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Countries of Southern and Northern Mediterranean.
The Center for Mediterranean Integration in partnership with AFD, Agence des Villes et Territoires Méditerranéens Durables (Avitem), CDC, Cities Alliance, CODATU, GIZ, EIB, MedCities, World Bank, United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), UCLG-MEWA.
The MENA region is facing demographic pressure and rapid urbanization: while the region is currently 60% urbanized, it will experience a projected 45% increase of its urban population by 2030 (equal to 106 million additional urban inhabitants). Concentrating populations and resources, cities in MENA have represented powerful engines of growth. Yet the urbanization process has also contributed to concentrating and exacerbating socio-economic inequalities within growing urban territories, between larger and smaller cities, and between cities and their hinterlands. Generated and anchored in Arab cities, the Arab Spring uprisings well illustrated the growing demands for sustainable and good quality urban services for all, especially from populations living in areas with poorer amenities. Those demands included calls for greater decentralization, accountability mechanisms, and giving a voice to those who have traditionally been voiceless.
The work program is structured around two pillars:
Territorial cohesion – Urban joint activities
Encouraging cooperation among existing urban programs