The Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) builds on the Estonian experience to promote digital transformation across the Euro-Mediterranean region. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), worldwide spending on digital transformation technologies was estimated at $1.3 trillion in 2018, up 16.8% from 2017. Tallinn, 30 September 2019. Today’s UfM Conference on Digital Transformation and Digital Skills for the Future, which took place in the Estonian capital Tallinn, marked an important step towards the Union for the Mediterranean’s engagement with the rapidly shifting technological landscape whose character is essentially digital. The conference built on Estonia’s experience as a global digital leader… read more
Fulfilling its role as observer, a delegation from the UfM headed by the UfM Secretary General has participated in the 74th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 74). This edition marks the fourth participation of the UfM Secretariat at the UNGA. The UfM Secretary General held several bilateral meetings in the sidelines of the UNGA 74 with Ministers of Foreign Affairs from the UfM Region, as well as high-level representatives of UN agencies, partner institutions and international organizations, during which he reviewed the ongoing UfM efforts and explored pathways of future collaboration on promoting the achievement of the SDGs…. read more
27-29 August 2019, Turin. The UfM-labelled Global Initiative on innovative employment services for youth – YouMatch, brings together a network of around 90 employment service practitioners from 25 African and MENA countries within 9 interregional Communities of Practice (CoPs). From 27-29 August 2019, the network met at the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) International Training Centre in Turin, Italy to dialogue and share their experience with experts from the ILO, the European Training Foundation, the private employment agency INGEUS as well as the public employment service agencies of the Balearic Islands and South Korea. All the 9 CoPs had also the opportunity to brainstorm and,… read more
20-21 September 2019, Bizerte, Tunisia. The UfM co-organized the 2nd edition of the Forum de la Mer, held in Bizerte, in Tunisia the 20 and 21 September 2019, gathering political leaders, scientific communities, civil society actors, entrepreneurs and experts from the two shores of the Mediterranean, in order to share their expertise for a reasonable exploitation of the sea and the coast. The Forum de la Mer provided this year the opportunity to exchange progress among countries of the region on the blue economy and environment dossiers. The UfM, represented by Isidro Gonzalez, Deputy Secretary General of the division Water,… read more
First term for the new School of Digital Engineering and Artificial Engineering. Consolidation of the University’s international reach through the awarding of new Erasmus + projects. The inaugural academic year of the EuroMed University of Fez took place on Monday 16 September 2019. With more than 700 new students enrolled for the 2019-2020 academic year (85% in Engineering and Architecture and 15% in Human and Social Sciences), the University accredited by the Union for the Mediterranean continues its expansion. The main new feature of the training offer is the School of Digital and Artificial Engineering (EIDIA), which welcomed its first… read more
Barcelona, 10 September 2019. In accordance with the unanimous decision by the 43 Member States of the Union for the Mediterranean, Marisa Farrugia (Malta), Isidro Antonio González Afonso (Spain) and Grammenos Mastrojeni (Italy) have taken office as Deputy Secretary Generals of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM). Marisa Farrugia takes the position of Deputy Secretary General for Social and Civil Affairs Marisa Farrugia is a Maltese diplomat who has held over the years senior positions at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade Promotion and abroad. Prior to her secondment as Special Envoy and Ambassador to the Union for the… read more
The present article, written by the UfM Secretary General, Nasser Kamel, is based on the findings of the UfM Progress Report on gender equality endorsed by the UfM Ministers during the Ministerial meeting on Strengthening the role of women in society held in November 2017 in Cairo (Egypt). It was first published in the Bled Strategic Times, a publication of the Bled Strategic Forum. Despite numerous international agreements affirming their basic rights, and universal recognition of their key role in society, poverty and illiteracy rates remain higher among women than men. Women are also more likely to be victims of… read more
The Union for the Mediterranean joins forces with FAO and CIHEAM to highlight regional initiative to counter land degradation in the Mediterranean, Near East and Eastern Europe at the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) 2-13 September New Delhi, India. The Mediterranean region is characterized by an acute scarcity of land resources suitable for production, due to aridity, inherently poor soils in many areas, and poor land management. To tackle desertification, the 14th session of Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) will take place from 2-13 September… read more
3 September 2019 – Bled. In the framework of an official visit to Slovenia, UfM Secretary General Nasser Kamel was invited to address the 14th Bled Strategic Forum, a platform for high-level strategic dialogue among leaders from the private and public sectors on key issues of the 21st century. Held on 2-3 September 2019 under the title ‘(Re)sources of (In)stability’, this edition was dedicated to discussing the role of (re)sources regarding peace and security, sustainable development and economic progress. Secretary General Kamel took part of the panel discussion entitled ‘(Re)sources in Women’s Hands: Tapping the Potential’, moderated by the Slovenian… read more
Representing more than half of the total population, young people constitute one of the greatest assets for stability and development in the Euro-Mediterranean region. Yet, more than a quarter of the region’s youth are unemployed and youth unemployment has been twice higher than adult unemployment in recent years. To face this, the UfM Mediterranean Initiative for Jobs (Med4Jobs) aims at cultivating an entrepreneurial culture and support the development of necessary skills for the youth. Framed within this regional initiative, the Mediterranean New Chance (MedNC) and the High Opportunity for Mediterranean Executive Recruitment (HOMERe) projects have improved the socio-professional integration of… read more
