Babelmed’s association is a non profit organisation that was created in Rome in April 2001. Its main objective is to promote cultural exchanges in the Mediterranean and to circulate informations and ideas present around this common sea. The name babelmed refers to the Mediterranean and its cultural diversity (Babel), while bab, which means the door in Arabic, wants to leave the impression of an open door.

The website wants to be a link between actors, events and cultural production in the Mediterranean. The site generates its own contents thanks to its Central Editorial Staff and its network of journalists in the Mediterranean selected for their independence and knowledge of cultural issues.

Address : Via Acherusio, 85
00199 Rome - Italie
Phone / Fax : +39 06 86328178
Mail : info@babelmed.net
Website : http://www.babelmed.net

EuroMeSCo formally began in June 1996, with an inaugural conference in the Portuguese town of Sesimbra organised by the Instituto de Estudos Estratégicos e Internacionais (IEEI), which is based in Lisbon and now serves as the EuroMeSCo secretariat and the operational base.

It was based on an earlier initiative, MeSCo - the Mediterranean Study Commission - organised by the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) in Rome with the support of the European Union in February 1994.

The purpose of MeSCo had been to encourage cooperation between research institutes dealing with policy and security issues around the Mediterranean basin, thus bringing together institutes from five southern European Union member-countries and their Southern Mediterranean counterparts, together with Cyprus and Malta.

MeSCo had been expanded into EuroMeSCo with European Union encouragement as a result of the signature of the Barcelona Declaration the previous November. This ushered in the European Union’s comprehensive policy for the Mediterranean, the EMP or the Barcelona Process, bringing together European Union states with their Southern Mediterranean neighbours in an initiative designed to create a zone of "shared peace, prosperity and stability" there, in the words of the Barcelona Declaration. MeSCo responded to this challenge at its third annual meeting in Sesimbra in 1996 by deciding to enlarge its membership to include the other countries of the European Union which had, until then, been excluded from membership of MeSCo itself.

Since its creation in 1996, EuroMeSCo has been adopted by the EMP as an official confidence-building measure and has, with financial support from the European Commission, engaged in three research programmes. The first two programmes have generated a series of policy papers and a book, whilst the third research programme - a three year project - was completed in mid 2004, and followed by a two-year intern programme in 2004 and 2005. In October 2005, a new contract was signed with the European Commission and a new research and information programme launched for the period 2005-2009.

At the same time, the network undertakes regular meetings with the Senior Officials of the EMP to discuss policy and security matters and maintains close contacts with the European Commission and the Council of Ministers of the EU.

Address : EuroMeSCo Secretariat
Instituto de Estudos Estratégicos e Internacionais (IEEI)
Largo de São Sebastião, 8, Paço do Lumiar
1600-762 Lisboa - Portugal
[Phone : (+351) 21 030 67 00
Fax : (+351) 21 759 39 83
Contact : mednet@mail.telepac.pt
Website : http://www.euromesco.net

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN) is a network of 82 human rights organisations, institutions and individuals based in 30 countries in the Euro-Mediterranean region. It was established in 1997 in response to the Barcelona Declaration and to the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. The secretariat is based in Copenhagen with a branch office in Brussels and project officers based in Rabat and Amman. The mission of the EMHRN is to promote and strengthen human rights and democratic reform within the framework of the Barcelona process and EU-Arab cooperation frameworks. The Network seeks to develop and strengthen partnerships between NGOs in the EuroMed region and to facilitate the development of human rights mechanisms.

Key values that guide and shape the Network include the fundamental indivisibility and universality of human rights; the respect for the rule of international law; the fundamental value of freedom of expression, assembly and association; the importance of civil society in the promotion and protection of human rights; the gender equality and the importance of promoting the rights of women; the intercultural approaches to human rights as well as dialogue and the promotion of intercultural understanding.

Address : Vestergade 16, 2nd floor
DK-1456 Copenhagen K Denmark
Phone : +45 32 64 17 00
Fax : +45 32 64 17 01
Mail : info@euromedrights.net
Website : www.emhrn.net