On 18 October in Brussels, Jordi Curell, the EMPL Director in charge of Labour Mobility and International Affairs, opened the 13^th Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) Regional Platform on Employment and Labour, with her Excellency Ms Raghda H. Al Faouri, Chief Executive Officer of the Technical and Vocational Skills Development Commission of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and Dr Abdelkader El Khissassi, UfM Deputy Secretary-General in charge of Economic Development and Employment.

This 13^th Regional Platform took place exactly 5 months after the fifth Union for the Mediterranean Ministerial on Employment and Labour, held last May in Morocco where an ambitious Ministerial Declaration, now called the Marrakech Declaration, has been adopted.​

The Ministers tasked the UfM Regional Platform on Employment and Labour to present a Roadmap for Action 2022-2025 to concretely implement the Marrakech Declaration.

The Roadmap discussed at the 13^th Regional Platform is articulated around the main topics of: youth employment and focus on the young people who are not in employment, education or training (NEETs); vocational education and training; digital and green transitions; social economy for more decent job creation; well-functioning monitoring processes. The concrete actions are supported by Community of practices, the Regional Team Europe Initiative on Jobs through Trade and Investment, events as well as regional programmes. In 2023, the Roadmap will include several actions under the European Year of Skills.

The Roadmap will be formally presented by the next Senior Officials Meeting of the Union for the Mediterranean before the end of the year.