In an interview with Interreg TESIM NEXT, Nathalie Bitar, Deputy Regional Director of AUF Middle East, Coordinator of the EUSEEDS project, shares key insights into how the initiative is addressing youth unemployment across the Mediterranean. By strengthening the alignment between education and labour market needs, EUSEEDS promotes the development of soft, digital, and entrepreneurial skills, while fostering inclusion for vulnerable groups. Implemented in Cyprus, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Palestine, the project highlights the added value of cross-border cooperation in delivering sustainable and impactful solutions.
What is the EUSEEDS project about, and what needs is it addressing?
EUSEEDS aims to improve young people’s access to employment by aligning skills development with labour market needs. It focuses on strengthening soft skills, digital skills, and entrepreneurial competences, while also targeting vulnerable populations to promote social inclusion. The project operates in Cyprus, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Palestine … countries that share common structural challenges, including the difficulty young people face in entering the formal job market due to a mismatch between acquired skills and market demands.
How is the project implemented, and who benefits from it?
The project supports 24 university-based resource centers with a dual mission. Internally, these centers will deliver training to students on soft, digital, and entrepreneurial skills. Externally, they will provide services to vulnerable populations, particularly through training in digital literacy and digital skills. Initially designed to support 20 universities, the project launched a highly competitive call for applications and received more than 60 submissions across the five partner countries. Ultimately, 24 universities were selected to benefit from the initiative.
Why is cross-border cooperation important?
The partnership consortium of the project, established across the participating countries is both strong and complementary, with no one-directional transfer between North and South. Each partner contributes to deliver expertise in their respective field, ensuring a balanced and collaborative approach. This transnational dimension, through networking, knowledge exchange, and mobility, creates added value and enables the development of innovative solutions that would not have been possible within a purely national framework.
Watch the video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgRdDDecRSk
Next Med
