Addressing the employment and labour challenges in the UfM region: 4th UfM Ministerial Meeting on Employment and Labour

1-3 April 2019, Cascais, Portugal. The fourth Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) Ministerial Conference on Employment and Labour will be hosted by Portugal on 2 and 3 April 2019 in Cascais. Under the Co-Presidency of the European Union and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the UfM Ministerial Conference will encompass on the first day a Ministerial Policy Conference on « Jobs, skills and opportunities for all », and on the second day the Ministerial Meeting.

The Ministerial Policy Conference on 2 April 2019 intends to build on the key priorities and political impetus included in the 2016 Dead Sea Ministerial Declaration. It will be an opportunity to exchange further on the most pressing employment and labour challenges in the Mediterranean region and on experiences, best practices and lessons learnt since 2016. These discussions will also contribute to shaping the agenda for the years to come, towards an effective, genuine and inclusive employment policy based on job creation, social dialogue, skills and employability, inclusive labour markets and mobilization of actors and stakeholders in the Mediterranean region.

Sustaining the impetus given at the Dead Sea Ministerial in 2016 to the Mediterranean co-operation on employment and labour is of paramount importance, notably considering the persistence of the pressing national and regional challenges.

In the margins of the Ministerial Conference, side events will take place. It is currently foreseen that a side event organized by the UfM titled “The employment of Mediterranean university graduates: Bridging the employability gap between advanced skills and markets” on 1 April 2019, while another side event will be dedicated to the presentation by Southern social partners of a « Charter to promote social dialogue in the South Mediterranean: Jordan, Tunisia and Morocco ».

To register for the Ministerial Policy Conference and the Side Events, please contact : EMPL-UFM-MINISTERIAL-2019@ec.europa.eu.