Sharing experiences between countries ensures peace and growth, Foreign Minister Carmelo Abela has stated, while speaking to 160 participants during a thematic forum on the Mediterranean generation.
The forum, organised recently, brought together participants from across the Mediterranean region to highlight the importance of civil society and youth-led initiatives. It focused on education and mobility.
The Union of the Mediterranean (UfM) is currently organising another regional dialogue forum under the title ‘Shared views on key issues in the Mediterranean’.
The Union is an intergovernmental organisation made up of 43 member states from Europe and the Mediterranean basin. It seeks to enhance cooperation and dialogue through initiatives that leave a tangible impact.
Two projects were selected in Malta during the forum to be part of the Mediterranean Initiative for Jobs. The first, the Mediterranean New Chance Network, was recognised as a model approach to address the challenge of the socio-professional integration of young people.
“The MedNC network brings together 10 members from eight Euro-Mediterranean countries (Algeria, France, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Portugal, Spain and Tunisia) with the aim of integrating at least two additional countries by 2019,” Higher Education and Research senior adviser Itaf Ben Abdallah said.
“By mobilising and strengthening cooperation between Second Chance Schools notably, the MedNC project is benefiting more than 26,000 young people,” he added.
The second project, HOMERe, had already helped almost 500 students by offering them the chance to complete an international internship in the Mediterranean region.
The MedNC project is benefiting more than 26,000 young people
Social and Civil Affairs expert Abdelkader El Khissassi said the objective of the project is to support youth employment, specifically that of young graduates.
“This also helps companies, particularly small- and medium-sized enterprises and employers, identify relevant student profiles from the region, enabling both parties to find better skill-matching employments,” Mr El Khissassi said.
“The expected results from this project is to have up to 70 per cent of beneficiaries in employment in their country of origin after the end of the internship.”
Asked what concrete measures the forum and workshop will leave, the two members of the UfM noted that the main added value of the organisation was the creation of cooperation with respect to policies and concrete projects.
The forum titled ‘Shared views on key issues in the Mediterranean’ is taking place on May 22 and 23 in Barcelona.
This event seeks to gather valuable insights of youth and civil society representatives as well as non-State actors from across the region on current challenges in the Mediterranean.
Its conclusions will feed the discussions of the pre-summit forum of Tunis.