• English
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 2021 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

      6 March 2023 – Alghad.com – المؤتمر الدولي لمصادر المياه بعمان: تحديد للفرص القابلة للتنفيذ
      View article
      27 February 2023 – Huffington Post – “Nel Mediterraneo è sfida per l’energia, 250 progetti per portarla da Sud a Nord”
      View article
      18 February 2023 – The Jordan Times – Regional Transport Action Plan to propel shift towards sustainability — UfM official
      View article
      See more
  • Contact

UfM to push forward a New Urban Agenda for the Mediterranean Region

Transport & Urban Development

From left to right: Ms. Anne Odic, Head of Local Authorities and Urban Development Division, Agence Française de Développement; H.E. Mr. Mohammed Salah Arfaoui, Minister of Equipment, Housing and Territorial Development, Republic of Tunisia; Amb. Ihab Fahmy, Deputy Secretary General, UfM Secretariat; Mr. Jan Vapaavuori, Vice-President, European Investment Bank; H.E. Dr. Ahmed Darwish, Vice Minister for Housing, Utilities and Urban Development, Arab Republic of Egypt.

Quito, 18 October 2016 – On the margin of the UN Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III), the Union for the Mediterranean organized in Quito on 18 October 2016 in cooperation with the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) the Networking Event “Union for the Mediterranean – Urban Projects Finance Initiative (UPFI): Towards a New Urban Agenda for the Mediterranean region”.

The UfM-UPFI Networking Event has brought together more than 100 participants, including several Ministers from UfM Member States, international and regional organisations and IFIs leaders, key urban development actors in the Mediterranean and the partners involved in UPFI initiative, as well as potential partners, in order to develop future regional programmes and projects, with a view to addressing the region’s demographic and environmental challenges.

The Networking Event represented a good occasion to take-stock of UPFI’s “Success Story”, which was one of the main deliverables of the First UfM Ministerial Conference on Sustainable Urban Development in Strasbourg in 2011.
It also raised awareness about the added value of the UPFI initiative and its related UfM-labelled projects. In addition, it provided an opportunity to discuss the best tools to implement a “New Urban Agenda for the Mediterranean region”, in view of the Second UfM Ministerial Conference on Sustainable Urban Development to be held in Egypt in the Spring of 2017, and taking into consideration major regional and international related milestones.

UPFI is an innovative initiative funded by the European Commission and co-managed by AFD and EIB, under the auspices of the UfM. It is aimed at identifying and selecting flagship sustainable urban development projects likely to be politically endorsed (labelled) by the UfM Member States and financed and implemented in the short term.

Keynote Speakers at the UfM-UPFI Networking Event including, among others, H.E. Mr. Mohammed Salah Arfaoui, Minister of Equipment, Housing and Territorial Development of the Republic of Tunisia; H.E. Dr. Ahmed Darwish, Vice Minister for Housing, Utilities and Urban Development of the Arab Republic of  Egypt; Mr. Jan Vapaavuori, EIB Vice-President; and Amb. Ihab Fahmy, UfM Deputy Secretary General, agreed that, in view of the increasing magnitude of the common challenges in the Mediterranean, the event was a timely opportunity to develop and strengthen synergies and complementarity amongst key stakeholders, and assess the perspectives for working all together in the years to come.

EIB Vice-President Mr. Jan Vapaavuori highlighted “the Union for the Mediterranean provides a strong political momentum for the visibility of the Urban Project Finance Initiative drawing on its relationships with the Mediterranean countries and by labeling projects to confirm their quality.  The EIB is involved in several key projects in the region and is aiming to appraise and finance them in 2017.” 

UfM Deputy Secretary General Amb. Ihab Fahmy stressed “it is high time for common responses to the pressing challenges facing urban areas in the Mediterranean region, following a holistic approach that ensures urban sustainability and a greater socio-economic impact on the ground, through an effective and concrete action towards a better future for the Mediterranean region.”

The Habitat III Conference was an historic opportunity to reinvigorate the global commitment to sustainable urbanization, to focus on the implementation of a New Urban Agenda. It was the first time in 20 years that the international community, led by national governments, collectively took stock of fast-changing urban trends and the ways in which these patterns are impacting on human development, environmental well-being, and governance systems worldwide. The conference resulted in an action-oriented outcome document, the New Urban Agenda, which will lay the groundwork for policies and approaches and guide urbanization efforts for the next 20 years.

The Union for the Mediterranean: an action-driven organisation with a common ambition

The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) is the intergovernmental organisation bringing together 43 countries: 28 EU members and 15 Southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries. It provides a unique forum to enhance regional cooperation, dialogue and implementation of projects and initiatives with tangible impact on our citizens, mainly our youth, in order to address the three interrelated priorities of the Euro-Mediterranean region: stability, human development and integration.

The Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean, established in Barcelona in 2010, is the platform to operationalise decisions taken by the Member States,  implementing  strategic regional projects  through a specific methodology based on dynamic multi-partner networks and the exchange of best practices and innovative methodologies: more than 45 regional projects labelled by the Member States, mainly in the areas  of sustainable and inclusive growth, youth employability, women’s empowerment, student mobility, integrated urban development, and climate action.

About UN-Habitat

UN-Habitat is the United Nations programme working towards a better urban future. Its mission is to promote socially and environmentally sustainable human settlements development and the achievement of adequate shelter for all. UN-Habitat is the focal point for the monitoring, evaluation and implementation of the Habitat Agenda, as well as the task manager of the human settlements chapter of Agenda 21 and in collaboration with governments is responsible for promoting and consolidating collaboration with all partners, including local authorities and private and non-governmental organisations, in the implementation of the Habitat Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Share this:

Latest news

Boosting private sector engagement and stewardship in the Mediterranean blue economy
28 / 03 / 2023
On the road to the UfM Ministerial Conference on Higher Education (Fez, November 2023): UfM Higher Education Stakeholders’ Meeting
23 / 03 / 2023
See more

Agenda

UfM Conference on Regional Integration and Value Chain Transition
27 / 04 / 2023
2023 Annual Meeting of the UfM Energy Platforms
03 / 05 / 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
  • English
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!