{"id":70028,"date":"2018-09-22T09:04:51","date_gmt":"2018-09-22T08:04:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ufmsecretariat.org\/\/placing-the-mediterranean-at-the-core-of-the-global-agenda-ufm-at-the-united-nations-general-assembly\/"},"modified":"2020-01-27T10:49:20","modified_gmt":"2020-01-27T09:49:20","slug":"unga73","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ufmsecretariat.org\/fr\/unga73\/","title":{"rendered":"Placing the Mediterranean at the core of the Global Agenda: UfM at the United Nations General Assembly"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York, 22 September 2018<\/strong>.\u00a0 The Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), Nasser Kamel, participated in the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA73), between the 22\/27 September 2018, to\u00a0highlight\u00a0the importance\u00a0of the Euro-Mediterranean region to the development of 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the role of the\u00a0UfM\u00a0in its regional promotion and implementation.<\/p>\n

The UfM promoted a\u00a0positive agenda for the Mediterranean. Under the leadership of its Co-Presidency, held by the EU and Jordan, with the active involvement of its 43 Member States, the\u00a0UfM\u00a0builds on the huge potential of the region. On the course of the week, the Secretary General participated in events\u00a0<\/b>related to\u00a0the\u00a0UfM\u00a0main\u00a0sectors of activity in terms of policy dialogue and cooperation. Current challenges of human development in\u00a0the Euro-Mediterranean region, namely those related to the situation of migrants and refugees, as well as the need to promote a culture of tolerance and the necessary socio-economic perspectives for our peoples, were addressed in a number of events in which the Secretary General participated, including side-events on \u2019 Education on emergency situations\u2019, on \u2019New Perspectives for Countering Violent Extremism\u2019 and \u2019Desmystifying\u00a0the narrative of the so-called ISIL\u2019, the \u2018High-Level event on the Syrian Conflict\u2019 or the \u201813th Ministerial dinner on the Middle\u00a0East\u2019, as\u00a0well as the participation in the meeting of focal-points of the \u2018Women, Peace and Security\u2019 initiative and the Ministerial meeting of the Group of Friends of the UN Alliance of Civilizations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The work that the\u00a0UfM\u00a0is developing for the sustainable development of the Mediterranean was also\u00a0highlighted in events like the initiative to counter the \u2019Pollution caused by plastics in the Oceans\u2019, where the Secretary General shared some of the projects developed and supported by the\u00a0UfM\u00a0including the\u00a0SwitchMedConnect\u00a0initiative and the recently launched Plastic Busters MPAs<\/a> for the depollution of the Mediterranean Sea.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The presence of the Secretary General in New York was the occasion to meet with\u00a0partner institutions and other stakeholders of the Euro-Mediterranean region, with whom the\u00a0UfM\u00a0is cooperating and creating synergies\u00a0in order to\u00a0promote a positive agenda for the Mediterranean. These contacts included meetings at the highest level with the UNDP, the Islamic Development Bank, the World Health Organization, the International Organization for Migration, the UN Office for South-South Cooperation, the International Labour Organization, the Arab League, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change or the Special Envoy of the UNSG for the Oceans.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Secretary General also took the opportunity to meet\u00a0a significant number of\u00a0Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the\u00a0UfM\u00a0member-countries, with whom he had the opportunity to discuss questions of regional interest and advance in the preparation of the upcoming 3rd<\/span>\u00a0Regional Forum of the\u00a0UfM, that will be held in its siege in Barcelona on the 8th of October 2018.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Background information<\/b><\/p>\n

The UN General Assembly granted the UfM observer status to the United Nations in 2015.\u00a0\u00a0Some of the\u00a0UfM\u00a0flagship\u00a0initiatives and\u00a0projects specifically targeting young people are:\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n