News

Open call for non-profit organizations in the Euro-Mediterranean Region Barcelona, 16 March 2023. The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) has launched a Grant Scheme to promote employment and entrepreneurship in the green economy. Aiming to support the green transformation of the Southern Mediterranean economies, this call for proposals is especially targeted to benefit vulnerable groups, which are disproportionately affected by the consequences of climate change and the related changing socio-economic landscape. The green economy, green skills and green jobs are poised to play a key role in a sustainable recovery of the Southern Mediterranean region in the aftermath of the COVID-19… read more

14 March 2023, Brussels. The 13th meeting of the UfM Working Group on Blue Economy took place on the 14th of March at the  in Brussels, bringing together the UfM Focal Points on Blue Economy, relevant regional stakeholders, international financial institutions and donors. The event focused on the progress made regarding the Roadmap for the implementation of the 2nd UfM Ministerial Declaration on Sustainable Blue Economy (SBE), as well as to present the Blue Mediterranean Partnership for potential expansion to the wider Mediterranean. The meeting was an opportunity to further strengthen the regional dialogue based on concrete advancements at regional and national level, to maximise the existing resources and collaboration, as well as producing an… read more

𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐄𝐗𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐃: 𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝟐𝐧𝐝, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑. OMC – Med Energy Conference, in cooperation with the Union for Mediterranean (UfM) and Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM), has recently launched the second edition of the “Call for Ideas – Mediterranean Region”, an opportunity for new generations of researchers and young professionals to emerge, offering them the possibility to present their ideas and projects on energy transition to accelerate the pathway toward more clean, affordable and secure energy and provide solutions to achieve socio-economic growth for the territory and the community. The “Call for Ideas – Mediterranean Region” addresses young researchers born in… read more

A roundtable discussion on research and innovation and PRIMA projects was held in Egypt during an Italian-led mission on Agriculture, Agri-food and Food Security. The UfM Secretary General Nasser Kamel highlighted the important contribution of PRIMA to the UfM framework, and the need to upscale research projects at Mediterranean level 13-15 March 2023, Cairo – Climate change, the war in Ukraine and its repercussions on food security, along with the need for economic growth and youth employment, all call for common actions between the North and the South of the Mediterranean for increasing resilience of agri-food value chains. Against these… read more

8 March 2023. To celebrate the International Women’s Day, the UfM seeks to recognise the paramount role of women in the water sector, and highlight the need to ensure that the women’s role is at the heart of the UfM priorities and in promoting initiatives supporting women in the Mediterranean region and beyond. Gender equality is key to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. As “being off the track to achieve the SDGs by 2030” is a looming reality, the UNESCO World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP) launched a Call for Action (CfA) to accelerate the achievement of gender equality… read more

In line with the theme chosen for UN International Women’s Day, 8 March 2023, “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”, the UfM held a Webinar on Innovation and technological change for Gender Equality on 7th March 2023 from 11h to 13h. Representatives of European Commission, international (UNIDO) and regional organizations and networks (EMA), as well as successful women entrepreneurs working on the field of digital platforms AI and Tech in the MENA Region (Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia), shared good practices and discussed solutions for an inclusive digital ecosystem. In particular, panelists shared their experiences and recommendations with almost 100… read more

7th March 2023, Barcelona. The members of the UfM Community of Practice on Youth Employment in the Southern Mediterranean gathered in an online format for their 3rd meeting. On this occasion, the main priorities of the CoP and modalities for the upcoming meetings in 2023 were discussed. The UfM Community of Practice on Youth Employment in the Southern Mediterranean was launched by the UfM following the Ministerial Declaration of the UfM Employment and Labour Ministers adopted in 2022 in Marrakech, Morocco. Acting upon this mandate, the Community of Practice on Youth Employment in the Southern Mediterranean aims to use the convening… read more

7 March 2023, Barcelona – UfM hosted on 7 March 2023 the webinar on the “Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF): Outcomes, follow up and way forward”, as a follow-up on the COP15 Biodiversity, which took place in December 2022 in Montreal as shared international roadmap to tackle the ecological crisis and towards a more nature-positive world. The webinar stressed the need to continue pooling technical, human and financial resources; ensuring coordination and converge efforts to reach the 30×30 target, which calls for 30% of the world’s terrestrial, inland water, and of coastal and marine areas, to be in effective protection… read more

The Union for the Mediterranean is hosting a webinar on 7 March with the theme “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”. The webinar will explore the impact of the digital and technology gender gap on widening economic and social inequalities. Leading female experts and entrepreneurs will join the discussion to share their success stories and to present real action towards equal opportunities in the Euro-Mediterranean region. Barcelona, 2 March 2023. The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) will be joining the celebrations for the International Women’s Day, by hosting a webinar to raise awareness on the gendered impacts of innovation and technology. This online… read more

The first meeting of the UfM Member States’ Senior Officials of 2023 took place today in Barcelona. In this occasion, the main priorities and strategic orientations for the year were discussed. UfM support for the project Smart DESERT, addressing water scarcity in Jordan while fostering the economic empowerment of the vulnerable local and refugee populations, was also endorsed by granting it the UfM label. 2023 will see a variety of important initiatives taking place: from multiple ministerial meetings and regional conferences to the launch of two grant schemes to fund green jobs and trade-related projects, the presentation of the UfM’s… read more