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Nature Hub

The main aspect of the socioeconomic intervention in Tunisia involves the creation of a Nature Hub that will include a shop (Dukkan) that will support sustainable practices and sell eco-friendly hand-made products.

The HUB will serve the following groups:

  • Academia: by securing a Youth Center where they can receive job training, capacity building and practice in three sectors: biodiversity, climate change, renewable energy, and ecofriendly food production.
  • Small enterprises; where entrepreneurship will be supported by securing the Natural shop (Dukkan) to sell their hand-made products.
  • Quriat island and its researchers by installing PV System as a model of the clean and renewable source of energy and small water treatment plant which will secure a clean drinking water.
  • Women CBOs that will be trained on how to produce ecological products such as ecological fishing nets.

Voice of the Child Organization

The Association Voix de l’Enfant (Voice of the Child) in Monastir, Tunisia, founded in January 2007, is a civil society organization that helps to accommodate orphan babies, and offers support to single mothers.

The organization currently spends large monthly amounts to pay for water and electricity. MINARET provided them with a 15 kW PV system, a solar pump and constructed a well to reduce these amounts significantly and provide the organization with beneficial savings.

Moreover, MINARET has agreed with the organization that part of the generated savings are to be used to support the local ‘Birbasha’ women, working in waste management. More precisely the savings will target the improvement of the women’s work environment and quality of life.

This is a perfect example of gender mainstreaming in the NEXUS approach; where renewable energy technologies can be used to create job opportunities to vulnerable women, improve social services provided to women and babies and support eco-friendly projects like recycling, use of renewable energy technologies, conservation of energy and water as well as to the access to finance and resources.