The 6th Mediterranean University on Youth and Global Citizenship (MedUni) concluded last Friday, 11 May 2018, with the launch of the national “No hate speech” campaign in Tunisia and with the presentation of the outcomes of the different parallel activities to the Chief of Government of Tunisia, who attended the closing ceremony together with the Minister for Youth and Sports.

This year the MedUni dedicated special attention on enhancing the structured dialogue between quadrilogue representatives (governments, parliaments, local and regional authorities and civil society organisations) in the Euro-Mediterranean region. For the first time, a seminar counting with the participation of all quadrilogue representatives and other international organisations, researchers and academia was organized and embedded within a training course for youth leaders promoted by the North-South Centre. It was the occasion to foster the principles and standards of the Council of Europe through bottom-up comprehensive multilateral actions, offering at the same time a unique platform for dialogue and structured cooperation.

Other activities organized in the framework of the MedUni 2018 by the National Youth Observatory of Tunisia with the support of the League of Arab States, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the Youth Department of the Council of Europe, the Italian Youth Forum and the regional youth Council of Catalonia (Spain) contributed to increase the recognition of the unique contribution that young people from both sides of the Mediterranean bring to the consolidation of democratic processes.

The annual theme “The role of young people in promoting peace and inclusive societies” was the common element of all the activities and the main dimension of the work developed during this edition of the MedUni.

The annual theme was also the main topic of the roundtable which took place on Thursday 10 May 2018. On this occasion all the MedUni’s participants had the opportunity to interact in a dynamic and constructive way with: Hon. Badreddine Abdelkafi (representative of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean and member of the Tunisian Parliament), Mr Ignacio Sola Barleycorn (Deputy Director of internal and external coordination, Spanish Institute for Youth) and Ms Carly Walker-Dawson (member of the Advisory Council on Youth of the Council of Europe and member of the Executive Committee of the North-South Centre). The roundtable was an important moment to reinforce the cooperation between decision makers and youth leaders and to foster a better understanding of each other’s’ role and complementarities within a multilevel governance context.

On the closing ceremony Mr Youssef Chahed, Chief of the Tunisian Government, said that “the work done by this young people during this week is very important for the future of the country and of the entire Euro-Mediterranean region”. One more time the North-South Centre and its partners were able to set up a unique event that has strengthened the positive role and engagement of young towards the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.