A direct impact of the Ukraine war was extreme price increases and shortages of food, which hit the southern Mediterranean countries particularly hard. The implications for social justice and inclusion were discussed at this year's annual conference of the Euro-Mediterranean Study Commission (EuroMeSCo) in conjunction with longer-term developments such as reforms of social security systems and the (now accelerated) transformation of the energy market. PRIF was represented at the country conferences in Tunisia by Clara-Auguste Süß in September and in Egypt by Irene Weipert-Fenner in October.
Clara-Auguste Süß also participated as a member of the Youth Lab Board in the fifth “Euromed Young Researchers Forum” in Mollina, Spain, September 16–17, 2022. Under the theme “Bridging the Gap in Euro-Mediterranean Relations: Youth as Drivers of Social Cohesion” and coordinated by IEMED, 24 young researchers, think tankers, and activists from over ten countries addressed topics including social cohesion, digital transformation, and the impact of the war in Ukraine. The program was complemented by training on designing policy recommendations and foresight techniques.
“The forum provided a unique space for exchange, discussion and generating ideas and showed me again how much potential there is in equal cooperation between both shores of the Mediterranean”, says Süß looking back on the event. “Moreover, as an agent of change, youth is rightly at the center of EU policies. Decision-makers should therefore seek to involve young people, their knowledge and experience even more in policy-making.”
EuroMeSCo is an EU-funded network of research institutes in the Euro-Mediterranean region, of which PRIF is a member.