UfM at 10 | Building together the future of cooperation and development in the Euro-Mediterranean region
- In 2018 the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) commemorates 10 years of tangible action towards enhanced regional dialogue and cooperation in the Euro-Mediterranean region.
- The 3rd UfM Regional Forum, set to take place on 8 October in Barcelona, will gather the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the UfM Member States to take stock of these past ten years and discuss the prospects for the future work of the organisation.
Barcelona, 13 July 2018. Today, exactly ten years ago, the Euro-Mediterranean Heads of States and Government launched the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) in Paris, building on the Barcelona Process and bringing together 43 countries in a partnership built on co-ownership by all the participants with a view to addressing the common challenges facing the Euro-Mediterranean region, such as economic and social development; degradation of the environment, including climate change; energy; migration; terrorism and extremism; as well as promoting dialogue between cultures.
“Over these ten years, the Union for the Mediterranean has navigated high waters and has managed to consolidate its institutional capacity and to show that it is capable of contributing to the landscape of regional cooperation and integration”, said today the designated UfM Secretary General, Nasser Kamel. “We have a solid base to capitalize on, as we further expand the spectrum of our activities, create new synergies and partnerships and consolidate our role as a platform of regional dialogue. With the ongoing support of the Co-Presidency and the Member States, new milestones are within reach”, he added.
To date, the UfM adds up to more than 50 region-wide cooperation projects ranging from sustainable development initiatives and urban infrastructure projects to programmes fostering multi-sectorial capacity building, gender equality, entrepreneurship or job creation. These come as a result of commonly agreed Agendas that UfM countries engage in at Ministerial level and further develop within the different sectorial regional platforms.
Coinciding with the tenth anniversary of the launch of the UfM, the Regional Forum of the Union for the Mediterranean, the annual meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the UfM Member States, will take place on 8 October 2018 in Barcelona. Following its first two successful editions, the third edition will be a timely moment to take stock of the progress achieved so far, and to discuss the way forward to build inclusive human and sustainable development in the Euro-Mediterranean region.
More information
Union for the Mediterranean: 10 years of Regional Cooperation website
About the Regional Forum of the Union for the Mediterranean
The UfM Regional Forum is a regular gathering since 2015 of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of UfM countries and UfM key stakeholders involved in Euro-Mediterranean cooperation. The two previous editions were held in November 2015 (coinciding with the 20th anniversary of the Barcelona Process) and in January 2017, where ministers adopted a new UfM Roadmap for Action with the aim to strengthen regional cooperation in the area. The 3rd edition of the Regional Forum will coincide with the 10th anniversary of the organisation.
About the UfM
The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) is the intergovernmental Euro-Mediterranean organisation that brings together all 28 countries of the European Union and 15 countries from the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean. Launched in 2008, the UfM provides a forum to enhance regional cooperation and dialogue, as well as the implementation of concrete projects and initiatives with tangible impact on the citize ns, with an emphasis on young people, in order to address the three strategic objectives of the region: stability, human development and integration.
The Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean was created in 2010 as the platform to operationalise decisions taken by the Member States, implementing strategic regional projects through a specific methodology based on dynamic multi-partner networks and the exchange of best practices and innovative tools. To date, more than 50 regional projects have been labelled by the UfM Member States mainly in the areas of inclusive growth, youth employability, women empowerment, student mobility, sustainable urban development and climate action.
