MADRID, 27 October 2022 - The back-to-back 5th UfM Ministerial on Strengthening the Role of Women in Society and UfM High-Level Conference on Women for the Mediterranean 2022 took place in Madrid.

The Ministerial Meeting under the Co-Presidency of the European Union and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan led to the adoption of a Ministerial Declaration on strengthening the Role of Women in Society in the Mediterranean Region. The High-Level Conference provided national, regional, and international stakeholders with a platform to discuss best practices and lessons learned on advancing women’s empowerment and women’s rights in a regional crisis (health, water, food, and energy security) context. it contributed to the shaping of the regional agenda towards an effective and inclusive gender equality policy. The High-level conference also served to support the implementation of the Ministerial Declaration.

"Promoting women’s economic empowerment, entrepreneurship, and leadership lies at the core of UNIDO’s contribution to achieving the SDGs. (…) Addressing the barriers to their economic participation (…) has become a matter of urgency", declared Fatou Haidara, Managing Director at the Directorate of Global Partnerships and External Relations, during the Ministerial Tour de Table. Moreover, at a Round Table on women’s economic empowerment, she cited “Promoting Women’s Empowerment (PWE) for ISID in the MENA region”, LevelUp to advance Jordanian Industries, and the Rabeha project to boost women’s economic participation in Egypt, as flagship examples of relevant UNIDO programmes in the region.

Further contributions were made by Neila Amara, International Project Management Expert, on a panel on the enabling conditions for a successful female entrepreneurship: “Many women in the MENA region need female entrepreneurial role models. They need people (…) that tell them “Look I made it, so you can make it yourself”. (…) That is why we’re soon going to launch (in the framework of the PWE project) a communication campaign to promote the inclusion of women in industries”.

Speaking on gender-responsive financing, Bettina Schreck of the UNIDO Office of Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women noted, “We need to focus on mainstreaming (…) Every time you come up with the commissioning of a large infrastructure project, you’ll analyze the environmental and social impact. Gender should be a common dimension“, presenting the Global Cleanteach Innovation Programme (GCIP), as an example of a UNIDO initiative on mobilizing climate finance.

For further information, please contact:

Bashir Conde

Project Manager, Public and Private Partnerships (PPP) Division, UNIDO

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