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FEMISE EuroMed Report 2019 : The private sector in the Mediterranean countries: Main dysfunctions and opportunities of social entrepreneurship

 

The 2019 EuroMed FEMISE Report is now available

The private sector in the Mediterranean countries:

Main dysfunctions and opportunities of social entrepreneurship  [1]

AVAILABLE BY CLICKING HERE

FEMISE launches its 2019 Euro-Mediterranean report which focuses on the private sector in Mediterranean countries. It was presented on June 13 to participants at the annual think tank conference. How have Mediterranean countries evolved since the launch of the Barcelona Process? Why has growth fallen short of expectations? What role can central banks play in making the private sector more dynamic and attracting more foreign investment? How can public authorities contribute to the development of social entrepreneurship in order to reduce the phenomena of exclusivity? This report attempts to answer these questions through 4 chapters: the first presents the dynamics observed in the Mediterranean countries over the past 20 years; the second attempts to analyze the main reasons for the lack of growth; the third deals with the role of central banks in improving the business environment and the attractiveness of foreign investment. The fourth and final chapter focuses on social entrepreneurship.

Three major reasons prompted the experts in the FEMISE network to devote this report to the private sector in the Mediterranean. The first is that there is an urgent need to create jobs and, given the situation of public accounts, these future job creations can only come from the private sector. The second reason is that these countries must change their growth regime to become more competitive and move upmarket. The third reason is that it was useful, as this report does, to have a synthesis of the contributions of the academic literature, available data, reports of international organizations while also having an overview on the points views and recommendations from experts, members of civil society and operational partners on the subject. In the last chapter, these agents of change expose and propose concrete actions for a private sector up to the challenges in the Mediterranean, in particular via social entrepreneurship.

“A paradox in the Mediterranean countries is to have both a low level of poverty compared to developing and emerging countries and, at the same time, certain parts of the population isolated and / or excluded from the economic sphere. These are young people, women and the rural world far from the big cities. We could also add people whose economic activities are informal. It is therefore an economic system which relies on the exclusion of at least two thirds of its population and whose foundations for sustainable development are not assured, “explain the authors.

The report, produced under the direction of Institut de la Méditerranée (IM) and coordinated by Patricia Augier (President of the FEMISE Scientific Committee), was written by economists from the FEMISE research network. The authors are:.

Pr. Patricia Augier (Professor Aix-Marseille School of Economics, President of the Scientific Committee of FEMISE and IM);

Dr. Constantin Tsakas (Secretary General of FEMISE and General Manager of IM);

Pr. Sami Mouley (Professor of International Finance at the University of Tunis);

Karine Moukaddem (political analyst intern at the Union for the Mediterranean, FEMISE expert) and

Jocelyn Ventura (economist at IM and FEMISE).

[1] This report received financial support from the European Union through the FEMISE project “Support to Economic Research, studies and dialogues of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership”. Any opinion expressed in this report is the sole responsibility of the authors.

FEMISE MED BRIEF no19 : “Reforming Fossil fuel Subsidies: Challenges and Opportunities for Mediterranean countries”

Stéphane Pouffary & Guillaume de Laboulaye

The FEMISE Policy Brief series MED BRIEF aspires to provide Forward Thinking for the EuroMediterranean region. The briefs contain succinct, policy-oriented analysis of relevant EuroMed issues, presenting the views of FEMISE researchers and collaborators to policy-makers.

The MED BRIEF “Reforming Fossil fuel Subsidies: Challenges and Opportunities for the South and East Mediterranean countries”, is available here (in french).

Also available in Arabic by clicking here.


Abstract: Fossil fuel subsidies have been used for decades to support economic activities, but above all, officially, to enable poorest households to access low-cost energy services. That being the case, regardless of the country, this reality remains highly questionable given that most of these subsidies benefit the wealthiest households who consume much more energy than lower and middle-income households. Moreover, these subsidies are incompatible with a low-carbon society and they contribute to maintaining unsustainable systems from an environmental, economic and social point of view, creating an energy dependence on exporting countries. This policy brief focuses on the issues and challenges of reforming fossil fuel subsidies in Southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries. It reminds that, far from their initial objective, these subsidies contribute on the one hand to slow down the achievement of national climate commitments and, on the other hand, to increase social and economic imbalances.

The list of FEMISE MED BRIEFS is available here.

The policy brief has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union within the context of the FEMISE program. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of the authors and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union

Med Change Makers e08 : Vera DANILINA, Green Public Procurement Vs. Environmental taxation: potential for EuroMed environmental cooperation

 

FEMISE launched in 2018 its series of interviews called « Med Change Makers ».

« Med Change Makers » are text and video-based interviews that allow dynamic researchers of the FEMISE network to illustrate how their research addresses a policy-relevant question and how it contributes to the policy-making process in the Euro-Mediterranean region.

 

Green Public Procurement Vs. Environmental taxation: potential for euro-mediterranean environmental cooperation

Interview with Vera Danilina, Aix-Marseille Université and FEMISE

Environmental issues are among the priorities of FEMISE research / action. In the Mediterranean, the consequences of climate change will always be stronger than elsewhere. The reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the adaptation needs of bordering countries are more than ever necessary.

Author of a FEMISE MED BRIEF, Vera Danilina focuses on environmental taxation and green public procurement (GPP). She provides a comparative analysis of their effectiveness and reveals the opportunities for harmonized environmental policy between countries. Her results suggest specific implications for environmental collaboration between EU countries and those of the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa). Interview :

1. Your recent FEMISE Brief is focused on the comparison between GPP and environmental taxation. What are these two policy instruments and why do you focus on them ?

The first instrument is Green Public Procurement and is related to the process whereby public authorities seek to procure goods and services with reduced environmental impact. Accordingly, it corresponds to their initiative to consume eco-friendly products. This policy instrument is relatively new: within the EU the importance of GPP was stressed in 2003 when the member states were urged to adopt national plans for greening the public purchasing policy. Despite the relatively slow development of GPP, 55% of the contracts signed by European public authorities in 2009/10 included at least one EU core GPP criterion.

The second instrument, which is the environmental tax, targets directly the negative impact of production. Nowadays, in the EU-28 such taxes account from 30-50% (UK, Belgium, Italy, Denmark) to 60-80% (Germany, France, Norway) and even to 80-100% (Spain, Liechtenstein) of all key environmental policy instruments in use. Environmental taxation accounts for 2.4% of the EU-28’s GDP varying from 0.77% in Liechtenstein to 4.14% in Denmark.

Why focus on these two policy instruments? First of all, because they belong to alternative approaches to regulation that feature mandatory vs. voluntary participation and direct vs. indirect influence. The second reason is that while environmental tax can be considered as one of the most or even the most widely used policy instruments, the expansion of GPP is much more modest. But at the same time, GPP has been constantly high on the policy agenda of different countries since 1970s that shows its expected potential in the environmental policy development. Thus, the main reason to choose taxes and GPP for our analysis is to investigate the pros and cons of a traditional and a relatively innovative policy instrument exploring their possible complementarity or/and substitutability.

2. Are economic instruments for environmental policies widespread in Mediterranean countries of the South shore and why (not) ? Are there South-Med success-stories ?

The South-Med countries are mostly focused on the environmental taxation as the more transparent and straightforward instrument: it represents from 64% (Israel) to 100% (Egypt, Tunisia) of key environmental policy instruments toolkits. Meanwhile, in the majority of countries they represent a relatively modest share of GDP. At the same time in Israel green taxes account for 3% of GDP and 2% – in Morocco which is in line with European practices.

Public purchasing accounts for around 18% of GDP within the MENA region indicating a significant potential to influence markets and industries. Green procurement is not widely developed though. However, we would mention such countries as Israel, Egypt, Morocco and United Arab Emirates as leaders in GPP movement. According to the Ecolabel Index, there are up to 20 eco-labels in each of these countries including such nationally developed green standards as “Green Star” label for the responsible tourism in Egypt or a multi-industrial Israeli Green Label. These countries have also launched a range of governmental programmes supporting eco-innovations.

In general, environmental regulation is not well-developed in the South-Med countries. Among the reasons we would mention a wide range of social and economic problems that seem to be more urgent. At the same time we observe the development of environmental policies that indicates the growing understanding of their importance.

3. How can environmental policies and instruments in the South Med co-exist with the social and economic difficulties these countries are facing ?

It is well-known that the South Med region experiences a wide range of social and economic difficulties that might seem to be much more important than ecological threats. At the same time, the costs of environmental degradation for this region ranges from 2-3 % of GDP in Tunisia, Jordan, and Syria, to 5-7 % of GDP in Egypt and Iran. These figures are impressive. They assure that without developing green policy, the South Med countries risk to deepen not only the ecological problems but also the social and economic difficulties.

Moreover, focusing on economic development without corresponding environmental restrictions could potentially aggravate environmental degradation worsening the quality of life of the population. As an example, we would particularly stress health problem that can drastically reduce GDP. The link between environment, health, and GDP is potentially strong in the absence of environmental regulation and in the presence of “basic” threats such as car emissions, for example, that most directly affect the population.

4. How important is the coordination of environmental policies across South Mediterranean countries and why ? What direct and indirect benefits ?

Our research urges for the policy harmonisation across trading countries. We see this strategy as a first-best or a “win-win” option that allows the actors to coordinate their environmental efforts without implicating any disproportional burden to any of them.

Otherwise, the countries who focus more on the environmental regulation could be demotivated by the return effect of international trade. Thus, the country who opts for more severe environmental taxation wins from trade integration with the country who introduces GPP or lower taxation. In the literature this phenomena corresponds to a “pollution haven effect” by which trade integration makes polluting industries move from countries with more severe to countries with less severe environmental regulation, while not necessarily leading to the reduction of global environmental degradation. If all countries opt for the GPP policy, the more environmentally virtuous country whose government spends more on green goods faces purchasing power decline while the less environmentally virtuous country whose government is less generous in environmental spendings gains. In our research we call this result a “paradox of virtue”.

Last but not the least is the argument of trade and environment complementarity. When environmental policies are identical both in their type and stringency, trade integration leaves the environmental degradation level unchanged but incurs an increase in purchasing power across trading countries.

Consequently, on the side of direct benefits of policy harmonisation we would mention environmental degradation decline and the equality of the policy burden. Talking about the indirect effect, we definitely stress the positive effects of the regulation to the business traditions as well as consumer preferences. Even more, harmonised policy implies the harmonisation of eco-standards across countries that simplifies the cross-country cooperation, joint ventures development, and public control.

5. How can collaborating with the EU, within the framework of EuroMed cooperation, provide answers to environmental concerns ?

The EU is known for its well-developed system of environmental regulation that can be seen as one of the examples to spread to the South-Med countries. Both the public and the private institutions of the EU contribute to the system of eco-labelling and eco-certification, influencing the choice made by consumers and enterprises. Thus, Germany and Austria are the pioneers of GPP programmes. Since 2008 the European Commission has developed more than 20 common GPP criteria covering a wide range of sectors.

The EU has also proposed criteria of two different types, core and comprehensive. Core criteria address the key ecological impacts and are easy to get verified while comprehensive criteria are stricter and more complex requiring additional verification efforts. The variety of criteria guarantees the flexibility of the GPP strategy that can be tailored to the needs of a particular industry and country.

6. Are there other frameworks of cooperation (regional, bilateral) that can benefit the South ?

We particularly stress coordinated GPP as a form of cross-country environmental support. Our research shows that GPP can be related to the environmental support across countries when one can be a donor, and another one – a recipient. A country that has higher financial and institutional capacity to develop GPP can increase its green public spending allowing a country that has lower financial and institutional capacity to develop GPP to benefit from the green demand of the partner country. Donors are in the position to set the standards and quality control that allows to diminish or even avoid greenwashing and, at the same time, propagate the corresponding ecological standards to the recipient. By getting accepted, the environmental criteria system could uniform the rules for companies in all participating countries facilitating their access to the markets and diminish the environmental degradation. This approach could be considered for the collaboration of EU and MENA countries in order to strengthen the environmental policies in the latter and establish a first step towards the harmonisation of green policy approaches.

7. What is your top-recommendation for South Med officials ?

First of all, we recommend the wide implementation of GPP as an efficient approach to environmental policy design. Despite being a voluntary tool, it can motivate firms to opt for green technologies even when the only incentive is originated from the government. The effect can be amplified by taking into account the consumers eco-biased demand that, in its turn, can be boosted by the corresponding public policy. At the same time, GPP is not risk-free: the absence of public monitoring can diminish the positive effect of the policy approach allowing firms to greenwash, or cheat on the environmental quality of their products. Accordingly, a corresponding monitoring policy is required.

Second main recommendation is to opt for the long-term environmental policy harmonisation even across countries with different level of economic and institutional capacity to introduce symmetric policy instruments.

The coordination of environmental policies is of particular importance for the South Mediterranean countries in view of meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (the UN, 2015), as well as for two following reasons. First, a relatively low share of intra-regional trade with the EU which is expected to increase due to the current policy agenda of the Euro-Mediterranean trade partnership. Thus, further trade liberalisation will increase the opportunities for cross-region cooperation and an environmental policies harmonisation could be key to avoid the above mentioned “pollution haven effect”. Second, the decline in economic growth in the MENA region that could potentially be partially restored with the contribution of a deeper trade integration. At the same time the environmental degradation increase that might correspond to economic growth can be mitigated by the environmental policies coordination.

Interview by Constantin Tsakas

This activity received financial support from the European Union through the FEMISE project on “Support to Economic Research, studies and dialogues of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership”. Any views expressed are the sole responsibility of the speakers.

World Innovation and Creativity day : FEMISE takes a stand

On world creativity and innovation day, celebrated on April 21st, FEMISE and its researchers’ network gave our editorial committee some insights and analysis on the Mediterranean innovation context

Six days after Leonardo Da Vinci’s birthday was the date chosen by the United Nations to celebrate innovation and creativity in the world. A very symbolic choice, as he was a man of universal spirit, an inventor, an engineer as well as an architect and a painter. De Vinci stands for what the United Nations expect for this international day « To encourage creative multidisciplinary thinking to help us achieve the sustainable future we want ». It is this sustainable future that FEMISE and its network of researchers aim at sketching through their work.

The think tank worked at clearing the field of Mediterranean innovation. Researchers first pictured a portrait of the situation, before making suggestions for developing this sector, « which could represent a hope for the future, to solve daily problems », according to CrowdSolving Yomken’s Tamer Taha.

A future already taking place in fact. All researchers agree to say that the international context, economic competitiveness, and growth partly require innovation. « Innovation is actually the only sustainable way of competing in international markets » states Przemyslaw KOWALSKI (CASE, FEMISE). He adds that « expert competition based on innovation and knowledge provides you with a better prospect of economic development and increasing standards of living ». Meanwhile, the General Manager of OPEE and Kedge Business School professor Maarouf Ramadan says that « the Mediterranean region does not avoid the international questioning on innovation ». He indeed studied the issue a lot, and proposed, with researcher Sonia Ben Slimane, a conceptual framework to achieve efficient and effective National Innovation Systems (NIS). « A lot of potential can be unlocked if Med countries start really looking into what aspects they want to develop » states Maryse LOUIS, (ERF, FEMISE General Manager). She highlights how « as we celebrate the World Innovation and Creativity Day, we are reminded of the challenges that the South med Countries are facing to establish their innovation systems ».

 « Investing in research and innovation systems »

«Most countries in the Middle East and North Africa suffer from the so-called missing middle phenomenon, with just a few middle-sized innovative enterprises » adds Markus LOEWE, German Development Institute. The phenomenon is due to 5 factors, including entrepreneurs that « lack access to capital and informational markets » and a of « lack rule of law » which is the most important factor according to the researcher. Maryse LOUIS (ERF, FEMISE) lists the common challenges to the region: low funding of research and development, unclear laws on the IP, coordination between the different actors, the unfavorable private sector environment for Young entrepreneurs and for research.

Thus, change can be an opportunity for systematic innovation. But how can it be achieved? Dalia Seif (FEMISE and ERF) specifies that under the work produced by FEMISE within the EU-funded TheNextSociety project « we have created a Scoreboard with more than 80 variables to measure the performance of innovation in the South Med countries ». This work « is about looking into more details of the innovation performance in these countries from different aspects: institutional, economic and social to be able to point to the challenges in each country and provide a road-map on how to establish an innovation system in these countries ». 

For Sonia Ben Slimane, « there is a necessity to invest in research and education systems », in order to « promote an innovative and creative culture » the researcher explains. She delivers a set of recommendations, from a bigger conciliation between industries and education and research systems to intellectual property protection, not forgetting to mention the financial issue. Yomken is central to this question. Through what it calls « challenges », the Egyptian platform matches companies, NGOs and industries with « young people with creative and innovative ideas » Yomken founder Tamer Taha points out. The platform is managed from Cairo, in several countries.

« Social innovation is also a way of addressing the needs of societies in a more effective and efficient way » states Katarzyna SIDLO (CASE, FEMISE). Success stories of social innovations in the MENA region include childcare services to allow women to go back to education or to the labor market, as well as initiatives to providing training and work opportunities for refugees.

The financial allocation issue is also addressed by Dr. Jocelyn Ventura from FEMISE. He lists some sectors like aeronautics in Morocco, pharmaceutics in Lebanon and Jordan, and praises a strategy in which « local decision-makers allocate resources in well-identified sectors ». Promoting an innovative, creative and developing environment would allow for the Schumpeterian entrepreneur to become the economic revolutionary, following his theory. “

by the Ecomnews Med editorial team in collaboration with FEMISE

Mediterranean Youth Climate Network, FEMISE and IM conclude a partnership for the Environment and Youth in the Mediterranean

Mediterranean Youth Climate Network (MYCN), FEMISE and Institut de la Méditerranée conclude a strategic partnership in favour of the Environment and Youth in the Mediterranean

Press release – March 22 2019

Mediterranean Youth Climate Network (MYCN), FEMISE and Institut de la Méditerranée conclude a strategic partnership in favour of the Environment and Youth in the Mediterranean

MYCN, Institut de la Méditerranée and FEMISE announce their collaboration in the framework of a strategic partnership. The three institutions are committed actors in their efforts to contribute to inclusive and sustainable development models, to promote environmental and youth-inclusion values at the Mediterranean and international levels. They are aware of the need to pool means in order to act for strengthening the impact and outreach of messages, as well as to enrich knowledge.

The works of the FEMISE think-tank and of Institut de la Méditerranée show that new models are needed in the Mediterranean to bring about economic, social and environmental change and to show the whole society the potential of young Mediterranean people as solution-makers. For its part, MYCN is a Mediterranean Youth Network for Climate, a place conceived for the sharing of ideas and the implementation of concrete actions. It is also a place for the capitalization of the know-how of young people around the Mediterranean, placing them at the forefront of climate action, which is a major priority for the region.

Therefore, this partnership aims to create a multidisciplinary and dynamic virtuous circle in the Mediterranean, allowing for impactful proposals and actions to emerge. It will focus on themes ranging from the fight against Climate Change, Water-related issues and the promotion of Sustainable Development, to Responsible Entrepreneurship dynamics carried by the youth and the role of young people in Research and Innovation. Amongst other things, the partners will deploy their cooperation efforts to:

  • elaborate and develop cooperation projects for young people in the euro-mediterranean region,
  • create, animate and promote a set-up to allow for a Mediterranean ecosystem of young people with environmental impact to emerge,
  • organize joint events and publications and carry out awareness-raising in the countries around the Mediterranean.

For MYCN, FEMISE and Institut de la Méditerranée, it’s not just about talking regarding the youth, but about working with them and including them for inclusive and sustainable solutions in the Mediterranean!

For more information, please contact :

MYCN : Hajar Khamlichi, President, Mediterranean Youth Climate Network, hajarkhamlichi32@gmail.com www.facebook.com/MYCNetwork/      

IM / FEMISE :
Dr. Constantin Tsakas, General Manager of Institut de la Méditerranée, General Secretary of FEMISE c.tsakas@femise.org ++ 33 (0)4 91 31 51 95
www.femise.org

Mediterranean: “Facing an increasing water scarcity is one of the greatest challenges” (repost)

World Water Day is celebrated on March 22nd and this year its theme is “Leave no one behind”. The event is an opportunity for FEMISE and its partners to take stock of the situation in the Mediterranean, where the water problem has become a crucial issue.

Water is a vital resource, yet it is lacking. World Water Day is an opportunity to take stock of the situation and the objectives to be achieved in order to reduce inequalities in terms of access to water. This year, the theme of this World Day is “Leave no one behind”.

“This is an adaptation of the main commitment of the 2030 Sustainable Development Programme: everyone must be able to benefit from the progress made in sustainable development,” states the UN announcement.

At the same time, the organization published an alarming report a few days earlier. The main conclusion is that more than two billion people in the world, representing three out of ten, do not have access to a drinking water distribution infrastructure. In addition, six out of ten are deprived of sanitation facilities.

The Mediterranean hosts 60% of the “water-poor” population

In the Mediterranean countries, the situation is far from idyllic. On the occasion of this World Day, researchers from the FEMISE network and its partners lean on the issue.

“The Mediterranean represents only 7% of the world population and yet it is home to more than 60% of the so-called water-poor population”, a striking information relayed by Céline Dubreuil, Programme Manager at Plan Bleu, one of the Regional Activity Centres of the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP) of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Some 28 million Mediterranean people still do not have access to sanitation, the researcher adds, and 18 million do not have access to drinking water.

“Climate change will have specific consequences,” warns Stephane Pouffary from association Energies 2050. “Urban and demographic constraints will be exacerbated.”

As for Julie Harb, researcher at Université de Montréal and FEMISE, she points out that Mediterranean countries such as Lebanon need to respond to two issues: lack of efficiency and lack of funding.

A critical level regarding water availability

Thus, FEMISE and its partners are also working to provide solutions to the issue. According to Karine Moukaddem, researcher at SciencesPo, Eco-Union and FEMISE, “we must find sustainable, less costly and more effective solutions. This is what the Union for the Mediterranean is trying to do, for example, with its platform for cooperation on water resources”.

For his part, Stéphane Pouffary underlines the importance of an inclusive multi-actor approach, which Energies 2050 supports, to build bridges between different actors in order to duplicate projects and bring out concrete arguments.

As Constantin Tsakas, General Secretary of the FEMISE network, points out, “the water issue is becoming increasingly important” in the region, “the balance between water demand and availability has reached a particularly critical level!

Researchers from the FEMISE network and its partners ensure that new irrigation approaches are to be explored, better waste management and increased awareness efforts are needed. Thus, “solutions must also include a culture of innovation that would create a virtuous circle for more efficient management of water resources, both from the supply and demand side,” concludes Julie Harb.

 

by the Ecomnews Med editorial team in collaboration with FEMISE

Beyond Reform and Development & FEMISE conclude a strategic partnership for Inclusive Development in the Mediterranean

Natalia Menhall, Beyond Reform and Development & Constantin Tsakas, FEMISE

Press release – March 18, 2019

Beyond Reform and Development and FEMISE conclude a strategic partnership for Sustainable and Inclusive Development in the Mediterranean

Beyond Reform and Development and FEMISE announce their collaboration in the framework of a strategic partnership. Both institutions are committed actors that provide policy research, capacity development and advocate reform for inclusive and sustainable development models in the Mediterranean.

The works of the FEMISE think-tank show that new models are needed in the Mediterranean to bring about sustainable development, innovation, social change and inclusive societies. Meanwhile, Beyond Reform and Development aspires to attain participatory governance systems, innovative policies and inclusive civil society across the Middle East and North Africa through creating learning opportunities for people, institutions, and communities. Both actors are renowned for their ability to bridge global knowledge with the Mediterranean and Arab context.

Grounded in decades of experience, this partnership aims to create a multidisciplinary and dynamic virtuous circle in the Mediterranean that is displaying an innovative and distinctive stance, allowing for impactful proposals to emerge.It will focus on themes ranging from sustainable finance and social entrepreneurship to private sector development and innovation.

Amongst other things, the two partners will deploy their cooperation efforts in the euro-mediterranean region to :

  1. Develop actions and projects for Social Impact at the research, policy, dialogue, and capacity building levels.
  2. Foster and advance the development of Social Entrepreneurship frameworks and ecosystems in the region.
  3. organize joint events and publications and carry out awareness-raising campaigns for Social Impact.

For Beyond Reform and Development and FEMISE, great ideas have meaning only when they are matched with great execution!

Stay tuned for our forthcoming actions for Sustainable and Inclusive Development in the Mediterranean!

 

For more information, please contact :

Beyond Reform and Development : Ms Natalia Menhall, Chairwoman, nmenhall@beyondrd.com, www.beyondrd.com

FEMISE :
Dr. Constantin Tsakas, General Manager of Institut de la Méditerranée, General Secretary of FEMISE c.tsakas@femise.org ++ 33 (0)4 91 31 51 95 
www.femise.org

Altafemina, FEMISE and IM conclude a partnership for women in the Mediterranean !

Samah Ben Dhia (Altafemina) and Constantin Tsakas (IM, FEMISE)

Press release – March 8, 2019

Altafemina, FEMISE and Institut de la Méditerranée conclude a strategic partnership for women in the Mediterranean

The three institutions are committed actors in their efforts to contribute to inclusive development models, to advocate values ​​of diversity and solidarity and are aware of the need to pool resources to act for strengthening women’s engagement in the Mediterranean. This is why Altafemina, FEMISE and Institut de la Méditerranée announce today that they decided to collaborate in the framework of a strategic partnership.

The works of the FEMISE think-tank and of Institut de la Méditerranée show that new models are needed in the Mediterranean to bring about social change, to allow young women to have confidence in themselves, to show the whole society the potential of women and to allow growing accustomed to equality of chances. For its part, Altafemina is an exemplary organization whose ambition is to develop a diverse network of professional and social relations, in order to propose strong women dynamics. The activities of Altafemina have a real resonance in the territory of the SUD Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Region and the association aims to extend its model internationally.

Thus, this partnership aims to create a constructive virtuous circle in the Mediterranean that is displaying an innovative and distinctive stance, allowing for strong and meaningful proposals to emerge. It will focus on themes ranging from entrepreneurial dynamics carried by women, to the status of women in research and innovation, in environmental economy, in management bodies or in the media. The partners will deploy their cooperation efforts to, amongst other things:

– develop and implement cooperation projects and capacity building programs for women in the EuroMed region,

– create, animate and enhance a Mediterranean ecosystem of female entrepreneurship to create a favourable environment for women entrepreneurs in the EuroMed region,

– organize joint events and publications and carry out awareness-raising campaigns in countries around the Mediterranean.

For Altafemina, FEMISE and Institut de la Méditerranée, Women’s Day does not stop on March 8, but takes place every day!

All together for strong women dynamics in the Mediterranean!

For more information, please contact :

Altafemina : Ms. Samah Ben Dhia, President, contact@altafemina.com, www.altafemina.com                    

IM / FEMISE :
Dr. Constantin Tsakas, General Manager of Institut de la Méditerranée, General Secretary of FEMISE c.tsakas@femise.org ++ 33 (0)4 91 31 51 95 
www.femise.org

FEMISE MED BRIEF no17 : “Closing the gender gap: policy-making that promotes inclusive Mediterranean societies”

Karine Moukaddem

The FEMISE Policy Brief series MED BRIEF aspires to provide Forward Thinking for the EuroMediterranean region. The briefs contain succinct, policy-oriented analysis of relevant EuroMed issues, presenting the views of FEMISE researchers and collaborators to policy-makers.

The latest FEMISE MED Brief is on ” Closing the gender gap: policy-making that promotes inclusive Mediterranean societies” and is available for download here.

It is also available in Arabic here.

 

Summary : This MED Brief presents some preliminary findings of a recently launched assessment of existing policy measures regarding women empowerment issues in the South Mediterranean region. In order to explain the persistence of numerous gender gaps, I examine the reasons behind the inefficiency of national policies regarding gender equality, by comparing the wanted effects of implemented legal measures with the latest state of play in terms of gender issues in the different countries of the region.
Combatting unconscious biases and policy inefficiency goes through increasing the outreach of female success stories, mentoring, promoting collaboration between stakeholders and embedding women empowerment in public-private partnerships.

The list of FEMISE MED BRIEFS is available here.

The policy brief has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union within the context of the FEMISE program. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of the authors and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union.

New FEMISE Advisory Board !

FEMISE is pleased to announce the launch of its Advisory Board !

The Advisory Board will make valuable contributions towards FEMISE strategy and vision. Members of the Board are key figures in the EU-Med region or outside with well-known achievements and contributions towards shaping the future of the Mediterranean.

Members of the Advisory Board (click on their respective card for a brief bio)