As of July 1st, 2021, and eleven years after its creation by the World Bank in Marseille, the Center for Mediterranean Integration (CMI) has officially joined the United Nations (UN), hosted by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS). Under the auspices of the UN, the CMI has been entrusted with a renewed mandate: Implementing Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 17: Partnerships in the Mediterranean.

Today, the CMI is the only Mediterranean regional initiative gathering international development institutions, national governments, local authorities, and civil society.

“Never before was Mediterranean integration more needed than it is now. The region faces a unique opportunity to fulfill its historical mandate in bringing closer its peoples, cultures, resources, and assets. Enhancing Mediterranean integration means going beyond trade and addressing regional common challenges in areas such as human capital mobility and environmental resilience”says Blanca Moreno-Dodson, CMI Director.

The CMI was created in 2009 and functions as a partnership with its own governance (World Bank, European Investment Bank, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, Spain, Tunisia, the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur – Sud Region, and UN-HABITAT), hosted by France in the city of Marseille. The European External Action Service (EEAS) is an observer. In addition, the CMI includes a large list of technical partners, such as the French Agency for Development (AFD), the Department for International Development of the UK (FCDO), and the German Agency for International Development (GIZ), who contribute to delivering CMI activities and programs.

For more information

Press release