Ons Jabeur is a consistent top 10 female tennis player from the North African country of Tunisia. With a career-high world ranking of number two achieved in June 2022 and becoming grand slam runner-up at Wimbledon in 2022 and 2023, Jabeur is challenging gender norms in her home country. During the Wimbledon tennis tournament in 2022, Jabeur became the first African woman and the first Arab tennis player to reach a tennis grand slam singles final in the open era, says The Conversation. 

Her symbol as a “beacon of hope and strength” in Tunisia comes from her successes and her positive and gracious attitude on the tennis court, in both wins and losses. Her upbeat personality and positive attitude have led to local Tunisians calling her Tunisia’s “Minister of Happiness.” 

Jabeur’s Journey

Jabeur’s journey to the top of the tennis world has not been without its challenges. Born in Ksar Hellal in Tunisia in 1994, a small town on the east coast of Tunisia, Jabeur was first introduced to tennis by her mother when she was a toddler. 

However, due to tennis’s lack of popularity in Tunisia, there were very few resources available for Jabeur to train. For the early years of her tennis training, Jabeur relied upon access to hotel tennis courts. When she was twelve, Jabeur relocated to Tunisia’s capital, Tunis, 90 kilometers away from her family, to access better tennis facilities unavailable in her hometown. In 2011, during the height of the Arab Spring, Tunisia’s “Minister of Happiness” first achieved major success and became the first Arab woman to win the Roland Garros Juniors competition. 

Tunisia’s Current Situation 

Tunisia’s Minister of Happiness, Jabeur, has been a significant figure of hope for Tunisians in recent years. Tunisia is facing an economic and refugee crisis, with the country’s poverty rates increasing over the last decade. In 2015, the poverty rate stood at 15.2% of the population. In 2020 alone, poverty increased by 7% in a year, from 14% to 21%. As of 2021, 16.6% of the population lived under the national poverty line, according to the World Bank.

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted Tunisia and its economy, with rising inflation the primary issue. In February 2023, Tunisia’s inflation rate increased for the 18th consecutive month to 10.4%, up from 6.16% in August 2021. 

Tunisia has seen a huge regression in the democratic systems of the country that were initiated after the Arab Spring in the early 2010s. Tunisia’s current President, Kais Saied, led a particularly undemocratic power grab in July 2021, weakening governmental institutions meant to keep presidential powers in check. In September 2021, Saied suspended the majority of the 2014 constitution — the roadmap for Tunisia’s transition to democracy — and granted himself almost unlimited powers to rule solely by decree.

 But perhaps one of the most concerning developments in Tunisia in recent months has been the Tunisian government’s forced removal of Black Tunisians. In July 2023, President Saied’s security forces expelled several hundred Black African migrants and asylum seekers to a remote, militarized buffer zone on the border between Tunisia and Libya. 

Charity Work 

Tunisia’s Minister of Happiness brings hope to struggling Tunisians while also actively working to help the situation in the country through charity work. In 2023, Jabeur donated 100 euros for every drop shot — one of Jabeur’s signature shots — she hit at the Wimbledon championships to help renovate a school in Tunisia. Jabeur also donated her tennis racquets for an auction, donating its funds to renovating and improving a hospital in Tunisia, which raised over $27,000. The money was used to increase the number of beds, staff and level of oxygen supplies at the hospital. 

In 2022, the Peace and Sport charity, based in Monaco, awarded Jabeur the Peace Champion of the Year award for her work promoting peace in the world and for being “a source of inspiration for women and youth around the world.” 

But as Tunisia’s Minister of Happiness, Jabeur inspires not only women and youth but all Tunisians and African people. She symbolizes what can be achieved despite the odds and of giving back to the community and country that raised her. 

– Eleanor Lomas
Photo: Flickr