This regional seminar was held in Tunis on September 29 and 30, 2021 both online and on-site with the main objective of publicly engaging key partners involved in the social dialogue process in the Mediterranean region and launching phase 2 of the project, which involves three new countries. The outline of this four-year program, its objectives and expected results were also presented.
Supported by the European Commission and led by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the Union of Mediterranean Confederations of Enterprises (BUSINESSMED), the Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND) and the Arab Trade Union Confederation (ATUC), The SOLiD project in its phase II gathered for its launching seminar more than 120 participants and experts on site and 48 online participants representing about fifty social organizations in 6 southern Mediterranean countries: Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.
This second phase is a continuation of the SOLiD I project implemented from 2016 to 2019, whose general objective was the promotion social dialogue in the southern Mediterranean via a structured dialogue involving various institutions in the South such as socio-professional organizations, trade unions and employers' organizations as well as NGOs, economic and social councils, and representatives of local elected authorities.
During its first phase, this project has developed a Charter that describes the socio-economic contexts in the first 3 target countries (Morocco, Tunisia, and Jordan) and specifies the priorities, objectives, and commitments that the social actors in these countries are willing to take in order to promote social dialogue at the national and regional levels.
The second phase will develop a set of field activities and actions, with the development of training workshops, mapping studies and networking initiatives that are likely to promote an exchange of experience and develop a progressive synergy between the various social actors in the southern Mediterranean for the promotion of social dialogue.
The kick-off seminar was inaugurated by Henrike TRAUTMANN, Acting Director, Directorate General for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR, European Commission), Abdelkader EL KHISSASSI, Deputy Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) and Mamadou DIALLO, Deputy Secretary General of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).
Sharan BURROW, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Luca VISENTINI, General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and Barbara BELTRAME GIACOMELLO, President of the Union of Mediterranean Confederations of Enterprises (BUSINESSMED) addressed to the participants a message of support and encouragement.
