21 March 2022. Urban green spaces, such as parks, playgrounds, and residential greenery, can promote mental and physical health by reducing exposure to air pollutants, noise and excessive heat. The “Webinar on Urban Nature, Green Spaces and Health” organized jointly by the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) and the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe on 21 March 2022, addressed the positive impacts of urban nature and green spaces on health and wellbeing, and highlighted good practices and perspectives for action towards more liveable and healthy cities. The webinar took stock of the latest evidence on the impacts of… read more
Groundwater resources are the main source of the water supply in many Mediterranean countries and are subjected to pressures resulting from unequal distribution, accessibility, and quality issues. Groundwater-intensive exploitation contributed to the decrease, deterioration, and disappearance of over 50% of wetlands during the past century. Wetlands’ ecosystem services are among the most productive habitats in the world. They can be considered as “biological supermarkets”, since they provide great volumes of food for many species, including humans. Yet, wetlands cover only between 1.7% to 2.4% of the total area of the Mediterranean coast. With a view to protecting Mediterranean wetlands, the… read more
In the Mediterranean region, there are over 80 million hectares of degraded land. More than 400,000 hectares of forests are burned each year and at least 16% of animal and plant species in Mediterranean forests are at risk of extinction due to environmental threats such as forest fires driven by climate change. Effective planning, implementation, and monitoring of large-scale programmes such as Forest Preservation and Landscape Restoration (FLR) are critical to achieving climate and restoration goals in the Mediterranean region. The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) and the Food Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) support a project to… read more
10-13 March 2022. The Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), Nasser Kamel, participated in the “Second Antalya Diplomacy Forum – Recoding Diplomacy”, which took place on 10-13 March 2022 in Turkey. The Secretary General of the UfM moderated the opening panel of the first day of the Conference on the thematic: “Post-Pandemic Recovery, Livelihoods and Localities”. In a panel that was broadcasted live, Secretary General of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, Lazār Comānescu, the Secretary General of the D-8, Isiaka A. Imam, the Minister of State, African Integration and Diaspora of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, Kandia… read more
This year’s the Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly (ARLEM) Award for enterprises boosting local communities in the Southern Mediterranean will be held in the framework of the celebrations of the Day of the Mediterranean. The deadline to receive candidacies has been extended until the15 of August 2022. The UfM is once again part of the jury of the award, a prize that seeks to encourage recognition of young Mediterranean entrepreneurs. #ARLEMaward The UfM is proud to support again this year the fourth edition of the ARLEM Award for Young Local Entrepreneurship in the Mediterranean. Registration is now open for the prize… read more
The UfM, in partnership with the Regional Office for the Near East and North Africa of FAO and the International Center for advanced Mediterranean agronomic studies (CIHEAM), organized the online event “Agri-food systems facing climate change in the MENA region: gender equality for better resilience”. 7 March 2022. In the context of the 2022 International Women’s Day, recognizing this year the contribution of women and girls to build a more sustainable future, the UfM organised, in partnership with the Regional Office for the Near East and North Africa of FAO and the CIHEAM , the online event on “Agri-food systems… read more
7 March 2022. Senior Officials of the Union for the Mediterranean held virtually their first meeting of the year 2022 to review the upcoming ministerial meetings that will take place this year, namely on Employment and Labor (Marrakech, 17-18 May) and on Research and Innovation (France, virtual, 27 June). They were also updated on the potential Ministerial meeting on Transport, as well as on the proposal for a UfM Ministerial Conference on Strengthening the Role of Women in Society. Senior Officials were also briefed on the activities related to the UfM 2022 work program in several key sectors, including Urban… read more
The rate of female entrepreneurship in the Euro-Mediterranean region below the world average The first report of the Intergovernmental Monitoring Mechanism on Gender Equality in the UfM Member States is now available. Europe and the MENA region are below the 6.2% global percentage of women entrepreneurs who own established businesses (5.3% and 4.5% respectively). In the EU, women represent 57.7% of tertiary graduates, yet for now they represent only 2 out of 5 scientists and engineers INFOGRAPHIC – LINK REPORT – LINK March 7th, 2022. The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) has published the results of the first Report on… read more
International Women’s Day 2022 UfM to shed light on women’s economic participation in the Euro-Mediterranean region The first publication of the UfM Intergovernmental Monitoring Mechanism on Gender Equality will be published on the 4th of March, sharing the latest information on women’s economic participation, entrepreneurship and leadership in the Euro-Mediterranean region. This regular reporting exercise allows to measure and report the evolution of women’s rights and provide policy recommendations to close the gender gap in the region. The first exercise was conducted during the pandemic and the figures show the impact this crisis had on women. To face some of… read more
The new UfM Research and Innovation agenda supports three new research priorities: climate change, health and renewable energy. The UfM meeting of Senior Officials on 21 October endorsed the R&I platform proposal to hold an R&I Ministerial. The meetings followed the discussion of the first UfM Ad-hoc Senior Official Meeting convened last 20 December. 24 February 2022, Barcelona. Representatives from the UfM Copresidency and Member States met for continuing discussions towards a commong text for the upcoming UfM Ministerial Declaration on Research and Innovation. The meeting followed a first UfM Ad-hoc SOM on R&I held on 20 December 2021, as… read more
