In the framework of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded Mediterranean Sea Programme (MedProgramme): “Enhancing Environmental Security” (GEF ID 9607), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) / Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP) is organizing the “Second Annual Stocktaking Meeting of the GEF-UNEP Mediterranean Sea Programme (MedProgramme),” convened in cooperation with the implementing agencies UNEP and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and the executing partners of the MedProgramme’s eight Child Projects. The meeting will be held in Podgorica, Montenegro from 22 to 24 April 2024.

The MedProgramme Sea Programme (MedProgramme) is part of UNEP’s Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP) and represents the first Global Environment Facility (GEF) programmatic multi-focal area initiative in the Mediterranean Sea, aiming specifically at operationalizing priority actions to reduce major transboundary environmental stresses in its coastal areas, while strengthening, at the same time, climate resilience and water security, and improving the health and livelihoods of coastal populations. The MedProgramme is implemented in nine (9) beneficiary countries sharing the Mediterranean basin, i.e., Albania, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, Montenegro, Morocco and Tunisia. It involves a wide spectrum of developmental and societal sectors, ranging from banking institutions, the private sector, governmental and non-governmental bodies, industry, research, media, and various other organizations.

The primary objective of the Annual Stocktaking Meeting is to enable face-to-face knowledge exchanges and promote broader adoption of MedProgramme approaches and solutions. The meeting aims to establish synergistic interactions among the Child Projects while providing an opportunity to engage with a broad audience of peers and stakeholders sharing similar objectives within the overarching goal of achieving environmental security in the Mediterranean Basin.

The meeting will bring together representatives of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention, MedProgramme’s implementing and executing agencies, the GEF Secretariat, relevant regional and global NGOs, bilateral and multilateral donors, and International Financing Institutions. 

The meeting will feature keynote speeches/lectures feeding into the themes of the MedProgramme, round table discussions on the scientific basis of the implemented activities, and panel discussions on challenges and lessons learned for the delivery of planned outputs of each of the Child Projects. 

For any questions or inquiries about this meeting, please contact Mr. Mohamad Kayyal, MedProgramme Coordinator mohamad.kayyal@un.org.