Barcelona, 23^rd November 2026 – The Conference on Civil Society, Women and Resilience in the Mediterranean takes place in the context of the Union for the Mediterranean’s regional policy dialogue on Women Empowerment, which takes forward the collective commitments of the UfM Ministerial Declaration on Strengthening the role of Women in Society 2022. Conceived as a structured civil society participatory space, it builds upon the conclusions of the 2025 Euro-Mediterranean Civil Society Conference, which called for a renewed phase of partnership based on co-creation, strengthened civic space, structured dialogue and greater coherence among Euro-Mediterranean stakeholders.

Organised in the framework of the Union for the Mediterranean’s regional platform on women’s empowerment, the meeting will bring together around 40 representatives of civil society organisations, Arab and Euro-Mediterranean women-led initiatives, researchers, practitioners and policy actors from across the region. Discussions will assess the implementation of existing UfM commitments and formulate civil society recommendations to inform the next UfM Ministerial Declaration on women’s empowerment and gender equality. In this context, the conference seeks to provide a structured civil society contribution to the next stages of the UfM gender equality agenda, while also supporting the implementation of the Pact for the Mediterranean and the European Union’s external action priorities on gender equality and women’s empowerment.

By focusing on the role of women-led organisations and civil society actors in Euro-Mediterranean cooperation, the conference seeks to translate the shift from consultation to co-creation into concrete policy and programmatic approaches. It aims to strengthen the participation of women-led organisations throughout the policy cycle, promote more permanent and structured mechanisms for dialogue, and contribute to a coherent Euro-Mediterranean ecosystem by reinforcing collaboration between existing networks, institutions and territorial actors rather than creating new parallel structures.

The Euro-Mediterranean Civil Society Conference, organised by the IEMed in collaboration with the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) and the European Commission – DG MENA, with the support of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and the Catalan Agency for Development and Cooperation, will take place in Barcelona on 23th November 2026.

This event is organised within the framework of the UfM Regional Platform on Women Empowerment taking place on 24-25 November, focused on Advancing Equality, Shaping Stability: Women Driving Resilience Across the Mediterranean, accompanying the UfM Regional Forum.  As a preparatory event for UfM Platform, the Conference will contribute to the policy dialogue surrounding the official launch of the new UfM Gender Equality Progress Report, contributing with concrete recommendations to the policy dialogue and preparations leading to the 2027 UfM Ministerial Declaration.

Building on the methodology developed through the 2025 Euro-Mediterranean Civil Society Conference, the meeting will apply the principles of co-creation, civic space, structured dialogue and stronger coordination among regional stakeholders to the gender equality agenda, ensuring that civil society perspectives inform future ministerial commitments, cooperation programmes and implementation mechanisms.

The conference is not conceived as a standalone event on gender equality, but as a structured consultation through a participatory and multi-stakeholder approach with civil society organisations, women-led initiatives, researchers and practitioners.

• Identify the priority gaps in implementing regional commitments that public authorities and provide their partners could address, drawing on evidence and the experience of civil society, women-led initiatives and institutional stakeholders. The findings will also inform relevant regional processes and initiatives, among them the UfM Regional Platform.
• Promote the exchange of participatory models, experiences and good practices on accountability mechanisms and monitoring systems, with the aim of moving beyond gender mainstreaming towards genuine co-creation, where women actively shape priorities, design interventions and influence decision-making processes.
• Develop a focused set of actionable civil society recommendations for consideration by UfM Member States, aligned with current Euro-Mediterranean priorities and supporting a more effective and locally driven implementation of the Ministerial Declaration on Strengthening the Role of Women in Society.

• Foster partnerships among EU-supported programmes, women-led initiatives, civil society organisations and practitioners, encouraging collaboration, mobilising relevant stakeholders and supporting the dissemination and uptake of the conference outcomes.