On 19-20 October, EuroMeSCo held the fourth country event of the Annual Conference in Cairo, Egypt. Labelled as “Towards more social justice and inclusiveness in the Mediterranean – Egypt Country Event”, it provided a platform for researchers, civil society, international organisation and EU representatives for further discussion on the implementation of the New Agenda for the Mediterranean, focusing on the theme of Social Justice and Inclusiveness.

This event in Cairo, co-organised with the Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies (ACPSS), was attended by members of staff of the EU Delegation to Egypt, representatives of the World Bank, government officials, researchers, and experts. It tackled human development and sustainable development, with a look at Egypt and the whole MENA region.

“We think the concept of social justice is an important one. Social justice remains a key concern and expectations of citizens around the region. Today, we will be looking in particular into how to address vulnerabilities and how to mainstream this concept of inclusiveness in the public policy reforms that are on the table in Egypt.” Ambassador Senén Florensa, Executive President of IEMed.

The first plenary session focused on the strategic topic of social protection programmes as a key pillar of inclusion. It looked into social justice for the most vulnerable groups.

“It is important to take youth into consideration as one key vulnerable group”. Farah Al Shami, Research Fellow at Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)

A second plenary session offered insights on sustainable environmental policies and stressed the need for an inclusive approach putting people at the centre.

The conference closed with a working session to present the two EuroMeSCo Papers: “Green Recovery and Balancing Between Paradoxes in Egypt: Towards fulfilling Social Justice & Food Security & Overcoming Socio- Economic and Environmental Challenges” authored by Aya Badr. Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo Universitya, and “The Hydrogen Economy as a Vector of Economic Growth, Social Inclusion and Climate-Sustainable Development in Egypt and the EU.”, presented by Yana Popkostova. Associate Analyst – Environmental Security, European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS).

The event report and the Papers will be published soon on our site. Stay tuned to the latest news by following us on Twitter!