The Ministers in charge of gender equality from the 42 countries of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) endorsed today in Madrid a Ministerial Declaration to accelerate the strengthening of women’s role in the Euro-Mediterranean region. The Ministers agreed to enhance legal frameworks, improve women’s access to leadership in public life and decision-making, raise women´s participation in economic life and combat and prevent violence against women and girls. The regional High-Level Conference on Women for the Mediterranean, held every two years, will kick-off this afternoon in Madrid. It will gather over 100 high-level representatives and international experts to discuss operational… read more
EU-UfM High Level Conference on strengthening water finance and investment policies under climate change takes place in Cairo (Egypt) as a prelude to COP-27. The EU and the Union for the Mediterranean are committed to supporting UfM countries in developing and strengthening their water investment and finance policies. There is a need to act on exploring, advancing and implementing the means of leveraging finances, developing and transferring technology and building capacities on national and regional levels. Cairo, 17 October 2022 – As water is the sector most heavily hit by climate change in the Mediterranean region, governments need to address some… read more
19 September 2022 – The UfM Water Task Forces, Water Access, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH), and Water Climate Change Actions (WCCA), took place during the IME’s Regional Symposium “Our Mediterranean: water challenges and regional priorities for 2050” on 19-20 September 2022 under a hybrid format from Valencia, Spain. Bringing together country representatives and regional stakeholders of the UfM region. Both meetings came as a result of the continuous endeavours of the UfM towards its Member states to help them bringing about decisive actions to meet their environmental challenges and tackle climate change in the Mediterranean. Moreover, they came following the UfM member states ‘request… read more
13 October 2022, Dead Sea – Jordan. For their third meeting of 2022, UfM Senior Officials convened at the Dead Sea in Jordan, which holds the Co-Presidency of the organisation since 2012. Ayman Safadi, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of the Hashemite Kingdom greeted the UfM member states’ representatives and shared with them his views on the evolution of Euro-Mediterranean challenges and relations in the past decade, and the role the UfM can and must have in this framework. “The Union for the Mediterranean is one of the few fora that gives Euro-Mediterranean countries the… read more
Barcelona, 27-29 September 2022. In the framework of a cooperation agreement, the annual meetings between Sweden’s government agency for development cooperation, Sida, and the UfMS were held in Barcelona from the 27th to the 29th of September at the UfM Secretariat premises in Barcelona. The meeting served to present the UfM mission and the UfM Secretariat work methodology, give an overview on the main achievements of the Sida – UfM Secretariat Partnership and discuss the new features of the extended cooperation agreement. The cooperation agreement renewed in December 2021 for the period 2022-2025 is moving from an operating grant to a programmatic… read more
Barcelona, 29 September 2022. The Conference on “Sustainable Urbanisation through Port City Transformation” was held in Barcelona on 28 and 29 September 2022, and it provided a unique opportunity for representatives of Mediterranean ports and adjacent cities, government representatives, and other key regional and international stakeholders to discuss sustainable urbanisation through port city transformation. The Conference underlined, once more, the importance of stronger dialogue and working relationship between ports and port cities as well as with governments and other stakeholders in general with a view to realizing urban development visions in port cities. The UfM, in the upcoming period, intends… read more
18-22 September 2022, New York. UfM Secretary General, Nasser Kamel, attended the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly where he showcased the work of the Union for the Mediterranean and met with Ministers for Foreign Affairs of different Member states, namely Algeria, Morocco, Estonia, Slovenia, Hungary, Monaco and Egypt, as well as representatives from other international organizations such as the World Bank, OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe), UNAOC (United Nations Alliance of Civilizations) and the Council of Europe. On Monday, 19 September, the SG attended the High-Level Summit on Transforming Education convened in response to… read more
The Conference took place at the eco-campus of the Euromed University of Fez and aimed to highlight the importance of dialogue in the process of regional cooperation and integration. 15-16 September 2022, Fez. What actors represent the key stakeholders in the Euro-Mediterranean science-policy interfaces? How to engage Universities in science-policy processes? How can Euro-Mediterranean institutions better share knowledge amongst themselves? These and many other issues were discussed during the Conference on Science-Policy interface in the Euro-Mediterranean Region, organised by the Euro-Mediterranean University (EMUNI), the Euro-Mediterranean University of Fes (UEMF) and the UfM. The Conference explored the importance of science-policy platforms… read more
Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt – 6 to 18 November 2022 – For the first time in COP’s history, the 27th edition will host a Mediterranean Pavilion. The initiative is conceived to highlight both the urgent challenges the region is currently facing, and the innovative solutions already being developed throughout the Mediterranean, raising awareness on a region overlooked in the climate negotiations. Located in the COP27 Blue zone, the Mediterranean Pavilion will host relevant events and working meetings and provide an exceptional opportunity to highlight these severe challenges as well as to illustrate, share, scale up and discuss the advanced initiatives applied and… read more
The UfM and UNIDO join forces for the Women Business Forum, a two-day hybrid event in Barcelona and livestreamed online 20 July 2022, Barcelona. The MENA region has the world’s largest entrepreneurial disparity between men and women – 5% of women-led business compared to a global average of 23%-26% – and one of the weakest female labour participation rates. Under the title “Gender-smart financing to unlock Women’s entrepreneurial potential in the MENA region”, the Women Business Forum 2022 kicked off in Barcelona, jointly co-organised by the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and supported by… read more
