Background In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic brought new challenges in countries already struggling to manage the additional social and economic pressure of hosting refugees and displaced. The lockdown measures put in place in many countries led to closure of businesses and halt of economic activities. Although social support measures were put in...

Rationale   Les Ateliers métropolitains sont une initiative de l'Agence des villes et territoires méditerranéens durables (AViTeM), du Centre pour l'intégration en Méditerranée (CMI) et de l'Agence française de développement (AFD) qui consistent en une série de trois formations immersives et interactives ciblant les praticiens de la...

Il y a 25 ans, les pays de la région méditerranéenne s’engageaient avec force à faire de la Méditerranée un espace commun de paix, de stabilité et de prospérité à travers la déclaration de Barcelone (a). L’anniversaire de cette déclaration doit nous rappeler que les pays riverains de la Grande bleue y affirmaient alors leur volonté de renforcer la...

  Enhancing Mediterranean Integration: Regional Knowledge Series Session 1. Setting the Stage: A New Vision for the Mediterranean   Context   Previous studies on regional integration across the Mediterranean highlighted a large underexploited potential of increasing the trade flow of goods and services, contributing to the economic and social...

The COVID-19 pandemic, and the global lockdown that was put in place to control it, have resulted in the harshest economic crisis since the great depression. The crisis has caused a drastic decline in employment and wages worldwide and threatens to increase the number of people living in poverty for the first time in years. Such effects hit some...

Context   Local economic development (LED) is key to achieve sustainable development goals as well as a pathway to eradicate poverty and increase shared prosperity. Cities in MENA have registered relatively dynamic economic growth and investment rates during the first decade of the century, however, political instability and security threats have...

Context: In the Mediterranean, youth are bearing the brunt of the crises and undergoing exclusion on the economic, social and political levels, with high unemployment and a lack of opportunities to take part in public life. Nevertheless, they represent the Mediterranean region’s best opportunity. A massive investment in human capital is needed, in...

As the Covid-19 virus takes hold of countries all over the world, economies are falling into a deep recession. The recent World Economic Outlook by the World Bank forecasts that Turkey’s GDP is likely to contract by 5 % in 2020. Unlike this, the Minister of Finance and Treasury has recently announced a 0.3 % growth rate in 2020. Governments...

In the context of the UfM #Women4Mediterranean High-Level Conference (November 16 - 20, 2020), and as part of a high-level panel comprised of intergovernmental agencies and Mediterranean think tanks representatives, CMI Manager, Ms. Blanca Moreno-Dodson presented COVID-19 as both an urgent challenge but also an opportunity for the Mediterranean....

Click here to see the full picture.   Context   The recent coronavirus crisis threatens the health, economies and societies of any country, regardless of its level of development. In the countries of the East and South of the Mediterranean the fight against the pandemic is even more complicated. It must be done with limited healthcare and economic...

In the absence of effective therapies and vaccines, North African countries, as elsewhere, have taken comprehensive containment measures to limit the spread of COVID-19 such as closing airports and maritime boundaries, suspension of non-essential activities, and stay-at-home orders.   The first priority was clearly to keep people as healthy...

In this interview, MENA Economic Update authors Ha Nguyen, World Bank Senior Economist for MENA, and Blanca Moreno-Dodson, Director of the Centre for Mediterranean Integration, explain just how trade openness in the region can be significant in achieving inclusiveness and alleviating poverty, and how there is a key opportunity now to move towards...

The SoED provides a comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of environment and development interactions in the Mediterranean region. The aim of the SoED 2020 is to increase awareness and understanding of the state of the Mediterranean, underlying driving forces and impacts, as well as to propose potential responses, while facilitating the...