UfM Secretariat in partnership with Economic and Social Councils to promote employment and decent work at the 2016 Euromed Summit

Vravrona, Greece, 26 October. A delegation from the UfM Secretariat headed by Diplomatic Advisor and Spokesperson Sergi Farré participated over two days in the activities and the sessions of the ‎2016 Euromed Summit of Economic and Social Councils ‎held in Vravrona, Greece. Mr. Farré shared his views on the challenges in the Euro-Mediterranean region as speaker in the opening session of the Summit, moderated by the President of the Economic and Social Council of Greece.

The Euro-Mediterranean Summit of Economic and Social Councils and Similar Institutions aims at promoting greater understanding of the main issues affecting organised civil society in the Euromed region and at discussing the common challenges they face.

This year, the Euromed Summit brought together some 120 participants from a range of economic and social councils, or similar institutions, representatives of employers, trade unions, other economic and social interests groups and NGOs from countries which are members of the Union for the Mediterranean. The Greek Prime Minister, H.E. Mr. Alexis Tsipras, gave the keynote opening speech of the Conference, which also counted with speeches by EESC President Georges Dassis and other high-profile speakers.

The exchange between the participants focused on challenges in the Euro-Med Region and the contribution of organized civil societies to addressing them. The main topics discussed included promotion of legal migration, women participation in labour force and women’s entrepreneurship, organised civil society and climate change in the view of the COP22, and the coordination of social protection systems.

As on previous occasions, the Summit concluded with the adoption of a final declaration which highlighted the role of the UfM Secretariat, especially in support to the efforts undertaken by the Secretariat to develop ‎women’s entrepreneurship projects in the region, and called on the Member States of the ‎UfM to honour the commitments made at the Third Ministerial Conference on ‎Strengthening the Role of Women in Society.‎

The last UfM Ministerial Conference on Labour and Employment held in Jordan on 27 September 2016 yielded, in addition to the Ministerial Declaration, a Social Partners Joint Declaration on Social Dialogue for the first time in UfM Ministerial Meetings.