Dr. Dionysia-Theodora Avgerinopoulou, as Chair of the Hellenic Parliament’s Special Permanent Committee on Environmental Protection & Subcommittee on Water Resources, and Special Envoy of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, had the honor of participating in the Opening Panel of the Training Workshop on Financing for Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems (WEFE) Nexus Projects in the Mediterranean, an important initiative of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and implemented by the Global Water Partnership – Mediterranean (GWP-Med).
The workshop focused on key European financing instruments for Nexus projects in the Mediterranean:
???? European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+)
???? Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instruments (NDICI – Global Europe)
These tools unlock significant investment opportunities for sustainable WEFE Nexus projects, benefiting partner countries across North Africa and the Near East. Participants included ministry representatives from eight beneficiary countries, officials from the European Commission (DG MENA) and EU Delegations in Egypt, Tunisia and Lebanon.
In her opening remarks, Dr. Avgerinopoulou highlighted the importance of the Source-to-Sea continuum and the integrated WEFE Nexus approach as essential frameworks for effective cross-sectoral policy-making and resilient investment planning in the Mediterranean. She also underlined Greece’s strong commitment to ocean protection and sustainable development, reaffirmed through the 9th Our Ocean Conference held in Athens, which generated substantial global commitments.
She was honoured to be on an excellent panel with:
• Petros Varelidis, Secretary General for Natural Environment & Waters
• Mohammad Al-Dwairi, Assistant Secretary General, Ministry of Water and Irrigation, UfM Co-Presidency
• Emmanuel Jose Box Amaral, DG MENA, European Commission, UfM Co-Presidency
• Magnus Andre, Regional Program Manager, SIDA
• Frederic de Dinenchin, Senior Policy Advisor, UfM
The panel was moderated by Vangelis Constantianos, Executive Secretary & Regional Coordinator of GWP-Med, one of the workshop’s key organisers. They were also joined by Professor Michael Scoullos, with longstanding contributions to Mediterranean cooperation on environment and sustainability.
This workshop represents a meaningful step toward strengthened regional cooperation, the development of new Nexus projects, and enhanced utilisation of EU financing instruments for the sustainable and resilient future of the Mediterranean.