9-11 April 2019, Barcelona. The UfM Climate Week has taken place in Barcelona gathering a wide range of actors (UfM members’ representatives, civil society, IFIs, scientific experts…). During last week, several climate-related meetings were organised at the premises of the UfM Secretariat to discuss the impacts of climate change on agriculture, the state of climate finance in the region regarding water, renewables and other specific sectors, a scientific meeting to assess on the risks of climate change and it was as well the occasion to host the third General Assembly meeting of the Mediterranean Youth Climate Network (MYCN). The seventh meeting… read more
Cairo, 11-12 April 2019. In recognition of the importance of the Trade file as a priority area of action for the UfM Secretariat within the framework of its Business Development and Employment agenda, and in preparation for the upcoming UfM Business Forum which will take place in Cairo, Egypt on 18 June 2019, a delegation from the UfM Secretariat headed by DSG Rachid Maaninou undertook a working visit to Egypt on 10-11 April 2019. The UfM Delegation held a meeting with H.E. Eng. Amr Nassar, the Minister of Trade and Industry of Egypt, as well as officials from the Ministry…. read more
The Euro-Mediterranean University (EMUNI) and the Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) organised a joint conference on the state of play and challenges ahead for enhancing the recognition of higher education qualifications across the region. Decision-makers, among whom H.E. Jernej Pikalo, Minister of Education, Science and Sport of Slovenia, practitioners and experts who took part to the conference formulated recommendations which will feed into the work of the upcoming meeting of the UfM regional platform on higher education internationalisation and academic mobility. The UfM Secretariat and the Erasmus Student Network (ESN) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to… read more
8 April 2019, Algiers. The UfM, represented by the Senior Deputy Secretary General for Energy, Jorge Borrego, and Senior Expert Fawzi Dib, participated in Algiers in the first thematic forum leading to the Summit of the Two Shores (S2R) to be held in Marseille next June, as convened by the French President Emmanuel Macron last summer. This thematic forum was held on the 8 of April and focused on energy, with emphasis on energy transition, renewable energy and energy efficiency, electric interconnections, conventional energy sources, and the digitalization of the energy sector. Civil society representatives contributed to debates by proposing… read more
The Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) and the Managing Authority of the ENI (European Neighbourhood Instrument) CBC Med Programme signed a Memorandum of Understanding to promote economic and social development and to address common environmental challenges in the Mediterranean region by strengthening the impact of regional projects and capitalization activities. Barcelona, 10 April 2019. The UfM Secretariat and the Managing Authority of the ENI CBC Med Programme signed today a strategic cooperation agreement during the visit of Christian Danielsson, Director General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations of the European Commission, to the UfM headquarters, in Barcelona. The… read more
Beirut, Lebanon, 8 April 2019. The UfM Secretary General, Nasser Kamel, has paid his first visit to the Republic of Lebanon, in the framework of his outreach to the member states. He was received by the Prime Minister, Saad Hariri. During their meeting, Secretary General Kamel highlighted the central role of Lebanon in Euro-Mediterranean relations and its rich Mediterranean heritage. The visit to Lebanon was also the also the opportunity for the Secretary General to intervene at the inauguration of the 7th Beirut Water Week, organized by the Ministry of Water and Energy of the Republic of Lebanon with the support… read more
At the fourth Ministerial Conference on Employment and Labour in Portugal, the member states of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) gave a new impulse to social and economic integration in the Euro-Mediterranean region. The Ministers highlighted 4 priorities for action, stressed the need to measure the impact of policies and agreed to launch a “Community of Practice” to exchange best practices. This platform will be coordinated by the Secretariat of the UfM. Cascais, 2-3 April 2019. On 2 and 3 April, the 4th UfM Ministerial Conference on Employment and Labour was held under the title “Jobs, skills and opportunities for… read more
Cascais, 2 April 2019. In the margins of the UfM Ministerial Policy Conference “Jobs, Skills and Opportunities for All”, which took place in Cascais (Portugal), a side event dedicated to “Signing of SOLiD Charter for the Promotion of Social Dialogue in the Southern Mediterranean Neighbourhood” was held. During his intervention, the Secretary General of the UfM, Nasser Kamel recognized the Charter as a major output of the programme SOLiD-South Mediterranean Social Dialogue, which is already yielding tangible results in Jordan, Tunisia and Morocco. He emphasized that “the Charter clearly consolidates the culture of social dialogue between the social parties with… read more
Cascais, 2 April 2019. The Secretary General of the UfM, Nasser Kamel, met today with Cesare Onestini, the Director of the European Training Foundation (ETF) in the sidelines of the 4th UfM Ministerial Conference on Employment and Labour, hosted by Portugal. The two sides stressed the solid and long-standing cooperation within the different UfM platforms that include the UfM High Level Working Group (HLWG) on Employment and Labour, the UfM Experts Technical Meeting on Industrial Cooperation, the Med4Jobs Advisory Board, the UfM Conferences on Women Empowerment, and the Regional Dialogue process on “Higher Education Internationalization and Academic Mobility in the… read more
Cascais, 2 April 2019. A UfM Ministerial Policy Conference titled “Job, Skills and Opportunities for All”, took place on 2 April in Cascais (Portugal) as part of the 4th UfM Ministerial Conference on Employment and Labour. The Conference provided the opportunity to discuss the most pressing labour market’s needs, in particular the persistent inequality in the access to jobs mostly for women and young people. The World Economic Forum’s Human Capital Index indicates that the MENA region currently captures only 62% of its full human capital potential, which translates to a great margin for improvement if the bottlenecks of informality,… read more
