PalFest in Jerusalem

The organisers of the PalFest meant to “confront the culture of power with the power of culture”. None but Jerusalem could be as prominent, so that’s where they decided to inaugurate and close the second edition of this touring literature festival, in the honour of Al-Quds 2009 (Jerusalem, capital of Arab culture).

PalFest brings writers and artists from around the world to Palestinian audiences. It initiates and organizes cultural festivals with international and local participation. It organises workshops with students in Palestinian academic institutions in co-operation with Palestinian academics.

Read more on the event here.

Children’s Messages on Gender

An eight-year-old from Egypt and a ten-year-old from Algeria are the winners for the Mediterranean region of EuropeAid’s third drawing competition on gender equality, the organisers of the competition have announced.

 

The competition, launched on International Women’s Day on 8 March, is aimed at motivating children from the EU’s partner countries to participate in an exercise of awareness on the role of women in society. Children from EU countries made up the jury.

 

To read more, click here.

Winning picture gallery is available to view on this link.

 

Official Launch of Eurojar Media Project

The EU-funded Eurojar media project is officially being launched in Beirut on 24 June, with a press conference and multimedia presentation in the presence of EU and local officials.

 

According to a press release from the project, the event will feature speeches by EU Head of Delegation in Beirut Ambassador Patrick Laurent and Lebanese Information Minister Tarek Mitri, as well as video link ups with the European Commission in Brussels and other EU Delegations across the region, and presentations by the project partners, with video spots about their work.

 

Read more here.

EuroMed News organises TV magazine workshop

The EU funded EuroMed News project is conducting a workshop on TV magazine co-production in Algiers this week.

 

A press release said the workshop would lead to the production of four special episodes of the EuroMed News TV magazine. Three of the four episodes will approach a variety of themes, while the fourth will be devoted to women, showcasing case histories, EU programmes to help women in the labour market and social initiatives against violence and harassment.

 

The EuroMed News project aims to broaden knowledge about the EU’s policies in the region and the relationship between the EU and individual Mediterranean countries. Spearheaded by France Televisions, it brings together broadcasters in Europe and in Algeria, Jordan, Libya, Syria, Morocco and Lebanon. Together, they will produce 300 news features, 40 short current affairs programmes and nine 26-minute documentaries about North African society and the economy.

 

Read more here.

Regional Project focuses on Women and Work

An EU funded regional project has got under way in Tunisia, Egypt and Jordan aiming to help young women entering the employment market.

 

A press release posted on the Tunisian EU Delegation website said the ‘Women and Work’ programme was cofinanced by the European Training Foundation – a specialised EU agency – and would be focusing on two key sectors in the three countries, information and communication technologies and tourism.

 

To read more, click here.

Gender Equality Programme publication: Ministerial Conclusions on Strengthening the Role of Women in Society

The EU-funded Gender Equality Programme – Enhancing Equality between Men and Women in the EuroMed Region – has produced a trilingual publication outlining the Ministerial Conclusions on strengthening the role of women in society from the 2006 the Euro-Mediterranean Ministerial Conference.

 

More on the Gender Equalty Programme is available here.

View Publication.

Youth in Lebanon and Jordan promote cultural heritage through EuroMed Heritage project

In the latest of its series of Eurojar features, the Lebanese daily L’Orient Le Jour has published an article highlighting the initiative of the EU funded project “Foundations for a Strong Future: Youth in Lebanon and Jordan Promote Cultural Heritage” to involve young Lebanese and Jordanians in the promotion of their cultural heritage.

 

The article reports that 60 Lebanese and 72 Jordanian young people have been selected to participate in the project and will receive training on cultural heritage and the use of different media (video and photo cameras, internet…) as such multimedia will be used in the promotion of cultural heritage. “This project will focus on the musical or culinary heritage of a region, or even a dance. We wanted to avoid the major monuments that are already known,” explains Dahlia Khoury, project manager for Mercy Corps in Lebanon.

 

Click here to read more.

 

Europe-Morocco: jazz across the Mediterranean

The EU Delegation in Morocco is organising a Jazz Festival bringing together Moroccan and European artists for a musical event that promises to cross boundaries and cultures.

 

The 14th edition of ‘Jazz au Chellah: Jazz européen, musiques maroquaines’ will take place in Rabat from 11-15 June. Ten European groups will meet five Moroccan groups in a festival assembling some 40 musicians. A press release said the festival had not only established a loyal audience in the 14 years of its existence, but had cemented a new cultural dimension – using the freedom of jazz to anticipate a dialogue of cultures.

 

Read more here.

An alternative gaze on Mediterranean cooperation

The European Cultural Foundation and Babelmed launched last year a cycle of interviews with artists, creators, cultural operators from the Maghreb and the Middle-east in order to question the dynamics and the relationships created by the Euro-Mediterranean co-operation.

The ECF explore areas that play a key role on the cultural map. The Mediterranean is one of them. So, together with regional partners we explored the ins and outs of cultural cooperation. This book is the result. It is available online and as hard copy. 

More information on the book is available here.

Egypt’s ‘Life in a Picture’ travels to Toulouse

The winning photographs from a photo competition organised by the EU Delegation in Egypt are to be exhibited at a cultural festival in France from 10-14 June.

 

A Delegation press release said the ‘Egypt: Life in a Picture’ exhibition would travel to the 5th ‘Marathon Des Mots’ in Toulouse. Every year, ‘Le Marathon Des Mots’ honours a literary and artistic capital, inviting writers and artists to present the culture of the invited/honoured capital – this year Alexandria and Cairo. Last year, more than 72,000 visitors attended around 200 events around Toulouse.

 

More information on the event is available here

Restore Trust, Rebuild Bridges

Saturday June 20th (midnight Egyptian time) will be the deadline to apply for a grant in the framework of the Restore Trust, Rebuild Bridges Initiative. 

You can get involved by logging on to: http://euromedalex.org/restoretrust

The actions, granted in the framework of the Initiative will have to take place between July 1 and September 21, 2009, culminating in a regional event around the International Day of Peace, where the initial outcomes of the Initiative will be presented.

More information on the project is available here.

The Jerusalem of Palestinian Artists

All born in Jerusalem, they are part of the first generation of artists. Some portray the city they have always lived in. Others, in exile, lay on a canvas their childhood memories or their claims.

Ranging from figurative to abstract style, from the 60’s to the 80’s, “Jerusalem, Lexicon of Colours” collects works with various styles and from different periods, where the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967 marks a fracture.

To read more and view some of the art work click here.

MONACO TO HOST MEDITERRANEAN JOURNALIST AWARD FROM 2009

André Azoulay, President of the Anna Lindh Foundation, seals the collaboration of the Principality of Monaco to play host for the next three years to the international ceremony of the Mediterranean Journalist Award.

H.S.H Prince Albert II announces his participation in the forthcoming ceremony which will bring together the best journalists in the Union for the Mediterranean and include a special recognition for conflict reporting in the aftermath of Gaza.

The latest edition of the Mediterranean Journalist Award was officially launched in Istanbul in April, with this year’s competition open until 15th July 2009 to practising journalists based in one of the forty-three countries of the Union for the Mediterranean.

The 2009 international award ceremony will take place at the start of November in Monaco, and will include prizes for printed press, television, radio and online blogs, as well as the special recognition for conflict reporting.

Read more here

Youth In Action

The EU’s Youth in Action programme has published a call for proposals for a number of actions, including one specifically aimed at Neighbourhood Partners.

 

The relevant sub-action (3.1) supports projects involving Neighbouring Partner Countries and lasting up to 15 months, “namely Youth Exchanges and Training and Networking Projects in the youth field”. The sub-action has a budget for 2009 of €8,121,000. The Youth in Action Programme has an overall budget of €885 million for the period 2007-2013.

 

The Youth in Action programme is the EU’s mobility and non-formal education programme targeting young people aged between 13 and 30 years.

 

For further information and details on calls for proposals, click here.

Anna Lindh Foundation featured in ‘Eurojar’

The Anna Lindh Foundation and its efforts to promote reading among children in Lebanon is the focus of the latest in the series of articles on EU-Mediterranean cooperation published by the EuropeAid-funded ‘Eurojar’ project in the Lebanese daily L’Orient Le Jour.

The feature article highlights the importance of the initiative, a three-year regional programme to promote children’s literature and reading in five Arab countries, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Lebanon.

 

Click here to read more.

 

Further details on the ALF’s ‘Children Literature Programme ‘ is available here.

Book Launch

The Embassy of the Syrian Arab Republic in collaboration with The Syrian Arab association

 cordially invite you to a book launch for the writer 
 
 Yasmin Alibhai- Brown

On  Thursday 11th June 2009,  6:30 pm at  the Syrian Embassy in London (8 belgrave Square SW1X 8PH)

Train the Trainers

The Partnership on Youth between the European Commission and the Council of Europe together with the Human Rights Center in the Beirut Arab University are organising a training for trainers on human rights education.

 

The training will take place in Lebanon at the Beirut Arab University in Debbiye from 21-29 June 2009. It will be based on the ‘Compass’ manual on human rights education, with young people presenting background concepts essential to human rights education as well as practical activities and methods for use in both formal and non-formal education contexts.

 

 

The training course is open for participants from Lebanon, Jordan, Palestinian Authority, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and the Gulf states and for participants from the member states of the Council of Europe (including all the member states of the European Union).

 

Click here for more information on the training course.

Gender Equality Programme publishes second issue of newsletter

The Euro-Med Gender Equality Programme has published the second issue of ‘Gender Dynamics’, its quarterly newsletter.

 

The main article is an interview with Dr. Farkhonda Hassan, Secretary General of the National Council for Women in Egypt, who highlights the possibilities of cooperation between the Council and the programme, the added value of the Istanbul Ministerial Conference on ‘Strengthening the Role of Women in Society’, and the strengths and achievements of the Council.

 

To view the Newsletter, click here