Rome MED Dialogues 2018: participation of the UfM Secretary General

Rome, 22-24 November. The Secretary General of the UfM, Nasser Kamel, participated in the Rome MED Dialogues, a three-day annual high–level initiative now at its 4th edition co–organized by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI) on 22-24 November 2018. The event turned Rome into a global hub for discussions on the broader Mediterranean, providing a unique space for genuine dialogue between eminent stakeholders from the region and beyond.

The Secretary General took part in a Policy Forum on the theme “Seizing the Future: Employing Youth in the MENA Region”, where he has highlighted how the topics addressed in the event are central to the work of the UfM Secretariat, namely shared prosperity, shared security, migration and civil society and culture.

Almost 65% of MENA’s population is under the age of thirty, which means a huge base of human capital but also a big challenge, as youth unemployment rate in some MENA countries exceeds 30%. The private sector has always been the major vehicle for job creation in the MENA Region, since it accounts for 60% of GDP, over 80% of capital flows and 90% of jobs, and yet it remains to be further developed.

The UfM initiative Med4Jobs, launched in Tunisia in 2013, currently encompasses 13 UfM-labelled projects on job creation, capacity building, SME development, cultivating a culture of entrepreneurship among youth and women and socio-economic empowerment of women, among others.

“Youth is the greatest asset of our region”, said the SG Nasser Kamel. “Investing in youth is investing not only in the future, but also in the present with all the opportunities and challenges that it offers”.