UfM paves way for first-ever Euro-Mediterranean development agency coordination initiative

• The Union for the Mediterranean hosted a meeting of Euro-Mediterranean development agencies in Barcelona to encourage deeper cooperation with the goal of maximising outcomes and amplifying impact on the ground.
• Some 30 representatives from agencies from 15 UfM Member States discussed common priorities in the Mediterranean region as well as how to join forces to further benefit the region’s citizens.
• Participants visited a ‘Second Chance’ school for the socio-professional integration of young people who are not in education, employment, or training (NEETs). Part of the UfM-labelled Mediterranean New Chance project, this network helps advance the organisation’s objectives of stability, inclusive development, and integration.

15 April 2024, Barcelona. Euro-Mediterranean development agencies convened for the first time ever at a two-day event organised by the Union for the Mediterranean to explore how boosting cooperation can lead to a greater collective impact. Some 30 representatives from agencies from 15 UfM Member States, including the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ), the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), the French Development Agency (AFD) or the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), discussed common priorities in the region as well as potential networking and partnership opportunities. They also shared their conclusions on the matter and discussed the way forward.

Inspired by the EU’s Team Europe, a future Euro-Mediterranean initiative as envisioned by the UfM would bring together regional development actors on a voluntary basis, creating a network that enables the pooling of expertise and resources in order to deliver improved results. It would also contribute to the added value of the UfM label, a distinction that has already been awarded to 60 regional projects that promote the organisation’s objectives of regional stability, inclusive and sustainable development, and integration.

One of these UfM-labelled projects, the Mediterranean New Chance (MedNC), was presented to attendees. A network of various initiatives in Algeria, Egypt, France, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, and Tunisia, the MedNC project addresses the socio-professional integration of young people who are not in education, employment, or training (NEETs) through capacity-building activities. This was followed by a field visit to a MedNC ‘Second Chance’ school managed by Fundació El Llindar in the outskirts of Barcelona.

“The UfM’s mission is a straightforward one: to foster Euro-Mediterranean cooperation and dialogue and to champion projects that have a positive impact on people’s lives. While not a donor institution, it is an invaluable partner when it comes to supporting regional projects by offering various forms of vital assistance. By bringing together the development actors of UfM Member States to join forces, the UfM is exerting its unique convening power to help enhance and deliver concrete results for the people of the region,” said UfM Secretary General Nasser Kamel.