the conference of the Progressive Alliance centers on the question of how social growth and decent work can be reached.
The second focus of the conference is progressive campaigning as the Progressive Alliance intends to support the campaign capacities of progressive parties, in a way that progressive parties around the world are enabled to push our agenda forward and to win elections. In three working groups the participants will have the opportunity to discuss shared electoral challenges and best practices of successful campaigns.
Finally we are also looking forward to present the Board of the Progressive Alliance during the conference in Tunis which will be the third one after Rome 2012 and Leipzig 2013.
To make this a real interactive event for all and to make your voices heard we will use new working methods and working groups.
Kind regards and looking forward to seeing you in Tunis.
