The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) embraces the celebration of International Youth Day 2019 under the title “Transforming Education” aligned with its strategy of highlighting concrete efforts and projects to make education more inclusive and accessible for all young people. This includes, on the ground, projects and initiatives led by youth from the Euro-Mediterranean region.

The UfM recognises that access to quality education is essential for youth development and is necessary to adequately address the issues currently facing the region. Throughout its Med4jobs initiative, a cross-sectorial programme launched in 2013, the UfM helps increase the employability of young people and women, close the gap between labour demand and supply and foster a culture of entrepreneurship. Med4Jobs currently encompasses 13 projects that benefit over 100.000 young people and women.

Tangible results have been achieved by the UfM and its partners in the region. The Mediterranean New Chance (MedNC) project addresses the challenge of the socio-professional integration of those youngsters who are not in Education, Employment or Training (NEETs) by mobilising and strengthening cooperation among stakeholders from both shores of the Mediterranean, including Second Chance Schools. This project, framed within the UfM Mediterranean Initiative for Jobs (Med4Jobs) and coordinated since January 2018 by the Institut Européen de Coopération et de Développement (IECD), is currently being implemented in Algeria, Egypt, France, Italy, Lebanon, Morocco, Portugal, Spain and Tunisia through capacity-building activities, and the exchange of innovative education experiences and best practices among partners.

The UfM supports a number of region-wide projects in the education sector, notably the High Opportunity for Mediterranean Executive Recruitment (HOMERe) project, which helps high-profile students in their last year of study in their transition from school to qualified entry-level jobs in their own countries. After a first successful phase of the project that has enabled more than 500 students to complete a professional internship, a second phase was launched in the framework of the Summit of the Two Shores in Marseille.

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The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM)