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- 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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- 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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- UfM in the Media
  
  16 July 2021. El Economista. Educación superior, investigación e innovación cruciales para el desarrollo económico de los países mediterráneos
  
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  29 June 2021. Al Masry Al Youm. Nasser Kamel: North Africa loses 6 million jobs due to corona
  
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  25 June 2021. El Ágora. “La situación hídrica en el Mediterráneo es preocupante” – entrevista con Isidro González.
  
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Higher Education & Research

Thanks to the Mediterranean New Chance programme, I have succeeded in improving my skills in languages, communication, IT, entrepreneurship and more generally my own personal development. This programme has allowed me to enrich my CV, in both content and form, to improve my interpersonal competences and my self-confidence, as well as to gain some technical skills to search a better job”

Islem Ben Ali
Tunisian young woman, beneficiary of the UfM labelled programme “Mediterranean New Chance” (MedNC)

Higher education and research are shaping factors of a common and prosperous Mediterranean future.

Regional cooperation efforts in the fields of higher education, research and innovation as well as vocational training and mobility play an essential role in achieving a Positive agenda for the Youth in the Mediterranean because of their potential on increasing employability, promoting intercultural dialogue and preventing extremism.

The activities of the UfM in the area of Higher Education and Research also aim to contribute to the Global Development Agenda, particularly to the achievement of the the 2030 Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all, the SDG 8-6: Reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education or training (NEETs) and SDGs where research and innovation play a crucial role.

32%

of enterprises

in some Southern Mediterranean countries have identified labour skill levels as a major constraint to hiring

From
15%		to		32%

of young people (15-24 years old) in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries are NEET’s.

25%

of unemployment rates

among higher education graduates in Arab countries of North Africa

Strategic Objectives

Strengthening the contribution of the UfM Secretariat to regional dialogue fora in the fields including the development of regional dialogue processes on Higher Education Internationalisation & Academic Mobility and on Vocational Education & Training.

Scaling-up learning opportunities in a Euro-Mediterranean environment.

Fostering regional initiatives and projects in the areas of school-to-work transition and vocational training.

Contributing to the implementation of the 2017 Ministerial Declaration on Strengthening Cooperation through Research and innovation, in particular on PRIMA, BLUEMED and migration issues.