Euro-Mediterranean development agencies have convened for the first time ever at a two-day event organised by the Union for the Mediterranean to explore how boosting cooperation can lead to a greater collective impact. Some 30 representatives from agencies from 15 UfM Member States, including the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ), the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), the French Development Agency (AFD) or the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), are discussing common priorities in the region as well as potential networking and partnership opportunities. They will also be sharing their conclusions on the matter and discussing the way forward.

Inspired by the EU’s Team Europe, a future Euro-Mediterranean initiative as envisioned by the UfM would bring together regional development actors on a voluntary basis, creating a network that enables the pooling of expertise and resources in order to deliver improved results. It would also contribute to the added value of the UfM label, a distinction that has already been awarded to 60 regional projects that promote the organisation’s objectives of regional stability, inclusive and sustainable development, and integration.

One of these UfM-labelled projects, the Mediterranean New Chance (MedNC), will be presented to attendees. A network of various initiatives in Algeria, Egypt, France, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, and Tunisia, the MedNC addresses the socio-professional integration of young people who are not in education, employment, or training (NEETs) through capacity-building activities. This will be followed by a field visit to a MedNC ‘Second Chance’ school managed by Fundació El Llindar in the outskirts of Barcelona.