During the morning of the 26th of October 2022, the 5th (UfM) Ministerial Conference on Strengthening the Role of Women in Society will take place. It will gather Ministers of the 42 Member States of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) responsible for women affairs and gender equality, under the Co-Presidency of the European Union and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
The Ministerial Meeting will be co-chaired by Ayman Riad Al-Mufleh, Minister for Social Development of Jordan and Helena Dalli, EU Commissioner for Equality. It will be hosted by the Minister of the Gender Equality of Spain, Irene Montero, and in the presence of the UfM Secretary General, Nasser Kamel.
Following the previous UfM Ministerial Conferences on Strengthening the Role of Women in Society, held in 2006 in Istanbul, in 2009 in Marrakech, in 2013 in Paris, and in 2017 in Cairo, which four pillars remain key to Strengthening the role of women in society, the Secretariat of the UfM has been tirelessly working with the UfM Co-presidency on the 5th UfM Ministerial Declaration.
The new Ministerial Meeting, with the aim to officially adopt the 5th Ministerial Declaration on Strengthening the Role of Women in Society, was preceded by a Regional Dialogue process on women empowerment – involving the UfM countries and the concerned stakeholders in the Euro-Mediterranean region. The members of the UfM Regional Dialogue Platform, despite acknowledging the progress registered since the last Ministerial Declaration in Cairo, agreed as well on the urgent need to tackle new challenges in a new context. Global challenges with an undeniable gender dimension have evolved and, in some cases, exacerbated the situation.
The Ministerial Declaration rests on the following three main thematic areas: « Women Economic Empowerment in the Regional Crises context; Gender Equality and Climate Change and Violence Against Women and Girls ».
Following the Ministerial, during the afternoon of the 26th of October and throughout the 27th of October, the High-Level Conference on Women for Mediterranean will take place and will serve to develop a roadmap in order to concretely implement the Ministerial Declaration on Strengthening the Role of Women in Society.
