News

Barcelona, 18 July 2025 – The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) backed a project developed within its Academic Advisory Group of Schools of Architecture and Urban Planning that has secured €769,000 in Erasmus+ funding under the highly competitive 2025 Capacity Building in Higher Education (CBHE) call, which had a success rate of just 6%. The selected initiative, GET-MED – Grounded Ecological Transition for the Mediterranean, brings together a diverse network of universities from Barcelona, Cagliari, Lisbon, Cairo, Al Alamein, Rabat, Fez, Tirana, and Podgorica, forming a unique alliance of ten institutions across the Euro-Mediterranean region. Anchored in the UfM’s longstanding… read more

Bratislava saw the first UfM activity to be held in Slovakia, bringing together 50+ digital experts and actors from both shores of the Euro-Mediterranean Region to discuss digital skills, digital rights, and the role of cities in promoting digital transformation. The Conference introduced the participants to the initiatives underway by Digital Coalition Slovakia and gave the floor to participants to share best practices and success stories involving the Private Sector from Albania, Egypt, Estonia, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, Spain, and other UfM countries. 16-17 September 2025, Bratislava – This year’s edition of the UfM Digital Transformation Conference, co-organised with the German Development… read more

The 9th UfM Women Business Forum brought together over 60 participants from financial institutions, business support organisations, and the entrepreneurial sector to explore ways to accelerate investment in women-led businesses across the MENA region. The UfM launched a regional network of women’s business associations to scale up access to finance. This new platform aims to connect national efforts and improve women entrepreneurs’ access to finance and markets across the Mediterranean. Ten women entrepreneurs from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Tunisia, and Morocco were finalists at the 2025 InspireHer Awards, with four category winners recognised for their innovation and impact. Despite a… read more

14 July 2025, Dubrovnik. The Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean, Nasser Kamel, took part in the Dubrovnik Forum held on 11 July 2025 in Croatia. He joined the panel discussion titled “Connecting Economies, Empowering People: The New Pact for the Mediterranean”, alongside Dubravka Šuica, European Commission Commissioner for the Mediterranean; Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council; Ante Šušnjar, Minister of Economy of Croatia; Marko Štucin, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of Slovenia and Maja Markovčić Kostelac, Executive Director of the European Maritime Safety Agency. The session focused on strengthening regional cooperation, advancing… read more

9 July 2025, Barcelona. Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) Secretary General Nasser Kamel today welcomed European Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Šuica, for a working visit to the UfM headquarters in Barcelona. The meeting served to deepen collaboration between the UfM and the European Commission and to further align efforts in promoting a shared Mediterranean agenda. Discussions centred on the forthcoming new UfM strategy and the EU Pact for the Mediterranean. Secretary General Kamel expressed appreciation for the European Commission’s continued support, highlighting the EU’s vital role in enabling the UfM to deliver concrete results in political dialogue, policy coordination,… read more

7 July 2025, Barcelona. – An open call for universities across the Euro-Mediterranean region to step up their role in addressing the climate emergency has just been launched, coordinated by Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) and UNIMED – Mediterranean Universities Union. The Euromed University Initiative for Climate Action, set to be officially unveiled at COP30 in Belém, Brazil, invites higher education institutions to endorse a shared Manifesto for climate action. The initiative underscores the urgency of academic leadership, as the Mediterranean region faces accelerating impacts from climate change, warming 20% faster than the global average. The call encourages universities to… read more

Brussels, 8 July 2025. Senior Officials from the Member States of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) gathered today in Brussels for a Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) focused on advancing the organisation’s new strategic framework for the coming years. The new UfM strategy is expected to be formally adopted in November 2025 during the UfM Regional Forum in Barcelona, where Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Union for the Mediterranean will convene to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Barcelona Process, a landmark initiative for structured Euro-Mediterranean cooperation. During the meeting, Member States also discussed the EU Pact for the Mediterranean. Senior Officials underlined the importance of… read more

2-3 July 2025, Athens, Greece. Tourism accounts for over 11% of employment in the Mediterranean region, making it a key economic driver. On 2–3 July 2025, the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), in partnership with the German Development Cooperation and the European Commission, convened a regional conference under the title “The Tourism Sector: Employment-Related Opportunities and Challenges”. The event gathered 100 participants from 24 UfM Member States, including policymakers, business leaders, academics, and practitioners. The goal: promote successful initiatives and foster cooperation across sectors to shape a more resilient, inclusive tourism sector. Three thematic panels shaped the discussions during the… read more

27 June 2025, Girona, Spain – The UfM Higher Education Stakeholders’ Meeting, titled “Greening Education in the Mediterranean – A Cross-Cutting Challenge for Universities”, convened over 40 academic leaders and experts from across the region to advance preparations for a bold new initiative: the Euromed University Initiative for Climate Action. Held within the framework of the 2nd Mediterranean Green Week, the event was co-organized by the UfM, UNIMED, and the University of Girona. A key outcome of the meeting was the collaborative development of a draft Manifesto for a Euromed University Initiative for Climate Action. This document, soon to be… read more

26 June 2025, online. The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) convened the Regional Platform on Transport Connectivity and its thematic Working Groups on Land, Air, and Maritime Transport and Logistics in an online session on 26 June 2025. The meeting brought together national transport coordinators and focal points from UfM Member States, along with representatives from key regional and international organisations, to assess and advance the implementation of the Regional Transport Action Plan for the Mediterranean (RTAP) 2021–2027. Co-chaired by the UfM Co-Presidency – comprising the European Commission’s DG MOVE and the Jordanian Ministry of Transport, the event follows up on… read more