Dimitris DIMITRIADIS. REX President, European Economic and Social Committee – EESC

Amb. Senén FLORENSA. Executive President of the European Institute of the Mediterranean – IEMed

Henrike TRAUTMANN. Acting Director, Neighbourhood South and Turkey, Directorate-Genera for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, DG NEAR, European Commission

Katarina IVANKOVIC-KNEZEVIC. Director, Social Rights and Inclusion, Directorate General Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion – DG EMPL D, European Commission

Presentation of takeaways from the Country Events.

Moderation: Roger ALBINYANA. Managing Director, European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed).

Speakers:

Morocco. Hamza SAOUDI (Policy Center for the New South – PCNS):
Youth and women’s inclusion in the labour market: challenges and opportunities for the Mediterranean region

Jordan. Majd AL NABER (West Asia North Africa Institute – WANA):
Interlinkages between social justice and sustainable development

Tunisia. Zied BOUSSEN (Arab Reform Initiative – ARI):
Addressing vulnerabilities, mainstreaming inclusiveness in public policy reforms

Egypt. Rabha ALLAM (Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies – ACPSS):
Towards more Social Justice and Inclusiveness in Egypt

Policy perspectives from the European Commission, the European External Action Service and the Union for the Mediterranean:

Abdelkader EL KHISSASSI. Deputy Secretary General,  Economic Development and Employment, Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean – UfM.

Ingrid SCHWAIGER. Director, Social Rights and Inclusion, Directorate General Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion DG EMPL D, European Commission.

Beatriz SALVADOR GARCIA. Deputy Head of Division, Regional Affairs, Middle East and North Africa, European External Action Service.

Promoting more inclusive and fair societies not only requires improving the situation of specific groups, but also acting against the impunity of others and establishing strong accountability mechanisms. Corruption is a major cause of the lack of trust of citizens in their system. It deprives the economy of major resources that could be used for the benefit of all and in some countries, it largely explains the shortcomings of public services. In its New Agenda for the Mediterranean, the EU renewed its commitment to the rule of law, democracy and good governance as the bedrock for stable fair, inclusive and prosperous societies. The promotion of modern, efficient and accountable public institutions and policies and the fight against corruption are key priorities for the Euro-Mediterranean partnership. These multistakeholder dialogue platforms will analyse anti-corruption policies, accountability mechanisms and public administration reforms to boost predictability, transparency, and accountability.

The Business Platform will look into the opportunities private sector cooperation offers to promote business integrity and transparency.

Moderation: Emmanuel COHEN-HADRIA. Director of the Euro-Mediterranean Policies Department, EuroMeSCo, European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed).

Setting the Scene:

Alain BIFANI. Founding president, Lebanese Citizen Foundation.

Aymen BELGACEM. Economist, International Monetary Fund.* Informality, Development and the Business Cycle in North Africa. Takeaways from an IMF recent publication.

Testimonials:

Ahmed BASTAWY. Managing Director, ICEALEX

Jihen BOUTIBA. Director General, BUSINESSMED

Arkan EL-SEBLANI. Chief Technical Advisor, UNDP Arab States

Hussam HAWWA. Chief Executive Officer, Difaf Sal

Diane PALLEZ. Policy Analyst, Anti-corruption, Middle East and Africa Division, Global Relations Secretariat, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Debate

The Civil Society Platform will explore the role of civil society in monitoring the implementation of reforms and in ensuring better service delivery, accountability and transparency.

Moderation: Jenny GILBERT. Project Manager, EuroMeSCo, Euro-Mediterranean Policies Department, European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed).

Setting the Scene:

Carole ALSHARABATI. Founder and Member, Sakker El Dekkene.

Testimonials:

Achref AOUADI. Founder and former President, iWatch

Karim BELHAJ AISSA. Regional Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, UNCAC Coalition

Abdelaziz NOUAYDI. Secretary General, Transparency Maroc

Shereen TALAAT. Co-Director MENA, Arab Watch Coalition (AWC)

Lora UJKAJ. Policy Officer, Rule of Law, Governance and Security, Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Operations, DG NEAR A2, European Commission

Debate