The Diplomat
Spain will allocate 500,000 euros to finance the new hub for Employment, Trade and Investment of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), a Spanish-German project presented last May in Marrakech and whose details were announced during the last Regional Forum in Barcelona.
In response to a written parliamentary question from the Popular Group in Congress, the Government stated on February 10 that the multi-donor program, managed by the UfM Secretariat, has an initial amount of two million euros, of which the Agency for International Cooperation of the Federal Republic of Germany (GIZ) will contribute 1.5 million euros and the rest, 500,000 euros, will be provided by the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation for Development (AECID).
This hub, according to the Government, will allocate the funds to subsidize projects for the promotion of employment, based on proposals from civil society organizations in the region linked to the economy and the so-called “green employment”. Priority will be given in the calls for proposals to initiatives that contribute to improving the living conditions of young people and women in the region. The 500,000 euros from Spain correspond to the part of the AECID budget managed by the Department of Cooperation with the Arab World and Asia of the Directorate of Cooperation with Africa and Asia.
The Spanish-German initiative was presented last May during the fifth Union for the Mediterranean Ministerial Meeting on Employment and Labor, held on May 17 and 18 in Marrakech (Morocco). The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, addressed this proposal during the 4th Regional Forum of the UfM, held on November 24 in Barcelona, where he announced that Spain would contribute 500,000 euros to help companies in the region to create jobs.
