UfM National Focal Points discuss employment-related challenges and opportunities in the region
- UfM Member States and Social Partners convened in Rome to discuss the state-of-play of implementation of the 2022 Marrakech Declaration and prepare for the coming UfM Ministerial taking place in 2025.
- Several Member States presented best practices and undergoing initiatives aimed at creating more jobs, better job matching, youth employability and women economic empowerment.
Rome, 13-14 November 2024. The 17th meeting of the UfM Regional Platform on Employment and Labour was held in Rome, Italy over two successive days. The discussion focused on the implementation of the UfM Roadmap 2022-2025 implementing the Declaration of the 5th UfM Ministerial on Employment and Labour (Marrakech, 2022), and priority areas to be considered in the coming Ministerial taking place in 2025.
In dedicated sessions, Members discusses Youth Employment, debriefed on the next meeting of the UfM Community of Practice on Youth Employment in the Southern Mediterranean, which is scheduled for 16-17 December 2024 in Aswan, Egypt. They were also informed about key upcoming UfM activities, namely the 4th UfM Med4Jobs Stakeholders Dialogue, and debriefed on the activities held since the 16th meeting of the UfM Regional Platform on Employment and Labour including the UfM Youth Forum and the UfM-ETF Future of Work Workshop.
Project implementers under the “UfM Grant Scheme to Promote Employment and Entrepreneurship in the Green Economy” presented their projects followed by interactive sessions with members. Participants were also briefed on the developments of the Community of Practice on Monitoring, which currently has 12 volunteering UfM Member States.
Mr. Massimo Temussi, Director General for Active Labour Policies at the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies presented the work undertaken by the Italian Government to promote labour insertion and integrate NEETs into the labour market. The participants were also introduced to the priorities of the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
The meeting included field visits to a ITS Academy (Nuove tecnologie per la vita), and Porta Futuro – Spazio Lavoro Testaccio. Perspectives Albania, Egypt and Germany as well as from the Social Partners were shared with the participants to identify best practices and build meaningful complementarities.
Twice a year, the UfM Regional Platform on Employment and Labour brings together representatives from employment and labour ministries and agencies of the UfM Member States as well as representatives from European institutions/agencies and international organisations to discuss the current realities and follow up on the implementation of relevant Ministerial declarations, as well as preparing for future UfM Ministerials on Employment and Labour.
The UfM Member States agreed to hold the 18th meeting of the UfM Regional Platform on Employment and Labour in Porto, Portugal, on 6-7 May of 2025.