Barcelona, 5 July 2021. UfM Secretary General Nasser Kamel and Dr. Khalida Bouzar, UN Assistant Secretary General, UNDP Assistant Administrator & Regional Director for the Arab States met today in the headquarters of the UfM in Barcelona to discuss further cooperation between the UfM Secretariat and the UNDP. Both the UfM and the UNDP focus on further integrating economies through the promotion of trade and investment, encouraging climate action and sustainable models for growth, and supporting digital transformation whilst maintaining engagement on both women’s empowerment and employment, especially amongst young people. The Secretary General highlighted areas where both organizations are active and it was decided… read more
The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) and Mobile World Capital Barcelona signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen their collaboration and partnership on addressing the digital needs and challenges in the Euro-Mediterranean Region. The UfM region has witnessed a growing digital divide between and within both shores of the Mediterranean, with an alarming digital skills gap in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean, and a dire need to bolster digital connectivity and entrepreneurship. Barcelona, 1 July 2021. Within the framework of the MWC Barcelona 2021, the UfM Secretary General Nasser Kamel and Mobile World Capital Chief Executive Officer Carlos Grau signed… read more
30 June 2021, Barcelona. The Conference of the Governors of Mediterranean Central Banks took place online on 28 June 2021. Organised by the Banco de España, the Central Bank of Tunisia, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed), the conference tackled the recovery from the COVID-19 crisis across the Euro-Mediterranean area and a sustainable, inclusive, green and digital development agenda. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced governments across the Mediterranean to take severe measures to curtail socioeconomic activities, which has caused a substantial economic slowdown in many countries of the region. In… read more
22 Juny 2021. Regional cooperation efforts in the fields of higher education, research and innovation play an essential role in achieving a positive agenda for the youth in the Mediterranean because of their potential on increasing employability and promoting intercultural dialogue. With this in mind, the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) launched a regional dialogue process on the internationalisation of higher education in the Mediterranean region, in which internationalisation is not understood as a goal by itself, but a process aimed at enhancing the quality and standards of education and research. This dialogue intends to facilitate continuous peer learning among… read more
17 June 2021. UfM member states met on 17 June 2021 to review the activities of the UfM Secretariat in the first semester of 2021 and discuss the preparation of the post-Covid19 recovery across the Euro-Mediterranean region. They notably discussed the future Research and Innovation agenda of the UfM Regional Platform on Research and Innovation, with focus on climate change, renewable energy and health, as well as the UfM Employment and Labour agenda. Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the UfM Secretariat launched the UfM Grant Scheme for employment promotion that will actively support non-profit organizations in the Mediterranean that… read more
The Ministers of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) in charge of Energy gathered for their Third Ministerial Conference on Energy in Lisbon on 14 June 2021. Energy Ministers from the 42 UfM Member States met to discuss regional cooperation towards energy security and a low-carbon transition. With a population of over 500 million inhabitants and growing, it is estimated that energy demand in the region will increase by more than 50% by 2040. Ministers adopted a new Ministerial Declaration, which will be developed into concrete action plans by the three UfM Energy Platforms, which act as fora for dialogue… read more
7 June 2021, Barcelona. UfM Secretary General, Nasser Kamel and Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation Arancha González Laya met today in the headquarters of the UfM in Barcelona to discuss regional integration and cooperation in the Mediterranean, as well as the preparations of the next UfM Regional Forum, that will gather the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the UfM Member States in Barcelona by the end of this year. The Forum will provide the opportunity to take stock and analyse the future prospects for cooperation in the Euro-Mediterranean region and will take place in the framework of the first Day of the Mediterranean…. read more
With 40% of the population under the age of 25 in some areas of the Mediterranean, youth unemployment and under-employment in the region has been among the highest in the world for more than two decades. Unemployment is highest amongst those with tertiary education (as opposed to those without) reaching an average of 30% across the region According to 32% of enterprises, one reason for this is the skills mismatch, indicating that Higher Education needs to be at the centre of regional development. 1 June 2021, Barcelona and Marseille. The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) and the Centre for Mediterranean Integration… read more
3-4 June 2021, Patras.UfM Secretary General, Nasser Kamel held a bilateral meeting with the Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece, Miltiades Varvitsiotis, in view of reinforcing cooperation and synergies between the UfM Secretariat and the Hellenic Republic. The meeting took place in the margin of the 9th Regional Growth Conference.The Regional Growth Conference (RGC) in Patras, a public platform for dialogue between governmental, regional, academic and business representatives. Its main goal is to address challenges, best practices and policies promoted by European Institutions that need to be implemented in the Regional Development in an effort to bring forward the… read more
Trade accounts for 35% of GDP in the Mediterranean region, and the intra-regional trade market is one of the most important in the world. Today, the first edition of the UfM Progress Report on Regional Integration, commissioned by the UfM, and prepared by the OECD, was presented in an online event along with policy recommendations and an insight on best practice in regional integration from around the world. The report takes stock of the progress that has been made, and highlights two important challenges that still stand: inadequate infrastructure for transport and energy connectivity, and a lack of common vision… read more
