• English
  • Français
  • العربية
Follow us
Union for the Mediterranean – UfMUnion for the Mediterranean – UfMUnion for the Mediterranean – UfMUnion for the Mediterranean – UfM     Mediterranean Day
  • Who we are
    • Who we are

      The Union for the Mediterranean is an intergovernmental institution bringing together the European Union Member States and 16 countries from the Southern and Eastern shores of the Mediterranean to promote dialogue and cooperation.

      Overview   

    • Who we are

      • Member States
      • Meet the team
      • Partners
      • History
    • Key documents

      UfM Annual Report 2022 Regional Integration
  • What we do
    • Notre action

      The UfM seeks to enhance regional cooperation, dialogue and the implementation of concrete projects and initiatives with tangible impact on our citizens to address three strategic objectives: human development, stability and integration.

      Overview   

    • Inclusive Development

      • Economic Development and Employment
      • Higher Education & Research
      • Social & Civil Affairs

      Sustainable development

      • Water, Environment and Blue Economy
      • Transport & Urban Development
      • Energy & Climate Action
    • How we work

      • Political Framework
      • Regional Dialogue Platforms
      • Projects and Initiatives
  • Work with us
    • The UfM Secretariat is the operational platform of the Union for the Mediterranean. The staff of the UfM is made of more than 17 nationalities working in a multicultural environment that fosters cooperation and intercultural communication and exchange.

    • Work with us

      • Vacancies
      • Secondments
      • Internships
      • Procurement
      • Roster of experts
  • Info center
    • Info center

      Find our latest press releases, press invitations, visual identity, key institutional documents, photos and other relevant information


      Download the UfM Visual Identity Guidelines and Logos (zip file)   

    • Info center

      • Media corner
      • News
      • Agenda
      • Publications and key documents
      • Human Stories of the Mediterranean
    • UfM in the Media

      5 June 2023 – ABC Antropía – Día Mundial del Medioambiente / Un trozo de España en el Ártico: El viaje sin fin del plástico
      View article
      17 February 2023 – La Tribune Afrique – Nasser Kamel : « L’Europe doit regarder de près l’idée d’emmener ses centres d’approvisionnement en Afrique »
      View article
      28 March 2023 – Il sole 24 ore – Anna Dorangricchia (UfM) on women entrepreneurs in MENA region
      View article
      See more
  • Contact

International Women’s Day 2020: UfM launches new regional mechanism to monitor gender equality in the Mediterranean

Social & Civil Affairs
  • UfM Member States will adopt a regional intergovernmental mechanism to monitor the progress made on women’s rights, evaluate gender gaps and provide recommendations to policymakers.
  • UfM projects and initiatives specifically addressing women’s empowerment and gender equality benefit women in 20 Euro-Mediterranean countries.
  • Within the UfM region, gender parity is estimated at 76.7% in Western Europe and at 61.2% in the Middle East and North Africa, which indicates there is still a long way to go.

 #EachforEqual #IWD2020 #UfM4Women #Women4Mediterranean

Barcelona, 2 March 2020. The Union for the Mediterranean embraces the celebration of the International Women’s Day with the implementation of projects and initiatives in the framework of its regional agenda for women’s empowerment.

In a year that marks the 25th Anniversary of the Barcelona Process, which laid the foundations for the creation of the UfM, its Member States are determined to monitor and assess the progress made in advancing gender equality in the region and update their related strategies to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In line with the 2017 UfM Ministerial Declaration on strengthening the role of women in society, and following a 3-year regional process involving governments and gender experts, the UfM will adopt a regional intergovernmental follow-up mechanism on gender balance. This entails concrete indicators that will allow to monitor the progress made on women’s rights and to work collectively to accelerate women’s full participation in the region.

UfM Deputy Secretary General on Civil and Social affairs, Marisa Farrugia, stressed: “This follow-up mechanism offers an effective means to monitor and benchmark progress. It is designed to create regional awareness on the challenges that gender gaps pose as well as the opportunities that emerge when action is taken to reduce them. Building inclusive societies, based on equality, in all of its dimensions, is a key component for economic growth and social well-being.”

Following the recent signature of a cooperation agreement with the Norwegian Government, this year will also see the further implementation of regional projects aiming at fostering women’s economic participation, in particular developing their skills and facilitating their access to the labour market and to entrepreneurship. The UfM-labelled projects that will benefit from the Norwegian funding under the new agreement are:

  • “CEED Grow– Growing and Scaling Small and Medium Enterprises”. The project is addressed to women entrepreneurs and middle-level managers and seeks to enhance their leadership, management and entrepreneurial skills. It is benefiting 300 small and medium-sized companies, in Albania, Tunisia and Morocco.
  • “Skills for Success– Employability Skills for Women”. The project is providing more than 450 unemployed and economically disadvantaged, secondary-level educated women with the necessary skills, knowledge and tools to enter the labour market in Tunisia, Lebanon, Morocco, Egypt and Jordania.
  • “Mediterranean New Chance– MedNC”. The project implements innovative and sustainable solutions to address the challenge of socio-professional integration of young people and, particularly, of those who are not in Education, Employment, or Training (NEETs) in Algeria, Egypt, France, Morocco, Tunisia and Spain. Knowledge exchanges are benefiting more than 29,000 unemployed young people, 60% of them women.

Despite the progress made globally and at regional level, we need at least 99.5 years more to achieve gender equality (economic participation, education, health and political empowerment) according to the findings of the Global Gender Gap Report 2020.  In the UfM region, gender parity in Western Europe is estimated at 76.7% (54 years to achieve gender parity) and in MENA region at 61.2% (140 years) indicating there is still a long way to go.

More information

Upcoming Conferences

Regional Dialogue conferences and expert meetings such as the UfM Regional Dialogue on Women’s Empowerment, the UfM Women4Mediterranean Conference or the UfM Women Business Forum will take place in 2020. Visit our event calendar for updates on the dates.

See latest editions:

  • Women Business Forum
  • UfM Regional Dialogue on Women’s Empowerment
  • Women4Mediterranean Conference

UfM Policy Framework on Women

  • The Cairo 2017 UfM Ministerial Declaration on Strengthening the Role of Women in Society

Recommended publications

World Bank report “Invest in women to boost growth in MENA”

Share this:

Latest news

The UfM Regional Platform on Trade and Investment convenes its sixth meeting
07 / 06 / 2023
EU Green Week 2023: Making the Green Transition Gender Inclusive
07 / 06 / 2023
See more

Agenda

UfM Conference on Youth Entrepreneurship and Future of Work
13 / 06 / 2023
Multi-Regional Workshop on Legal-regulatory frameworks for coastal land management in Mediterranean countries
15 / 06 / 2023
See more

Who we are

  • Member States
  • Meet the team
  • Partners
  • History

What we do

  • Economic Development & Employment
  • Higher Education & Research
  • Social & Civil Affairs
  • Water, Environment and Blue Economy
  • Transport & Urban Development
  • Energy & Climate Action

How we work

  • Political Framework
  • Regional Dialogue Platforms
  • Projects and Initiatives

Work with us

  • Vacancies
  • Secondments
  • Internships
  • Procurement
  • Roster of experts

Info centre

  • Media corner
  • News
  • Agenda
  • Publications and key documents
  • Human Stories of the Mediterranean
  • Photo gallery
  • Video gallery
Co-financé par l'Union européenne  -  Cookie Privacy  |  Privacy Privacy  |  Legal notice
  • Who we are
    • Member States
    • Meet the team
    • Partners
    • History
  • What we do
    • Economic Development and Employment
    • Higher Education & Research
    • Social & Civil Affairs
    • Water, Environment and Blue Economy
    • Transport & Urban Development
    • Energy & Climate Action
  • How we work
    • Political Framework
    • Regional Dialogue Platforms
    • Projects and Initiatives
  • Work with us
    • Vacancies
    • Secondments
    • Internships
    • Procurement
    • Roster of experts
  • Info centre
    • Media center
    • News
    • Agenda
    • Publications and key documents
  • Contact
  • Social media
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Youtube
    • Linkedin
    • Flickr
  • English
  • Français
  • العربية
  • English
  • Français
  • العربية
Union for the Mediterranean – UfM
/* ----------------------------------------- */ /* Content Template: Loop item in Megamenu – Latest Ufm in the news - start */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* Content Template: Loop item in Megamenu – Latest Ufm in the news - end */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* Content Template: Content template for Posts - start */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* Content Template: Content template for Posts - end */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* Content Template: Loop item in NewsRoom – Related News (Sidebar) - start */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* Content Template: Loop item in NewsRoom – Related News (Sidebar) - end */ /* ----------------------------------------- */

 

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings.


3rd Party Cookies

Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Cookies Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Read more

3rd Party Cookies

This website uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site, and the most popular pages.

Keeping this cookie enabled helps us to improve our website.

Please enable Strictly Necessary Cookies first so that we can save your preferences!