We are proud to announce a new partnership that we have established with the Med-Or Foundation.

On the 19th of July, our Founder & Executive Director signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Med-Or President, Marco Minniti. A politician with more than 20 years' experience in security and defence, in 1998 Marco Minniti was appointed Undersecretary to the Prime Minister under the 1st D'Alema administration; in 1999, Undersecretary to the Prime Minister, responsible for secret services, under the 2nd D'Alema administration; in 2000, Undersecretary for Defence under the Amato administration; and from 2006 to 2008, Deputy Minister of the Interior under the Prodi administration. From 2013 to 2016, he was Undersecretary to the Prime Minister, responsible for secret services, first under the Letta administration and then under the Renzi administration. From 2016 to 2018, he was Minister of the Interior under the Gentiloni administration.

Under the agreement reached, both parties strengthened their commitment to collaborate in fostering sustainable good governance, peace and stability, specifically in preventing violent extremism towards the promotion of democracy.

The Med-Or is a non-profit organization that seeks to promote cultural initiatives, research, and education in science, with the objective of strengthening ties, exchanges and international relations between Italy and the countries of the Med-Or area, which spans the Mediterranean, the Sahel, the Horn of Africa, and the Red Sea, as well as the Near and Far East.

ECES and Med-Or settled on a comprehensive framework of collaboration that encompasses activities such as:

With our extensive electoral experience dating back to 2010, we are well-positioned to depart from our respective experience and aim to maximize the impact of the actions in the organizations’ joint interests in the Middle East, North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa.

With this MoU, both parties acknowledged the possibility of submitting a joint project to an external funder on the basis of their complementary approaches and ownership. ECES and Med-Or agreed upon a multitude of forms of collaboration with the common purpose of strengthening their cooperation in their common interests.

 

Following the MoU signature, our Director was invited to participate in the third edition of Med-Or Day which saw the participation of the Italian Minister of Defence, Guido Crosetto, the Minister of Education, Anna Maria Bernini, and several current and past senior members of Italian Governments and Parliaments like Gianni Letta, Gianni Alemanno, presidente di Leonardo Stefano Pontecorvo, Pier Ferdinando Casini, Franco Gabrielli, Paola Severino and Luciana Lamorgese and many others. The journalist Monica Maggioni moderated the debate and saw the presence of the General Managers of Leonardo, Roberto Cingolani and Fincantieri, Pierroberto Folgiero.

 

Together, we're confident that the agreed-upon ECES and Med-Or collaboration will contribute to continuing the positive activity of both foundations.

We are proud to have laid the framework to work together with Med-OR to contribute to sustainable good governance and to the prevention of violent extremism towards the promotion of democracy, as we firmly believe that a strong and effective democratic foundation is crucial for societal development, encompassing economic, political, and institutional-related aspects.