VIII MEETING OF THE MEDITERRANEAN CITIZENS’ ASSEMBLY FOUNDATION (MCAF) IN BARCELONA
NOVEMBER 7-10, 2019
IEMed – Institut Europeu de la Mediterrània (c / Girona nº 20, Barcelona)
Opening session: 8.11.2019
9:30 AM IEMed Assembly Hall
THE MCA FOUNDATION ORGANIZES A GREAT INTERNATIONAL MEETING ON YOUTH IN THE MEDITERRANEAN
– The meeting aims to put at the center of the international political agenda the situation of millions of young people in the Mediterranean
– The proposals of this event in which about twenty Mediterranean countries participate will be widely disseminated among the main Euro-Mediterranean institutions
The MCA Foundation celebrates its VIII Meeting ‘Youth in the Mediterranean’ raising a great interdisciplinary debate on the situation of the different Mediterranean countries. Young people, specialists, public institutions and civil society meet in Barcelona with the firm purpose of analyzing, diagnosing and proposing dynamics among all the peoples of the Mediterranean. The objective: to generate proposals to improve the current situation of young people and build an equitable, sustainable and inclusive reality.
More than 123 participants from 18 Mediterranean countries will participate in this event, to be held at the headquarters of the Institut Europeu de la Mediterrània (IEMed) organized in different discussion groups in the format of agora. Issues such as culture and identity; economy, mobility and climate change; empowerment and citizenship; and new technologies and democracy in the Mediterranean will be aproached.
“Without the youngs the peoples of the Mediterranean do not have future and that future must be solidary. The shipwrecks in Mediterranean tell us every day. It is time to launch a large civil movement to encourage political institutions to put the issue of young people of the Mediterranean in the center of their agendas and urgently” says the president of the MCA Foundation, the former MEP, Vicent Garcés.
The analysis of the current situation of war and instability crossed by diferent Mediterranean countries and the role of youth has the presence of prominent figures such as the Syrian Franc political scientist Salam Kawakibi; the specialist in International Relations, Aylin Ünver Noi de Turquía; Virginie Lafèvre, head of Lebanese AMEL projects, overthrown in the work of refugee people inclussion; the Algerian activist for the Human Rights Djamila Hamitou; the president of the International Center for Peace in Sarajevo (Bosnia), Ibrahim Spahic; the analyst in the Middle East, Moussa Bourekba, from CIDOB; the president of the Center for International Studies of the Mediterranean, Tunisian Ahmed Driss; the Moroccan feminist activist, Touria El Oumri, among others. The philosopher Edgar Morin, honorary member of the MCA Foundation expressly addressed for the meeting a meesage to the youth in Mediterranean.
The average age of the participants is 34 years old with the presence of representatives of the youth association of the 18 countries represented in the Mediterranean basin, as well as students or young leaders within their local communities. In Catalonia, the Catalan Youth Observatory or the National Youth Council of Catalonia, among others, participate.
The presence of Euro-Mediterranean institutions is especially remarkable. In this way, Josep Ferré, General Director of the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEmed), host institution of the meeting, will speak in the opening session; Alfonso Gonzalez Bondia, General Director of European and Mediterranean Affairs of Generalitat de Catalunya; Antoni Ribes, Coordinator of the Department for Youth of the City Council of Barcelona; Italian Deputy, Yana ChiaraEhm, Vice President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) and Chair of the PAM Committee for Dialogue between Civilizations and HH.RR. and the French deputy, Sandrine Mörch, PAM Rapporteur for HH.RR.; the General Secretary of the Network of Mediterranean Cities (Medcités) Josep Canals; Mª Helena De Felipe Lethonen, President of the Euromed Committee of the European Economic and Social Council (EESC); Jean-François Barnier, Mayor of Chambon-Feugerolles (France), Vice-President of the Regional and Local Euro-Mediterranean Assembly (ARLEM).
This is the VIII Mediterranean Meeting organized by the MCA Foundation. Past editions were held in Valencia (2010), Tunisia (2011), Volos (2012), Istanbul (2013), Marseille (2014), Tirana (2015) and Casablanca (2017) always focusing on the MCAF principles and values as a network that promotes dialogue, the proposal and citizen action. The MCA Foundation promotes the democratic values of freedom, peace and respect for diversity, as well as environmental responsibility in the Mediterranean.
The MCAF is committed to the emergence of a Mediterranean community of peoples. This edition has the support of Barcelona City Council, Generalitat de Catalunya, Institut Europeu de la Mediterrània (IEMed) and Fondation Charles Leopold Mayer pour le Progres de l’Homme (FPH).
The meeting ‘Youth in Mediterranean’ to be held in Barcelona is one of the activities that were carried out in the framework of the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Barcelona Declaration, signed in 1995 with the aim of creating a Mediterranean region in peace, security and shared development. This commemoration will serve to mark the Mediterranean agenda for the coming years to claim the role of cities as international actors of dialogue, cooperation, social cohesion and coexistence in diversity.
CONTACTS FOR INTERVIEWS OR GRAPHIC COVERAGE: Fundación ACM | tel: 00 34 610 137 972
