16 February 2021, Virtual meeting. The Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), Nasser Kamel, participated in the 16th Plenary Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the UfM (PA-UfM), which took place in virtual format on the 16th of February. The annual gathering of the 280 members of the Parliamentary Assembly focused its debates on the important topic of “the fight against climate change in the Mediterranean Region”. The meeting was chaired by the Vice-President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, on behalf of President Sassoli. The Vice-President reiterated the importance of a global joint approach at an Euro-Mediterranean… read more
The new Agenda for the Mediterranean includes a dedicated Economic and Investment Plan to spur the long-term socio-economic recovery in the Southern Mediterranean. Under the new EU’s Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI), up to €7 billion for the period 2021-2027 would be allocated to its implementation, which could mobilise up to €30 billion in private and public investment in the region in the next decade. Efforts will continue to enhance regional, sub-regional and inter-regional cooperation with the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) as a focal point. 10 of February 2021. The European Commission and countries from the Union for the Mediterranean’s Eastern and Southern regions celebrated in November 2020… read more
Brussels, 2 February 2021 – Ministers from the 42 Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) countries have agreed to intensify their efforts towards a sustainable blue economy in the Mediterranean. Doing so, they want to promote the recovery of the region’s economies from the COVID-19 crisis, and address the environmental and climate challenges. Download report PDF Six years after the first Union for Mediterranean Ministerial Declaration on Blue Economy, Ministers adopted today a new declaration, firmly committing to cooperate closely and address joint challenges in key blue economy sectors. They agree to promote transformative policies and tools such as maritime clusters or… read more
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cancer is the second leading cause of death globally, accounting for an estimated 9.6 million deaths in 2018. In 2020, the number of breast cancer cases amounted to more than 2 million, meaning breast cancer is predicted to be the most commonly occurring cancer this year. The UfM-supported project ‘Women’s Right to Health’ has compared different strategies for early cervical cancer screening, highlighting the importance of increasing the skills of health professionals and the general awareness of the population. 29 January 2021. Around 10 million people die each year from cancer. According to… read more
Calls for applications: 3rd edition of the Mediterranean Climate Change Adaptation Trophies Following the 5th anniversary of the Paris Climate Agreement, ADEME, the French Agency for Ecological Transition, in partnership with the Union for the Mediterranean and Plan Bleu, is announcing the launch of the 3rd edition of the Mediterranean Climate Change Adaptation Awards. Adapting to climate change: a priority for the Mediterranean region The Mediterranean basin, with its 500 million inhabitants, is the second-most impacted area by climate change after the Arctic, as shown in the recent MedECC (Mediterranean Experts on Climate and Environmental Change) report. Temperatures in this climate… read more
19 January 2021, Barcelona. The UfM Secretary General, Nasser Kamel, held an online meeting with Christoph Rauh, Africa Director at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The meeting took place in the context of Germany’s ongoing support to the UfM Secretariat, which is implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ). They discussed the successful outcomes of the second edition of the high-level UfM Trade and Investment Forum, which was held on 12 November 2020 during the German EU Council Presidency, under the auspices of the BMZ. At the Forum, which renewed the momentum for trade and… read more
FAO, CIHEAM and UfM join forces to boost progress on the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda across the Mediterranean, in the framework of the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit. The MoU comes with a detailed work plan of concrete actions, to be jointly carried out between 2021 and 2024, that will span across several technical areas, such as sustainable management of land and water resources, sustainable fisheries, climate-smart and organic agriculture, food environments and healthy diets, sustainable value chain development, food loss and waste reduction. 14 January 2021. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Centre… read more
The UfM seeks to mobilize its member states, partners and public and private sector in support of the Action Plan for an Exemplary Mediterranean 2030 to achieve the protection target of 30% of the planet’s surface areas. 11 January 2021, Paris. The fourth One Planet Summit brought together Heads of State and Government and decision-makers to speed up international action for nature. The UfM Secretary General, Nasser Kamel, joined the event and reiterated UfM’s commitment to the President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, to continue to collaborate actively to the concretization of the Action Plan for Exemplary Mediterranean by 2030. The primary goal of the One planet… read more
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is promoting the expansion of renewable energy in Egypt by supporting one of the first green private-to-private projects in the country, a 6 MWp solar photovoltaic power plant located at Dina Farms in the Beheira governorate, 80 km from the Egyptian capital Cairo. This is the EBRD’s first project in Egypt under the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean Private Renewable Energy Framework (SPREF), which falls under the umbrella of the UfM Regional Dialogue Platform on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, created to promote the deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency measures. With an initial… read more
15-16 December 2020. The UfM jointly organized with the project S4D4C (Using Science Diplomacy for Addressing Global Challenges) a workshop on Science and Innovation Diplomacy in the Mediterranean on 15 and 16 December 2020. UfM Senior Advisor for Higher Education and Research, Itaf Ben Abdallah, opened the two days of exchanges: “Science diplomacy should emerge from a competitive logic and instead be driven by the spirit of partnership and cooperation. This perspective guides us at the Union for the Mediterranean, where science diplomacy is a daily exercise that the organization reflects in form and substance.” On the first day, a lively debate took place on strengthening the role of science diplomacy in the Euro-Mediterranean region, which involves taking stock of the existing regional public policies on research and innovation,… read more
