ILO, Union for the Mediterranean sign agreement to promote businesses, jobs and skills

Fathallah Sijilmassi and Guy Ryder

GENEVA – The International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) signed an agreement here today to promote common projects, including business development, job creation (especially for youth and women), water, energy and the environment, training and knowledge sharing, with a South-South and triangular cooperation dimension.


The agreement has two main objectives. It establishes cooperation between the UfM secretariat and the ILO in the appraisal of technical cooperation project proposals and resource mobilization for them, and promotes South-South and triangular cooperation initiatives within the Mediterranean region.

The agreement will further strengthen the capacities of both the ILO and UfM secretariats to promote productive employment and decent work for all in the countries of the Mediterranean region.

Projects will therefore focus on employment creation, labour market analysis, social protection, support for small and medium- sized enterprises, skills and capacity building, ratification of international labour standards, and the launch of Decent Work Country Programmes - with particular attention to the promotion of gender equality and youth employment.

The Union for the Mediterranean brings together the 28 member States of the European Union and 15 countries from the Southern Mediterranean; its secretariat is located in Barcelona. The UfM aims at promoting concrete projects supporting the needs and aspirations of the people of Mediterranean countries, as well as fostering regional cooperation between member States.

Priority areas for projects include business development, job creation (especially for youth and women), water, energy and the environment, as well as training and knowledge sharing. Interregional cooperation is seen as essential to foster greater integration among the countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, so as to facilitate growth and competitiveness. One of UfM’s recent initiatives is called Med4Jobs, a programme that aims at improving young people’s and women’s access to employment, as well as reducing the gaps between demand and supply aspects of employment opportunities in the region.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) is devoted to promoting social justice and internationally recognized human and labour rights, pursuing its founding mission that labour peace is essential to prosperity. Today, the ILO helps advance the creation of decent work and the economic and working conditions that give working people and business people a stake in lasting peace, prosperity and progress. Its tripartite structure provides a unique platform for promoting decent work for all women and men. Its main aims are to promote rights at work, encourage decent employment opportunities, enhance social protection and strengthen dialogue on work-related issues.

The ILO actively supports for South-South and triangular cooperation, which takes diverse forms, including, inter alia, the sharing of knowledge and experiences, training, and technology transfer. In this regard, the ILO’s experience in promoting good practices and sharing information would be highlighted and shared with UfM Secretariat.