Conference

Closing Event EuroMeSCo Annual Conference – Brussels

30 November 2022

European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)

The Annual Conference Closing Event will take place in Brussels on 30 November. The event is hosted by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC).

The Closing Event will serve as a wrap-up for the four previous Country Events of the Annual Conference, which took place in Morocco, Jordan, Tunisia and Egypt under the umbrella of the EuroMeSCo Annual Conference 2022 “Towards more Social Justice and Inclusiveness in the Mediterranean”.

Agenda

09h00 – 09h20 Opening Session and Welcome Remarks

Dimitris Dimitriadis President of the External Relations Section European Economic and Social Committee – EESC

Senén Florensa Executive President IEMed – The European Institute of the Mediterranean

Henrike Trautmann Acting Director-General Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, DG NEAR, European Commission

Katarina Ivanković Knežević Director, Social Rights and Inclusion, Directorate-General fo Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, DG EMPL, European Commission

09h35–11h00 Plenary Session - Social justice and inclusiveness in the Mediterranean

Moderator: Roger Albinyana Managing Director European Institute of the Mediterranean – IEMed

Presentation of takeaways from country Events

Hamza Saoudi Economist Policy Center for the New South

Majd Al Naber Senior Researcher The West Asia-North Africa (WANA) Institute

Zied Boussen Research Fellow ARI – Arab Reform Initiative

Rabha Allam Expert ACPSS – Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies

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

Abdelkader El Khissassi Deputy Secretary General of Economic Development and Employment Union for the Mediterranean

Ingrid Schwaiger Deputy Head of Unit, Regional Cooperation Neighbourhood South Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, DG NEAR B2, European Commission

Beatriz Salvador Garcia Deputy Head of Division, Regional Affairs Middle East and North Africa, European External Action Service

Q&A

11h00-12h20 Coffee Break

11h20 – 13h00 Multistakeholder Dialogue Platforms (Parallel sessions) Combatting Corruption and Fostering Accountability

Parallel Session 1: Business Platform – Combatting Corruption in the private sector and boosting business integrity

Moderator: Emmanuel Cohen-Hadria Director of the Euro-Mediterranean Policies Department European Institute of the Mediterranean – IEMed

Setting the scene

Alain Bifani Founding President Lebanese Citizen Foundation

Aymen Belgacem Economist International Monetary Fund

Testimonials

Ahmed Bastawy Managing Director ICEALEX

Jihen Boutiba Director General BUSINESSMED

Hussam Hawwa Chief Executive Officer Difaf SAL

Diane Pallez Policy Analyst, Anti-Corruption Middle East and Africa Division, Global Relations Secretariat, OECD

Debate

Parallel Session 2: Civil Society Platform – The role of Civil Society in enhancing accountability and transparency and in fighting corruption

Moderator: Jenny Gilbert EuroMeSCo Programme Manager European Institute of the Mediterranean – IEMed

Setting the scene

Carole Alsharabati Founder and Member Sakker El Sekkene

Testimonials

Achref Aoudi Founder and former President iWatch

Abdelaziz Nouaydi Secretary General Transparency Maroc

Shereen Talaat Co-Director MENA Arab Watch Coalition

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