The Issue of Social Funds Is More Urgent Than Ever
Social security funds must heal their chronic ailments and start anew, rather than collapse and disappear forever.
The Head of State and the Tunisian people demand swift, lasting solutions that allow contributors to truly feel they are full citizens, worthy of belonging to the “Tunisia of July 25.”
Press Release
Is the resolution of the crises affecting the National Retirement and Social Welfare Fund (CNRPS), the National Social Security Fund (CNSS), and the National Health Insurance Fund (CNAM) now an impossible dossier for the government?
Are the members of these funds forced to look elsewhere to place their money in order to recover their right to a retirement pension or a medication allowance that reflects the decades of effort they have invested in making Tunisia a model country that guarantees social security for both active workers and retirees?
The question is raised while praising President Kais Saïed’s unwavering determination to assemble all the conditions needed to guarantee Tunisians the absolute right to live in a country where seniors are regarded as indispensable partners in the national development project. In such a country, their basic right to dignity and respect is truly realized—promptly and effectively—through respectable pensions, quality healthcare, and medical follow‑up befitting the “Tunisia of July 25.”
It is no longer acceptable to accept the false excuses often offered by the managers of these funds and by the Minister of Social Affairs, namely that the crisis is a heavy legacy they lack the means to lift.
In reality, no legacy is impossible to eradicate if we arm ourselves with a culture of initiative and imagination, as President Saïed repeatedly promotes at a steady pace. He never misses a media appearance to tell Tunisians:
“Social funds are not doomed to lose money and jeopardize their members’ pensions and right to quality care.”
Instead, it is careless officials who block every solution capable of rehabilitating these funds, reconciling them with their contributors, and putting an end to the endless queues that wait—often for months—for CNSS, CNRPS, and CNAM to finally honor their rights.
On Monday, 2 March, the Head of State met with the Prime Minister, Mrs. Sarra Zaâfrani Zenzri, to state clearly:
“Tunisians can no longer wait for solutions that are impossible to achieve. They do not want, and cannot believe, the hollow promises made by pseudo‑experts who have never been on the ground and who have only learned how to debate endlessly.”
“It is now urgent and imperative that we devise and implement a purely Tunisian recipe so that our social funds can honor their commitments and guarantee their sustainability, which is more threatened than ever,” added the President, echoing a sentiment shared by all Tunisians—whether still active or preparing to claim their right to a peaceful retirement.
That sentiment can be summed up in a single line:
“Do we still need these funds after we have proven, beyond doubt, that they have failed their mission and that those who run them no longer require a physicist or nuclear‑science expert to convince us of their incompetence?”
Keywords: Tunisia social security reform, CNRPS crisis, CNSS pension, CNAM health insurance, President Kais Saïed, Tunisian retirees, sustainable social funds, social welfare solutions.
