Education and Skills for Employment – Building Futures: the UfM, MedNC & HOMERe Collaborate for Youth Empowerment

2-3 December, Alexandria, Egypt. The Union for the Mediterranean, in collaboration with the Mediterranean New Chance network (MedNC) and the HOMERe programme, is convening a diverse group of stakeholders, including educational and employment actors, institutional representatives, and private sector partners, to advance a more inclusive and effective regional strategy aimed at addressing youth unemployment across the Mediterranean.

MedNC focuses on social inclusion through second-chance education and training programmes, specifically targeting NEETs (young people not in education, employment, or training). In parallel, HOMERe facilitates high-quality internship placements for recent graduates in fields such as engineering and management, thereby enhancing their professional integration.

The event will span two days in Alexandria, Egypt. The first day will be dedicated to internal governance meetings for both programmes, allowing for strategic alignment and operational coordination. The second day will be open to the public, serving as a platform for dialogue on shared challenges faced by youth in the region and for the exchange of best practices to improve employability outcomes.

This initiative forms part of a broader effort to reinforce regional cooperation while leveraging national dynamics, with a particular emphasis on Egypt. Despite targeting different beneficiary groups (NEETs for MedNC and graduates for HOMERe) both programmes encounter common challenges. These include the urgent need to develop green skills aligned with future labour market demands and to foster stronger collaboration between educational institutions and employers, especially within the private sector.

The socio-professional integration of young people remains a pressing issue for sustainable economic development in the Mediterranean. Youth inactivity poses a significant barrier to growth, and addressing it requires coordinated action across sectors. The Alexandria event aims to bring together a wide array of actors involved in youth integration and employment, including professional integration networks, businesses, employers, and civil society organizations.