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The Western Mediterranean Forum on Higher Education, Research and Innovation

The 5+5 Dialogue is a sub-regional forum for dialogue between ten Western Mediterranean countries and it promotes cooperation in science, technology and higher education.

The Maghreb countries involved are Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia, and the European nations are France, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Spain.

The members agree on the importance of research and higher education for the development of knowledge, the promotion of technologies and national innovation systems for the purpose of attaining socioeconomic growth and bearing the different challenges that the region faces, such as, unemployment, economic underdevelopment, environmental degradation, shortage of natural resources and serious scarcity of water and energy.

The Ministers in charge of Research, Innovation and Higher Education of the 5+5 Dialogue member countries are committed to foster promotion of research, innovation and higher education for social stability and economic growth. Many countries are engaged in processes of reforming their political, economic and social systems to stimulate investment, to encourage initiative and to foster strong economic partnerships that are essential throughout the Western Mediterranean region. The 5+5 Dialogue member countries need to revitalize their economies to promote smart, sustainable and inclusive growth for the purpose of developing disadvantaged regions and enhancing job creation in line with international labour market standards. Therefore, research, innovation and higher education play a key role in job creation. Moreover, for this reason, there is a need for a solid framework of cooperation and conducive synergies among the ten countries.
Within this framework, the 5+5 Dialogue 5+5 countries are encouraged to continue cooperation with the Secretariat of the UfM and build on possible synergies with relevant UfM initiatives and projects such as the Mediterranean Initiative for Jobs (Med4Jobs), the Euro-Mediterranean University of Fes and the EMUNI University.

 

 

The Ministerial Conference

The Ministers in charge of Research, Innovation and Higher Education of the 5+5 Dialogue member countries of the Western Mediterranean, meets every two years for a Ministerial Conference in the presence of the European Commission, the General Secretariat of the Arab Maghreb Union, and the General Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean. The Ministers sign a common declaration and commit to their statements through a shared work plan annexed. The work programme proposes concrete collaborative actions in-line with up-to-date priorities of the 5+5 Dialogue member countries and are supported by the national budgets with possible support from the private sector and regional and international donors.

 

 

 

 

The Group of Senior Officials

The 5+5  Dialogue Ministerial Conference on Research, Innovation and Higher Education celebrated in March 2015 in Madrid (Spain) has agreed on the creation of a “High Level Group”, later renamed as “Group of Senior Officials” (GSO). The GSO is in charge of the implementation at the national level of the work plan activities and met once a year to define and discuss further step to support the initiatives.

Please, find below the updated list of the Senior Officials and the Observers.

 

 

Ait Yahya Kamila, Director of Research Programming, Evaluation and Prospecting, Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, MESRS

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Patrick Nedellec, ‎Director of the European, Research and International Cooperation Department (DERCI), CNRS
Joaquim Nassar, Head of the Department for Strategy, Expertise and Management of International Cooperation Programmes, within the Delegation for European and International Affairs, MESRI
Antoine Weexsteen, International Project Manager Africa, Proche/Moyen-Orient, MESRI    

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Mounir Ghribi, Director, International Cooperation and Strategic Partnerships Unit, National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics (OGS)
Angelo Camerlenghi, Director, Geophysics Departement, National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics (OGS)
Maria Cristina Pedicchio, Board Member, National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics, Member of CoA

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Faisal A. Mohamed Elabdli, President, Libyan Authority for Research, Science and Technology, ARST
Naser Mohamed Almhedy, Director of International and Cooperation Office, Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MHESR)    
Adel Diyahf, Director of the International Cooperation Office, University of Tripoli (UT)

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Glorianne Camilleri, Deputy Director, Internationalisation, Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST)
Sandrine Borg, Executive, Internationalisation, Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST)

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Mohamed-Yahya DAH, Director of Scientific Research and Innovation Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MESRS)
Mohamed Lemine Haless, Director of the Mauritanian Quality Assurance Authority for Higher Education (AMAQ-ES)
Ali Elboukhary Ould Salem, Director General for the National Agency for Scientific Research and Innovation, UNA    
Cheikh Saad Bouh Camara, President of the University of Nouakchott Al-Aasriya, UNA  

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Ahmed Hammouch, Director, Directorate of Scientific Research and Innovation, Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Training, MENFPESRS-SECESRS
Abdelouahid Ezzarfi, Chief Division, Research and Innovation, Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, MENFPESRS-SECESRS

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Maria João Pinto, Senior Advisor, Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education (MCTES)
Maria João Maia, Senior Science Officer, International Relations Department Foundation for Science and Technology, FCT
Gustavo Alva-Rosa, Delegate to the Higher Education and mobility of students, Portuguese Erasmus+ National Agency

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Inmaculada Figueroa, Deputy Director-General of Internationalisation of Science and Innovation, CIENCIA    
Armela Dino, Science Policy Analyst at the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, CIENCIA    
 

 

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Samia Charfi Kaddour, Professor, Director General for Scientific Research, Ministry for Higher Education and Scientific Research (MESRS)
Malek Kochlef, Director General for International Cooperation, Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MESRS)

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Observers

Besma Soudani, Director of Political Affairs, Information and Cabinet, Arab Magreb Union (AMU)
Mohamed Mahmoud Cheikh El Mokhtar, Programme Manager, Human Development, Arab Magreb Union (AMU)

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Maria Cristina Russo, Director for Global Approach & International Partnerships, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD)
Alessandro Calabro', Desk Med and Middle East, International Cooperation, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD)
 

 

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Itaf Ben Abdallah, Senior Advisor, HER Division, Union for the Mediterranean, Union for the Mediterranean (UfM)
Giuseppe Provenzano, Project Manager, Higher Education and Research Division, Union for the Mediterranean (UfM)    

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The Secretariat is based in Trieste (Italy) at the premises of the Italian National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics, and it is supported by the Italian Minister Education, Universities and Research (MIUR)