OSCE Mediterranean Contact Group launches OSCE Award for young green entrepreneurs in the Mediterranean

VIENNA, 25 September 2017 – Young green entrepreneurs making a social impact in the Mediterranean region were officially invited to compete for the new OSCE GEMS Award launched today in Vienna by the Chairperson of the Mediterranean Contact Group, Permanent Representative of Italy to the OSCE Ambassador Alessandro Azzoni.

The OSCE GEMS Award will reward young entrepreneurs under 35 years of age from Mediterranean countries who submit innovative ideas for improving their environment while at the same time making a social impact. Six entrepreneurs, one each from Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia, will be awarded a €15,000 grant for the best business ideas, so they can turn their idea into a business endeavour. The deadline for submissions is 10 November 2017.

“The OSCE has decided to promote green and social entrepreneurship in the Mediterranean as a tool for contributing to stability and peace in the region,” said Azzoni. “We hope that the prize will be able to provide seed or growth funding for entrepreneurs willing to turn environmental or social challenges into opportunities promoting eco-innovation, eco-efficiency or other social solutions and associating them with clear measures and targets.”

“In the Mediterranean region, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) represent the vast majority of firms. They account for between one half and three quarters of total employment and contribute substantially to innovation and value creation,” said Azzoni. He added that the largest share of start-ups are led by entrepreneurs below the age of 40. “These are young and young adult entrepreneurs that take up the challenge to succeed and the risk to fail.” 

The OSCE partnered with the Switchers Fund and its promoters, with support of an initial endowment by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, under the 2017 Italian Chairmanship of the OSCE Mediterranean Contact Group. 

The Project will be implemented by the European Federation of Ethical and Alternative Banking (FEBEA), SEFEA Consulting, and the Regional Centre for Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP/RAC), UNEP/Mediterranean Action Plan.

Today’s Mediterranean Contact Group meeting, chaired by Ambassador Azzoni, was addressed by guest panellists from the six OSCE Mediterranean partner countries: Louaï Djaffer, CEO and Co-Founder of Emploitic.com from Algeria, Marwa Lasheen, Counsellor and Head of Economic Unit at the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Yifat Inbar, Israeli Consul for Economic Affairs in Munich, Germany, Faisal Hakki, CEO of Oasis 500 from Jordan, Asmâa Morine, Entrepreneur and President of the Association of Women’s Entrepreneurs in Morocco and Asma Mansour, President and Co-Founder of the Tunisian Centre for Social Entrepreneurship.