BUSINESSMED, with its expertise on the promotion of social dialogue, partnered with the Union for the Mediterranean UfM to improve the involvement of Social Dialogue when addressing the challenges that labour markets face in the Mediterranean region. In this framework, along with ETF and GIZ, they co-organized an open dialogue event in order to address the increasing skills challenge in the Mediterranean region through Social Dialogue practices.

The “UfM-Regional dialogue: enhancing skills for better employability” was held online on July 8, 2021, and gathered social partners, international organizations, institutional partners, and cooperation agencies to discuss specific challenges related to skills mismatch at the national and regional level and the solutions that social dialogue offers to respond to them.

“As BUSINESSMED President, I welcome that all Euro Mediterranean stakeholders are present today for this regional dialogue, as without an inclusive Social Dialogue, there will not be an inclusive recovery for our future generation…This year, not only has marked the 10th anniversary of the Arab Spring, the 25th anniversary of Barcelona process, but also it is our second year fighting the global pandemic. It is a great moment to take stock of the advancement and role that social dialogue has played and will play in the upcoming recovery and future” declared the president of BUSINESSMED during her opening speech.

She also added: "While we are looking at reshaping our world, we also need to ensure that more vulnerable populations are not cut out from this restructuring. Informal Economy makes up 25 % of all employment in Europe and nearly 86 % in Africa. Targeted reskilling initiatives could focus on technological, and social and emotional skills. Investing in reskilling & upskilling is crucial for a transition to a greener, digitalised business model & navigate the work future" … “It is important to reiterate that Social Dialogue is the key for our societies and economies to adapt to the current changing environment. We need to continue to let our work in defining a new more inclusive and sustainable business model for the recovery be guided by social dialogue and the Sustainable Development Goals to reach the UN 2030 Agenda.”

Intervening during 1st Panel on Social dialogue as driver of change, the vice president of BUSINESSMED, Mister Tarek Tawfik stated: “For social dialogue to come up with impactful solutions, every stakeholder in the tripartite and later on quadripartite process should be empowered to design policies and action plans that are likely to impulse drastic changes. Not only should Business Support Organizations proactively take more responsibility and ownership in the delivery learning and training programs and play a unique role in identifying and communicating short term and future job trends and related skills demands from markets, but they should also be dealt with as references in supporting the development of labour market standards and certifications”…”For social dialogue to come up with impactful solutions, every stakeholder in the tripartite and later on quadripartite process should be empowered to design policies and action plans that are likely to impulse drastic changes.”

The event was also a perfect occasion to present the second phase of SOLID, a project working on promoting social dialogue among the Mediterranean region. This new phase is adding 3 new target countries (Algeria, Palestine & Lebanon) and BUSINESSMED will once again play its role as of the voice of Mediterranean Business organisations in the region. The kick of seminar of SOLID second phase will take place in Tunisia and online on 29 and 30 of September 2021.