Joining forces to promote academic cooperation in the Mediterranean

Marseille, 29 September 2016.

GID President François Guinot and UfM Secretary General Fathallah Sijilmassi signed a Memorandum of Understanding to undertake joint actions for fostering educational, training and scientific collaboration between relevant stakeholders from UfM countries, with the objective to contribute towards inclusive growth and youth employment in the Mediterranean region.

The GID and the UfMS agreed to find common responses to the pressing challenges facing youth in the Mediterranean region. In this regard, both institutions share the view that science can provide innovative solutions responding to the challenges affecting the region today such as climate change, water & energy management, youth employment, migration or women empowerment. They have identified several areas of collaboration with special regard to academic and scientific cooperation, data production on the Mediterranean region, and bridging science and decision-makers.

 “The GID is an international association of academies of sciences that aims to contribute to bridging the gap between scientific output and decision-making,” said GID President François Guinot.“ Joining forces with the UfM will contribute to boost the impact that the Mediterranean Academies can have towards current and future challenges in the Euro-Mediterranean region.”

UfM Secretary General Fathallah Sijilmassi stated: “Knowledge-sharing, scientific cooperation, education and training, technology transfer are more instrumental than ever in consolidating human development, decent job creation, inclusive growth and stability in the Mediterranean”.

Both organizations committed to exploit all possible synergies to enhance the participation of academic institutions in UfM regional projects and initiatives in order to promote an integrated and cooperative approach to higher education and scientific research.

The signature took place in the framework of the conference on “Knowledge in action for co-development in the Mediterranean”, held in Marseille, under the auspices of the GID, by the French Academie des Sciences at the occasion of its 350th anniversary.