'National dialogue' talks initiated by the UGTT, Tunis, 2013. Demotix/ Chedly Ben Ibrahim. All rights reserved. Tunisian civil society leaders winning the prize surprised both the world and the Tunisians. On October 9, 2015, when news of the attribution of the Peace Nobel Prize to the four civil society organizations forming the Tunisian Quartet - the Tunisian General Labor Union ( UGTT), the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handcrafts, the Tunisian Human Rights League and the Tunisian Order of Lawyers - no one, including the majority of commentators, was expecting it. Many neither knew that the Quartet had been nominated for the Prize, or had heard about its existence prior to the announcement.
But it goes without saying that the majority of the Tunisians received the news happily and proudly - it comes just in time. The award comes as a message of hope and confidence to Tunisians. For us, the Prize is an acknowledgement of relentless and continuous efforts and sacrifices to get rid of a dictatorship. It is a kind of booster for our fledgling democratic process and a ray of hope for a country that has been struggling and resisting against all odds for almost five years.
It is a crowning achievement so far for the resistance of Tunisians in general and the Tunisian civil society in particular, a tribute to those who sacrificed their lives for the sake of the country, to the wounded of the revolution and to every single person who has made a sacrifice for a better Tunisia.
