August 9, 2021

Four civil society organisations from the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean are launching today the “Our Mediterranean” advocacy campaign. Civitas Institute (Gaza), Mashallah News (Lebanon/France), Maydan Association (Italy) and Réseau Euromed France are working together in the EU-funded pilot project that is being spearheaded by Med Dialogue for Rights and Equality in Tunis.

In working toward a common Mediterranean destiny, the campaign aims at countering the narrative of division, showing the richness and diversity of our Mediterranean common roots, ensuring that shared issues are brought up to the regional and institutional agenda, and finally cultivating a united, peaceful, socio-politically and economically just relationship among Mediterranean peoples and beyond.

A vast variety of activities including written and audiovisual stories, research, expertise exchanges and multi-stakeholder debates conducted online and in eight different participating countries (France, Gaza-Palestine, Italy, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Slovenia and the Netherlands) will raise awareness among the general public about a common Mediterranean destiny. They will also provide the building blocks for a road map to consolidate a common north-south vision of Mediterranean future that involves CSOs, citizens and decision-makers.

The advocacy campaign results will be presented to decision-makers at several regional events to be held at the end of the programme, in November 2021 where the partners will highlight the value and the benefits of supporting an agenda and a roadmap championing a common Mediterranean destiny.

The partners are:

• MAYDAN, a transnational non-profit association of Mediterranean citizens including activists, intellectuals, artists, entrepreneurs, researchers and others, engaged in the construction of a Mediterranean citizenship and a common destiny among its peoples;
• CIVITAS, a Gaza-based NGO, launched in 2000 as an initiative of democrats, young community leaders, journalists, activists, human rights and civil society advocates. It sees development & reform as a cornerstone factor & element that can carry out the change and shape a better future for societies through education, training and empowerment, and human rights adherence and respect;
• MASHALLAH NEWS an independent online publishing platform for ‘dis-Oriented’ stories from the Middle East. Its goal is to remap the region one story at a time, sharing a new outlook on life in the cities it covers;
• and REF – Réseau Euromed France, which brings together 36 French civil society organizations engaged in the Mediterranean region. They come from all over the French territory; they act on plural and transversal areas: access to human rights, art and culture, citizenship, gender equality, environment, youth, media, migrations, public policies.

Med Dialogue for Rights and Equality is a 3-year (2019 – 2022) EU-funded Technical Assistance  regional Programme with the overall objective to strengthen the role of CSOs active at the regional  scale, in building sustainable development, regional cohesion and social resilience, as well as in  influencing policy-making in the Southern Neighborhood and the Euro-Mediterranean Space. The Programme recalls the importance of civil society as an agent for change, an essential component for democracy, whose participation in public processes and in policy dialogues would lead to more inclusive and effective policies, transparency and accountability.