5 November 2020. In the framework of the 25 year anniversary of Barcelona Process, the Senior Officials of the UfM Member States met to endorse two new projects and to discuss preparations of the 5th UfM Regional Forum, which will be held at the end of the month. The meeting took place virtually and provided the occasion to join forces with the World Health Organisation to improve countries capacities in preventing and responding to violence against women as a key public health issue. They also endorsed a new climate-related project on the conservation of coastal wetlands in the Mediterranean basin. Senior officials also discussed preparations for the fifth edition of the UM Regional Forum. The event will be co-chaired by Josep Borrell, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and… read more
Barcelona, 28 October 2020. During today’s phone call with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisian Abroad of the Republic of Tunisia, Othman Eljerandi, the UfM Secretary General Nasser Kamel congratulated Tunisia for the successful 16th Meeting of the Foreign Affairs Ministers of the Western Mediterranean (5+5 Dialogue), hosted virtually by Tunisia, and for the role played by Tunisian diplomacy during his actual mandate at the UN Security Council. UfM Secretary General Kamel stressed the importance of regional cooperation, dialogue and the implementation of projects in order to address the three objectives of the region: stability, human development and… read more
28 October 2020 – The UfM Regional Platform on Industrial Cooperation convened today in a virtual format, bringing together representatives of the UfM Secretariat, the European Commission, public authorities, business associations from Northern and Southern Mediterranean countries and international organisations. The meeting saw the presentation by the European Commission of a number of new EU policies, including the industrial policy, the green and the digital transition and the strategy for Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It was also the occasion to take stock of the implementation of the 2018-2020 UfM Work Program on Industrial Cooperation, extended one more year with a… read more
The Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean, Nasser Kamel, attended the 16th Meeting of Foreign Ministers “Dialogue 5 + 5”, hosted in digital format by the Tunisian and Maltese Co-Presidencies. The Ministers welcomed the “the driving role of the UfM as a special platform for dialogue and regional cooperation, bringing together all the Mediterranean countries and the European Union.” The ministerial conference coincides this year with the 30th anniversary of the Western Mediterranean Dialogue and the 25th anniversary of the Barcelona Process. Barcelona, 22 October 2020. The Foreign Affairs Ministers of the “5+5 Dialogue”, which includes 5 countries from the Northern shore of the Mediterranean (Spain, France, Italy, Malta and Portugal)… read more
21 October 2020. The UfM Secretary General, Nasser Kamel, virtually met with EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi, and they emphasized the importance of the partnership between the UfM and the EU Commission in order to promote peace, stability and prosperity in the Mediterranean region. During the online meeting, Secretary General Kamel underlined that the UfM has been working in the last years on key priority areas shared with the EU, namely: climate action, digitalisation, job creation. The European Commission is “the main partner of the UfM Secretariat at financial, technical and political level” UfM Secretary General underscored,… read more
Rabat, 13 October 2020. The UfM Secretary General, Nasser Kamel, met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Abroad of the Kingdom of Morocco, Nasser Bourita, to stress the importance of regional cooperation. In the framework of the 25th anniversary of the Barcelona Process to be commemorated this year and also in the current challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, they both highlighted ways of strengthening Euro-Mediterranean cooperation and improving economic development in the region. In the press conference after the meeting in Rabat, Minister Bourita reaffirmed Morocco’s support to the UfM, recalling that the country participates in… read more
8 october 2020. The 4th UfM Social Dialogue Forum, which has been held virtually, focused on current and future priorities and challenges for social dialogue in the UfM countries, in the presence of experts from the UfM Secretariat, the European Commission, the International Labour Organisation and other regional organisations. The Forum started with two parallel bilateral North-South sessions of the employers’ and workers’ organisations. During the two-day meeting, the 4th UfM Social Dialogue Forum gathered 117 participants who addressed the main key-issues of the Euro-Mediterranean Labour Market in times of Covid-19, the Role of Social Dialogue in addressing Migration and brain-drain… read more
5-6 October 2020, Madrid. UfM Secretary General, Nasser Kamel and Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha González Laya met today in Madrid to discuss the preparations of the 5th UfM Regional Forum, that will gather the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the UfM Member States in Barcelona by the end of this year. Building on the success of the first four editions, the Forum will provide the opportunity to take stock and analyse the future prospects for cooperation in the Euro-Mediterranean region, exactly 25 years after the launch of the Barcelona Process, which paved the way for the creation of the Union for the Mediterranean in 2008. The Forum will be presided by the Co-Presidency of the Union for the Mediterranean, assumed by the High Representative of… read more
30 September 2020 – The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) signed on 30 September 2020 a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) where they reassert their common ambition to support ongoing and political reforms in the Southern and eastern Mediterranean countries. Jointly contributing to the development of an area of peace, stability, democracy and prosperity in the Mediterranean is of outmost importance for the two institutions that reaffirm their willingness to work together in the areas of business, social and civil affairs, energy, water, development, transport, higher education and research. Transition toward a… read more
VIENNA, September 21, 2020 – The Principality of Monaco has recently signed its first funding agreement with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the two parties have agreed a tripartite declaration together with the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) on empowering women in Tunisia through inclusive and sustainable industrial development. At a meeting today LI Yong, Director General of UNIDO, and Isabelle Rosabrunetto, Director General of the Department of External Relations and Cooperation of the Principality of Monaco, confirmed the strong willingness of the partners to collaborate further in this field. Li recalled that “the empowerment of women is a… read more
