page_title: Union for the Mediterranean
section_title: Secretariat
hierarchical_section_title: Union for the Mediterranean / Institutions / Secretariat
caption_attribution_description: English: Headquarters of the Union for the Mediterranean. Español: Entrada a la sede central de la Unión por el Mediterráneo (UpM), en el Palacio de Pedralbes (Barcelona, España). Es la entrada situada en el extremo este del citado Palacio de Pedralbes, donde antes estaba la entrada privada de la Familia Real, y donde actualmente se encuentran las escaleras que llevan al secretariado de la UpM, en el segundo piso (antiguos aposentos de los infantes y del servicio). Puede observarse con facilidad que el estilo constructivo de las ventanas y la pintura, aquí es muy parecido al de la fachada principal del Palacio de Pedralbes. Actualmente, toda esta zona está sin embargo muy vallada, así que desde la fachada principal no es posible ver esta fachada lateral, a la que solamente es posible acceder por fuera si se rodea al edificio.
context_page_description: The Union for the Mediterranean is an intergovernmental organization of 43 member states from Europe and the Mediterranean Basin: the 27 EU member states, the United Kingdom and 15 Mediterranean partner countries from North Africa, Western Asia and Southern Europe. It was founded on 13 July 2008 at the Paris Summit for the Mediterranean, with an aim of reinforcing the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership that was set up in 1995 as the Barcelona Process. Its general secretariat is located in Barcelona, Spain.
  The Union has the aim of promoting stability and integration throughout the Mediterranean region. It is a forum for discussing regional strategic issues, based on the principles of shared ownership, shared decision-making and shared responsibility between the two shores of the Mediterranean. Its main goal is to increase both North-South and South-South integration in the Mediterranean region, in order to support the countries' socioeconomic development and ensure stability in the region. The institution, through its course of actions, focuses on two main pillars: fostering human development and promoting sustainable development.
context_section_description: The Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean was inaugurated on 4 March 2010 in an official ceremony in Barcelona.
  The task of the permanent Secretariat is to provide operational follow-up of the sectorial ministerial meeting, identifying and monitoring the implementation of concrete projects for the Euro-Mediterranean region, and searching for partners to finance these projects and coordinating various platforms for dialogue.
  The Euro-Mediterranean Ministers of Foreign Affairs decided at the Marseilles conference of November 2008 that the headquarters of the Secretariat would be at the Royal Palace of Pedralbes in Barcelona. They also agreed on the structure of this new key institution and the countries of origin of its first members:
  The Secretary General is elected by consensus from a non-EU country. His term is for three years, which may be extended for another three. The first Secretary General was the Jordanian Ahmad Khalaf Masa'deh, the former Ambassador of Jordan to the EU, Belgium, Norway and Luxembourg, and Minister of Public Sector Reform from 2004–2005. He resigned after one year in office. In July 2011, the Moroccan diplomat Youssef Amrani takes office. When he is named deputy foreign minister by the Benkirane government, he was replaced as Secretary General by fellow Moroccan Ambassador Fathallah Sijilmassi until February 2018. In June 2018, Egyptian Ambassador Nasser Kamel took office as Secretary General of the UfM, bringing more than three decades of experience in Euro-Mediterranean relations to the role.
  In order to enhance the co-ownership of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, six posts of Deputy Secretaries General were assigned to three countries from the EU and three from the Mediterranean partner countries. For the first term of three years (extendible to another three) the Deputy Secretaries General were:
  Mr. Panagiotis Roumeliotis (Greece) – Energy Division;
  Prof. Ilan Chet (Israel) – Higher Education and Research Division;
  Mr. Lino Cardarelli (Italy) – Business Development Division;
  Amb. Celia Attard Pirotta (Malta) – Social and Civil Affairs Division;
  Dr. Rafiq Husseini (Palestine) – Water and Environment Division;
  Amb. Yigit Alpogan (Turkey) – Transport and Urban Development Division.
  In 2017, the secretariat of the UfM has a staff of 60 persons from more than 20 nationalities, including the permanent presence of senior officials seconded from the European Commission, the EIB, and CDC.
caption: Headquarters of the Union for the Mediterranean
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