Forty five young leaders of twenty different nationalities representing various women associations, NGOs, youth initiatives, universities and student unions of both sides of the Mediterranean participated at the 1st Youth Forum for the Mediterranean which was organized by the Union of the Mediterranean (UfM) in cooperation with XVIII Mediterranean Games Tarragona 2018 between 6- 9 July 2018. The objective of this four-day partnership-building initiative was to promote intercultural dialogue among youth organizations on both shores of the Mediterranean and create space where participants learn how to develop a project from concept to implementation, focusing on 3 key themes that include women empowerment, sustainable development and youth employability and employment.

To this end, the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed)’s Gender Programme which manages the secretariat of the Euro – Mediterranean Women’s Foundation (FFEM), was invited to share its first-hand experience and knowledge on women empowerment and gender equality with the young leaders.

Several experts took part in the plenary session: Michael Karner, Consultant within the Centre for Mediterranean Integration (CMI)’s Water and Refugee and Mobility Programs and coordinator of theCMI Water Expert Hub, spoke about youth employability and inclusive growth, and Cristina Guillén, Professor of the Càtedra Tarragona Smart Mediterranean City at the University Rovira i Virgili, tackled issues related to climate change and provided some example of smart and environment-friendly projects to inspire the young leaders in their mission to design regional cooperation projects. Nour Salameh, from the IEMed’s Gender Programme, provided an overview of existing international legal framework and legislations endorsing gender equality and women’s rights (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination - CEDAW, Beijing Declaration and Action Platform, UNSCR 1325, etc.), then presented the FFEM, its actions and achievements, specifically the UfM’s labelled project ‘’Developing women’s empowerment’’, while highlighting some pilot and impactful activities supported by the FFEM.

Further details on the Youth Forum for the Mediterranean are available in the link below.