But after the change of 1987, President Ben Ali moved swiftly to clear up the ambiguities, implement directives and add other clauses to truly empower women and put them in such a position economically and culturally that there can be no going back on the rights they acquired. What they now want is to use their potential to the full both for their own fulfilment and that of the nation. We try and help them do this. It has now grown into a crucial research centre serving the whole of francophone Africa, the Maghreb and the Gulf. Studies involve such diverse themes as concepts of women's rights, the impact of emigration on women left behind, the scientific and literary output of women, the relationship of fertility and economic productivity in rural areas, women in cinema and scores of other subjects.
Information comes in from field studies and through a national network.
The data is processed, analysed and then published in print form, on the internet and on CD-Rom. The research forms the basis of policy direction for the government and is invaluable source material for NGOs, international agencies and other countries who are trying to emulate what we have achieved here. The centre also publishes its own quarterly journal which has a circulation of 3,000 but a readership in access of 50,000. Invitees, all holding important positions in their own countries, come from French-speaking African and Maghreb nations. Tunisia is investing heavily in the education and development of women because the country's bold economic programme, which should see it join the developed nations of the world in 10 years, will be impossible without the contribution of active and vibrant Tunisian women.