The UfM Secretariat held on 16 November the opening session of the 5th Regional Conference on Women’s Empowerment entitled ‘Accelerate gender equality in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic’. This edition is bringing together some of the most active voices on gender equality from across the region. The Conference sessions, held in the framework of the 25th Anniversary of the Barcelona Process, will be held virtually until 20 November.

The Opening session was preceded by a meeting of the UfM Member States to launch the first of its kind region-wide monitoring mechanism, which will provide data for scientific-based policies and support the implementation of gender-related Sustainable Development Goals to unleash the full potential of women in the Euro-Mediterranean region.

Participants discussed the urgent need to multiply the efforts made by multi-level cooperation between both sides of the Mediterranean, which has become instrumental to provide gender-responsive recovery in cities and regions.

Alongside the full conference’s programme and in partnership with renowned international, regional and local organisations, a series of side events will feature human-interest stories from regional projects, a regional forum of women entrepreneurs and discussion panels on how to prevent violence against women in the context of a crisis, the role of cities and regions to build inclusive post COVID-19 societies, the role of youth in combatting gender stereotypes in the audio-visual sector, or how to mainstream gender in recovery responses of agri-food sectors and rural areas.

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Press Release

Infographic on the Monitoring Follow-up Mechanism

Infographic on Women & COVID-19 Pandemic

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The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM)