Within the framework of the SOLiD II Project for the promotion of social dialogue in the southern Mediterranean, BUSINESSMED, in cooperation with the Arab Trade Union Confederation (ATUC) and the Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND), organized the first regional seminar on "The role of local communities and professional associations in the promotion of social dialogue" in Beirut, Lebanon on 3 and 4 October 2022. The aim of the event was to address from this target's point of view the most important economic and social challenges to achieve sustainable development in the light of social changes in the southern Mediterranean countries.

Representatives of municipalities, professional associations and economic and social councils from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan participated in this activity to support the important role played by these parties in promoting and facilitating the social negotiation process. 

This meeting was also an opportunity to work in groups between the different parties, to strengthen the partnership and exchange experiences between them in order to develop and institutionalize the path of social dialogue in the region and to collect their proposals on the priority issues to be included in the project's results.

Several recommendations were discussed during this workshop in order to develop the social dialogue pathway in the target countries and the involvement of all local partners is essential to ensure the translation of these recommendations into national action plans that respond to economic and social challenges. These meetings and the joint work between all social partners will continue within the framework of the SOLiD project in order to continue the rapprochement and agreement on a series of priorities between all parties to ensure the strengthening of social dialogue practices and institutions in the southern Mediterranean countries.