The Spanish co-presidency of the 5 + 5 Dialogue organised the first ministerial conference on the theme of work, opening up a new field of sectoral cooperation within the Western Mediterranean Forum.
The meeting, which took place in Alicante on 7 October 2021, Spain, was chaired by the Second Vice-President of the Spanish Government and Minister of Labour and Social Economy, Yolanda Díaz. It brought together the labour ministers of Algeria, Abderrahmane Lahfaya, of Italy, Andrea Orlando, of Libya, Ali al-Abed Al-Reda Abu Azoum, and of Mauritania, Camara Saloum Mohamed. The Delegate for European and International Affairs of the social ministries of France, Antoine Saint-Denis, the Director General of the Ministry of Finance and Employment of Malta, Godwin Mifsud, the Secretary General of Labour of Morocco, Noureddine Benkhalil, the Deputy Secretary of State for Labour of Portugal, Miguel Cabrita, and finally the Ambassador of Tunisia to Spain, Fatma Omrani Chargui, also took part in the meeting as representatives of their respective countries.
This ministerial meeting underlined the importance of initiating labour cooperation within the 5 + 5 Dialogue in the context of the fractures caused by the COVID-19 crisis. Its objective was also to exchange good practices which promote decent and quality employment in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The ministers and representatives of the 5 + 5 Dialogue countries pledged to intensify their efforts to promote job creation by taking into account as a priority the groups most affected by the COVID-19 crisis (women, young people, disabled and workers of the informal economy).
In particular, they decided to develop and implement active employment policies and to promote social dialogue for quality jobs and decent wages which make it possible to fight job insecurity and the informal economy.