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Union for the Mediterranean – UfMUnion for the Mediterranean – UfMUnion for the Mediterranean – UfMUnion for the Mediterranean – UfM
  • Who we are
    • Who we are

      The Union for the Mediterranean is an intergovernmental institution bringing together the European Union Member States and 15 countries from the Southern and Eastern shores of the Mediterranean to promote dialogue and cooperation.

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      UfM Annual Report 2019 25 Years
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      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   

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    • 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.

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      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)   

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    • UfM in the Media

      10 February 2021, L’Opinion. Interview avec Marisa Farrugia: “15 des 25 pays de la région euro-méditerranéenne présentent les taux les plus élevés de cancer du sein”
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      10 February 2021, Al Rai. اتحاد المتوسط: الحرارة ترتفع 20٪ في المملكة أسرع من المتوسط العالمي – صحيفة الرأي
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      2 February 2021, RNE – Europa Abierta. Economía azul para un Mediterráneo pos-COVID
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Promoting women empowerment for inclusive and sustainable industrial development in the MENA region

Social & Civil Affairs
Ongoing

Over the course of 2.5 years, the project contributed to enhance women’s economic inclusion by harnessing the great potential of women entrepreneurs in Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine and Tunisia and create the conditions for a sustainable and inclusive growth.

Women’s economic participation and empowerment are fundamental to strengthening women’s rights. But even more so, women’s entrepreneurship is an untapped source of growth, prosperity and poverty reduction, as well as being fundamental to women’s empowerment for creating more equitable societies.

Labelled by the Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean in November 2015 with a total budget of 4,5M€, the project was promoted by United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and partially funded by the Italian Government. It constituted the first regional best practice with an integrated approach to support women entrepreneurship on three levels: macro (policy dialogue), meso (reinforcing the capacities of the women business associations) and micro level (strengthening the entrepreneurship capacities of women entrepreneurs).

The objectives of the project were as following:

  1. Provide empirical evidence and baseline data for policy and decision makers to take informed decisions and nurture the formulation of policy recommendations with the aim to feed targeted policy reforms for a more conducive environment for women entrepreneurship.
  2. Building the capacities of the MENA Business Women’s Associations (BWA) through Training of Trainers programs and the capacity of individual women entrepreneurs through training of entrepreneurs.
  3. Identifying investment opportunities and facilitating access to finance through promotion of promising investment proposals with Regional and International Financial Institutions such as the Union for Arab Banks, the joint World Bank/IFC and Goldman Sachs Fund, EBRD, and other national and regional development Banks.

The activities of the project brought the following concrete results:

  • Strengthened capacities for at least 400 representatives of women business associations, banks and Business Development Services, for providing entrepreneurship development services to other women.
  • Trained and counselled more than 2000 women entrepreneurs on entrepreneurship development and business plan formulation.
  • Facilitated access to investment and finance of at least 500 promising businesses opportunities.
  • Contributed to the creation of 800 new jobs by the end of the project.

The second phase of the project is expected to be launched during 2019.

About the promoter and partner institutions

UNIDO is recognized as a highly relevant, specialized and efficient provider of key services in support to the interlinked challenges of reducing poverty through productive activities and SMEs development, with special regard to youth and women. More specifically, the project will be implemented by the Investment and Technology Unit (ITU) which is part of the UNIDO Business, Investment and Technology Branch (BIT). UNIDO’s ITU has a vast experience in the area of investment promotion & entrepreneurship development and has the capacity to offer TA specific tools and methodologies to boost enterprise creation and growth.

More information

Documents

Project Snapshot
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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
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  • Projects and Initiatives

Work with us

  • Vacancies
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  • Procurement
  • Roster of experts

Info centre

  • Media corner
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Co-funded by the European Union
  • 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
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