The Water and Environment Support project (WES) had a very active role and prominent contribution at the 5th Mediterranean Water Forum which gathered 800 participants among whom many Ministers and representatives of international organisations.

The second edition of the Regional Stakeholders Event convened thought leaders, practitioners, and organisations from the MENA region for a comprehensive dialogue on entrepreneurship, startup support, and policy advocacy.

The UfM and the Anna Lindh Foundation governing bodies gathered in Barcelona showing willingness to work together for regional cooperation.

On Thursday 7 March, the experts from the Switch2Green facility presented the results of their Mapping on Green and Circular Economy in the Southern Neighbourhood. The same day, NEAR B2 organised the first coordination meeting for regional the Green Economy programme with the three implementing partners: Expertise France, SPARK, UNIDO.

The Union for the Mediterranean and the Union of Arab Banks marked International Women’s Day by co-hosting Closing gender gaps in the MENA financial sector: towards women-led business development, a 2-day conference in the Egyptian capital aimed at reducing the high levels of entrepreneurial inequality between men and women.

Tunisia’s inclusion in the Budapest Convention aims to strengthen global efforts against cybercrime and ensure the protection of the rights of individuals and victims affected by cyber offenses.

After one year and a half of implementation, the regional TEI “Jobs through Trade and Investment in the Southern Neighbourhood” has already delivered on the ground. Find out more in the first TEI Annual Report!

Although the shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy is unavoidable, the UfM Gas Platform discussed which role natural gas still can play and what are opportunities for clean gases such as renewable hydrogen and its derivatives as well as bio-methanol in a high level discussion in Paris on 5 March. The event brought together stakeholders from the European Commission and from UfM member countries with participation of the Minister of Energy from Lebanon, Director DG Energy and the former European Commissioner for Energy. Topics discussed concentrated on the future of natural gas, biogas and biomethane as well as the future of renewable hydrogen in the region and the role of regional cooperation.

DG NEAR’s Director General initiated a High-level roundtable discussion on Mediterranean Energy Cooperation on 7 March focusing on boosting collaboration in renewable energy and clean tech between Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. B2 is expected to focus on the clean tech dimension of this new initiative.