- Joves, especialistes, institucions públiques i societat civil es reuneixen a Barcelona amb el propòsit d’analitzar, diagnosticar i proposar dinàmiques entre tots els pobles del Mediterrani. L’objectiu és generar propostes per millorar la situació actual dels joves i construir una realitat equitativa, sostenible i inclusiva. ⇒ Departament d’Acció Exterior, Relacions Institucionals i Transparència Generalitat de Catalunya (8.11.2019)
- Hablamos con Vicent Garcés del Encuentro sobre Jóvenes del Mediterráneo impulsado por la Fundación Asamblea de Ciudadanos y Ciudadanas del Mediterráneo ⇒ Programa Mediterráneo de Radio Televisión Española (10.11.2019)
- VIII susret Fondacije Skupštine građana i građanki Mediterana (FACM) održanom od 7. do 11. novembra posvećenog mladima, kulturi, obrazovanju, ekonomiji, mobilnosti, klimatskim promjenama i građanstvu Mediterana, novim tehnologijama i demokraciji učestvovala je i delegacija Sarajevskog kruga FACM (VIII Encuentro de la FACM que se celebró en Barcelona del 7 al 10 de noviembre y dedicado a la juventud, la cultura, la educación ,la economía, la movilidad y en el que participó la delegación del círculo ACM de Sarajevo) ⇒ Hayat.ba Bosnia and Herzegovina (11.10.2019)
- L’incontro raduno a Barcellona. L’Europa e i diritti dei giovanni di Mediterraneo. La altra voce de l’Italia. Gianluca Palma (18.11.2019)
- French philosopher Edgar Morin addresses the Mediterranean youth. Alliance-respons.NET (20.11.2019)
- Les inquietuds de la joventut del Mediterrani, amb Vicent Garcés, ha centrat la taula d’anàlisi internacional. À Punt NTC Nit (21.11.2019)
- Creating bonds and networks that stretch across “Mare Nostrum”
A young participant at the 8. MCA Meeting relates his experience. Odysseas Xenos, Alliance-respons.net (21.11.2019)
8 MCAF Meeting “Youth in Mediterranean” in the media
Euro-Mediterranean institutions at the 8. MCA Foundation meeting (photogallery)
Euro-Mediterranean institutions support and attendance to the 8. MCA Foundation meeting is especially remarkable. In this way, Josep Ferré, General Director of the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEmed), host institution of the meeting, opened the event ; 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.; 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), among others.
MCA Foundation Advisory Council Statement on the occasion of the 8th MCAF meeting
The MCA Foundation Advisory Council states that:
- The Israeli-Palestinian conflict persists, maintaining its destabilizing effects in the region;
- Terrorist actions continue, with more and more victims;
- Migration flows, linked to economic and climatic reasons and the need to escape current conflicts, are increasing;
- Global warming is growing in the Mediterranean, about 20% faster than the global average, endangering marine and terrestrial ecosystems, food and water resources, sustainable economic development, health and human security without sufficient measures to curb this trend is taken;
MCAF ADVISORY COUNCIL STATEMENT - BARCELONA 8 MCAF MEETING
The political and social situation is deteriorating and producing popular uprisings, supported mainly by young people, resulting from the difficulties of daily life, the lack of freedom and social justice, which lead to questioning the political systems. The Council also notes the return of authoritarianism more and more removed from democratic values and expresses its great concern at these degradations.
Lebanon is rebelling against an unjust system and a corrupt political class. Algeria does not succeed in satisfying the popular demands that for several months have been expressed. Tunisia has democratically elected a new president of the republic supported by youth, the fight against corruption and the need for jobs. However, the unknowns related to the magnitude of the challenge fears disturbing disappointments for the future. France, Italy and Spain are also experiencing protest movements in the established political and economic systems.
The hopes of the 2011 uprisings in Libya and Syria have turned into wars; in Egypt the dictatorship is back. The Advisory Council concerns on the current situation in Turkey and Syria and the latest military movements in the area. The Advisory Council condemns the armed conflicts taking place in the Mediterranean region.
In addition, outlying conflicts have negative repercussions for the peace and the stability in the region. These are mainly Iraq and its internal clashes, Iran-Saudi Arabia antagonism and finally the Sahel, source of trafficking of all kinds and terrorism.
Facing this situation, which is still plus more degraded, the Advisory Council strongly shows its concern, especially as the various institutional approaches launched in the Mediterranean área seem to stagnate: the Barcelona Process, the European Neighborhood Policy and the Union for the Mediterranean.
The Advisory Council invites citizens’ circles to continue their activities in order to improve the conditions for peace, social justice and the dignity of peoples. In addition, the Council is addressing the decision makers with representation mandates to provide real answers to all these questions.
The Advisory Council is convinced that Mediterranean youth is working to find peaceful and democratic solutions to the problems affecting the region. It addresses the MCAF so that it develops its axes of reflection and its actions to contribute to the emergence of a true Mediterranean citizen conscience.
Barcelona, November 9, 2019.
STATEMENT OF YOUNG PARTICIPANTS IN THE 8th MCA FOUNDATION MEETING
We, young citizens from the Mediterranean region, participants at the MCA Foundation VIII Meeting, declare that we are responsible to build our future, with other generations, who will inspire and support us. It is our duty but also our right. There is an emergency: we want and we have to do politics in another way in order to build more just societies.
Our lack of trust is growing and gaps as well, between rich and poor, leaders and citizens. Our future has to be built inclusively and be based on universal values including solidarity, dignity, for all, with a particular focus on women and environment.
Within this framework, youths, who are interconnected, notably through social media and their linkages with diaspora, who are taking initiatives, want to have, to find and to create development opportunities, fostering new approaches such as fair trade and social economy.
The current systems have to be revised and focused on social justice, with equity measures, particularly when it comes to education and employment. We want our mobility, internally and regionally, to become a right and a universal reality. We do not want walls and fortresses, we want solidarity among all of us, persons in situations of exile and local populations contributing to the sustainable development of our region.
When youths getting involved into social movements and revolutions, while they are legitimately protesting against inequalities, in our region and all over the world, we call upon all Mediterranean citizens to support us with solidarity and understanding. It is the sum of our local mobilizations which will bring, in our region, the necessary changes, at the global political, economic and environmental levels.
Finally, we urge the Mediterranean citizens, coming from a region where multiple civilizations were born, to join us. We want to make possible another Mediterranean region based on dignity, humanity and solidarity.
We encourage the MCA Foundation to continue its commitment to Mediterranean citizenship through a network of dialogues, proposals and actions that accompany the drivers of change represented by the youth in Mediterranean.
Barcelona, November 9, 2019.
Youth in Mediterranan (photogallery)
The role that young participants have developed during all these days in the VIII MCAF Meeting ‘Youth in Mediterranean’ has been essential. Their voices, coming from all over Mediterranean reflecting diferent realities, have been heard with respect and gratitude. Their proposals and contributions exposed in the 4 agoras will be reflected in the Memory that we are preparing. While, here is picture gallery as a thankfulness. MCA Foundation thanks you for your participation. Youngsters have taken the word and action.
Photo: Esther Roig Belloch
MCA FOUNDATION ORGANIZES A GREAT INTERNATIONAL MEETING ON YOUTH IN THE MEDITERRANEAN
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
Program VIII MCA Foundation Meeting
YOUTH IN THE MEDITERRANEAN
1. ABOUT THE VIII MEETING
2. THE AGORAS
3. PROGRAM
4. SPONSORS AND COLLABORATORS
Summary of the activities of the 7th Mostra viva del Mediterrani. October 2019.
Summary of the activities of the 7th Mostra viva del Mediterrani. October 2019.
VIII Meeting MCAF : “Youth in Mediterranean”
All ready for the VIII Meeting of the ACM Foundation “YOUTH IN MEDITERRANEAN” that will gather between November 7 – 10 in Barcelona more than 120 participants from 26 ACM Circles constituted in 18 Mediterranean countries: Albania, Algeria, Belgium, Bosnia , Cyprus, Croatia, Egypt, Spain, France, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Morocco, Montenegro, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey.
The ACM circles participants are: Alexandria, Aleppo, Algiers, Barcelona, Beirut, Cairo, Casablanca, Istanbul, Izmir, Larache, Marseille, Nador, Nicosia, Nice, Naples, Oran, Podgorica, Rabat, Ramallah, Rome, Sarajevo, Thessaly, Tirana, Tunisia, Valencia and Zagreb.
The VIII MCAF Meeting proposes a great debate in freedom, open to young people from all over the Mediterranean, to public institutions, to civil society and experts, without distinction of origin, creed, culture or legal status, to capture the situation of youth in the Mediterranean countries and offer proposals to overcome the situation. The MCA Foundation promotes a community of the peoples of the Mediterranean that extends its hand to its future, its youth.
“The “citizen diplomacy” as a factor of peace and understanding among the Mediterranean peoples. It is time to launch a great civil movement to encourage political institutions to put the issue of youth in the Mediterranean at the center of their agendas and urgently. Only in this way will we advance in social justice by opening a future for youth, nowadays without horizons of progress”, has said MCAF Foundation president, Vicent Garcés.
Distributed in discussion groups in the form of agora, participants will address issues such as culture and identity; economy, mobility and climate change; empowerment and citizenship; and new technologies and democracy in the Mediterranean.
In addition to young people from the entire Mediterranean basin, experts and institutions and organisatios of reference have been invited to gather the VIII MCAF Meeting : the Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly (APM), the Generalitat de Catalunya, the City Council of Barcelona, the Institut Europeu de la Mediterrània (IEMED), the European Economic and Social Council (EESC), the Euro-Mediterranean Local and Regional Assembly, the Institut européen de recherche sur la coopération méditerranéenne et euro-arabe (MEDEA) the International Documentation Center from Barcelona (CIDOB), the Catalan Youth Agency, the Spanish Refugee Assistance Committee (CEAR), MedCités (Mediterranean Cities Network), the Spanish Network of the Anna Lindh Foundation, among others. As experts, a broad representation of the MCA Foundation Advisory Board , including the message to the youth by the honorary member of the same, the philosopher Edgar Morin.
This great meeting is supported by Barcelona City Council; the Generalitat of Catalunya; the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMED) and Fondation Charles Léopold Meyer pour le Progrés de l’Homme (FPH).