Meet Raneem Al Jaouni, Jordanian student who just graduated in accounting at Princess Sumaya University for Technology in Amman. Her final year studies included a course called ‘Business Skills’, a university module of the wider Maharat MED programme, part of the UfM Med4Jobs initiative to help increase the employability of youth and women. 13 July 2020. Jordanian student Raneem Al Jaouni has always preferred working with numbers. Growing up in Saudi Arabia, she was drawn to numerical subjects, and this interest led to her to study for a degree in accounting at Princess Sumaya University for Technology in Amman, Jordan. Professionally, she is drawn… read more
Part of a wider UfM supported Plastic Busters Initiative spanning across the whole Mediterranean basin, Plastic Busters MPAs is an Interreg Med project aiming at maintaining biodiversity and preserving natural ecosystems in pelagic and coastal marine protected areas. Marine litter research expeditions have been carried out in the Pelagos Sanctuary (Italy), the Tuscan Archipelago National Park (Italy), the National Marine Park of Zakynthos (Greece) and the Cabrera Archipelago Maritime-Terrestrial National Park (Spain). 13 July 2020. Everyday life in the Mediterranean has been disrupted and changed over the last few months but the work that Plastic Busters MPAs carried out first at sea and then in the lab can… read more
The Diplomatic Academy in Vienna gave the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) the opportunity to share its vision of how the region must look in the future as the UfM Secretary General, Nasser Kamel, participated in discussions that explored what a post-pandemic world might look like. Vienna, 1 July 2020. The conference ‘From Victory Day to Corona Disarray: 75 years of Europe’s Collective Security and Human Rights System’ was co-organised by the International Institute for Middle East and Balkan Studies (IFIMES) and the EU media platform Modern Diplomacy to underline how the post-COVID 19 world is a near yet unchartered future… read more
The UfM Webinar on “Access to Finance: Introduction to the Funding Landscape” introduced the public to the basics of funding and the various categories and instruments available to startups and young entrepreneurs. The Webinar is part of a series of webinars targeting the general public with more focus on younger stakeholders, as part of the UfM Secretariat’s efforts to reach out to a broader audience during times of crisis. Barcelona, 17 June 2020. The second Webinar to be delivered by the UfM Business Development and Employment Division took place today, anchored to the UfM Secretariat’s efforts to contribute to the… read more
The social economy is an enterprise model based on participatory management, the primacy of people over capital, and where profits are reinvested. It is a key player in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and in reducing inequalities in the Euro-Mediterranean region The social economy currently consists a total of 3.2 million enterprises and 15 million jobs in the EU and eight southern Mediterranean countries The Union for the Mediterranean, the European Commission and national governments came together to promote and develop the social economy sector in the Mediterranean, in dialogue with key organisations and stakeholders Barcelona, 26 June 2020. The… read more
The Spanish Secretary of State for International Cooperation, Ángeles Moreno Bau, and the Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), Nasser Kamel, met today to discuss the progress of the Desalination Facility for the Gaza Strip project, with the Palestinian Minister of Water, Mazen Ghunaim, in a virtual meeting. During the meeting, Spain unveils 1 Million euros of financing for the construction of a Desalination Facility for the Gaza Strip The desalination plant will supply drinking water to 2 million Palestinian inhabitants, thereby ensuring a sustainable solution for the chronic and longstanding water shortage and humanitarian crisis in… read more
The UfM supports, one more year, the ARLEM Award, aiming at showcasing successful examples of youth entrepreneurship in the region. 9 June 2020. Are you a young entrepreneur whose company has been registered for at least 3 years and who wants to share his/her experience in running a successful and innovative business positively impacting people’s life? After two successful editions, the Assembly of Regional and Local Representatives from the European Union and its Mediterranean partners (ARLEM) is launching the ARLEM Award 2021 for young entrepreneurship in the Mediterranean, with the support of the UfM, who will take part as a member… read more
The Member States of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) held a virtual meeting to exchange on the upcoming activities of the organization, especially within the current context, and in the framework of the 25th anniversary of the Barcelona Process. The UfM Senior Officials endorsed a regional initiative to accelerate innovative sustainable urban development projects, thereby contributing to a post pandemic recovery which is also respectful of the environment. Barcelona, 18 June 2020. The Member States of the UfM met virtually today at the level of Senior Officials from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs. They endorsed a new regional initiative to support sustainable… read more
15 June 2020. While addressing the unprecedented situation created by the Covid-19 pandemic, the UfM Climate Action activities continue. This year, the 2020 UfM Climate Week will take place through several online meetings that will be held in the coming weeks. UfM members’ representatives, scientific experts, civil society, IFIs and other relevant climate actors will discuss over several online gatherings the science-policy interface, the regional analysis of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) as well as the support to climate finance. Those meetings are organised under the umbrella of the UfM Climate Change Expert Group, the regional dialogue platform for climate action… read more
The availability of freshwater in the Mediterranean region could decrease by 10% to 15% over the next 20 years while the population continues to grow. The COVID-19 pandemic provides an opportunity to re-examine regional priorities and practices and seize opportunities for progress in the UfM Water Agenda, a roadmap to meet the related Sustainable Development Goals. A UfM Water online meeting brought together high-level participants concerned by both the end of the confinement period and the related health risk, socio-economic consequences and many global uncertainties; and by the long-term vision of the water sector. 9-10 June 2020. The Mediterranean countries… read more
