World Youth Forum: More than 90 young people discussed employment and climate action initiatives at the first Model UfM

The third edition of the World Youth Forum in Egypt, which gathered more than 7000 participants, hosted on 16 December the first-ever Model Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), where over 90 young people of 43 different nationalities from around the globe exchanged views and recommended initiatives to decision-makers and influential figures. The event was attended by a wide range of participants that debated key topics for their generation around the globe namely employment and climate change, in a simulation of UfM Ministerial Conferences.

The UfM collaborated with the World Youth Forum, and interacted with key actors on youth, with the aim of promoting the role of young people in societies in the Euro-Mediterranean region, as well as to complement the ongoing process to develop the UfM Youth Strategy.

In their Declaration on Environment and Climate Change, the youth delegates voiced the need of better regional cooperation and integration to tackle climate change by providing opportunities for the development of a circular economic model as well as blue and green financing. In the Declaration on Employment and Labour, youth delegates stressed the urgent need to create jobs for women and youth, foster entrepreneurship and develop cross-border projects in the Mediterranean, in order to equip youth with the future skills that will be required in the time of technological innovation and a rapidly changing job market.