The Y-Med Project

Active since 2018, Y-MED aims to promote circular migration pathways and foster the circulation of skills in the Mediterranean region. The project gives students and fresh graduates from Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Libya the opportunity to develop their skills through a six-month internship program in Italy. At the end of the internship, the interns return to their home countries and labour markets where they can apply the know-how acquired during their experience in Italy. The project is funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Autonomous Region Friuli Venezia Giulia, and it is implemented by the International Organization for Migration.

2024-2025 Edition

Would you like to participate as an intern? Click here!

If you’re an Egyptian company interested in hiring highly-skilled candidates who participated in the project. For inquiries, please contact IOM Egypt on ymedeg@iom.int.

If you’re an Italian company interested in hosting Y-med interns, click here for more information (please note the page is only available in Italian).

What is covered by the Y-MED project

Y-MED staff supports each candidate through every phase: pre-departure, internship and return. The project covers the following costs:

• Visa-related costs;
• Health insurance;
• Pre-Departure Orientation and Italian language course in the country of origin;
• Travel to/from Italy;
• Lodging (single room in shared accommodation);
• Internship allowance (paid by the hosting company).

Eligibility requirements

Candidates to the 2024-2025 edition must meet all the following requirements to be considered eligible:

• Be a citizen and resident of Egypt. Candidates holding Italian nationality are not eligible, even if they have dual citizenship.
• Graduated in the last 24 months (from the deadline of the application).
• Be born on or after 1 January 1995.
• Be fluent in English; or be fluent in French and have a basic knowledge of English or Italian.
• Completed a bachelor degree in ICT or Mechanical Engineering
• Candidates are graduates of the Nile University in Egypt.
• Must attend and complete the A1-B1 levels of the Italian language course provided by the programme.

Professional sectors

For candidates from Egypt, the Y-MED project foresees the activation of internships in the following sectors:

• Information Communication Technology (ICT)
• Mechanical Engineering

How to apply

Nile University has opened the call for applications internally on the university’s platform. The deadline for applications is on 05 May 2024. If you need more information about the project and/or the application process, please reach out to ymedeg@iom.int

Timeframe

The tentative timeframe for the 2024-2025 edition of Y-MED is as follows:

• April-May2024: application period;
• May-June 2024: selection of candidates;
• July-September 2024: approval of internships at the regional institutions in Italy;
• July-October 2024: Italian language course in country of origin;
• September-October 2024: Pre-Departure Orientation in country of origin;
• November 2024-April 2025: internship in Italy;
• April-May 2025: return and job placement support in country of origin.

Important information

During the job placement phase, IOM’s role is to support selected candidates in the job search with activities that include, but are not limited to, training on soft skills and promotion of their profiles among companies in the country of origin. While IOM strives to do its best to facilitate this, it is important to know that securing a job at the end of the internship is not among the objectives of the project. At the same time, if at the end of the internship participants are offered a job by the company in Italy, all the administrative procedures related to this process fall outside the scope of the Y-MED project. Finally, please also note that internships might take place in any Region in Italy, depending on where the company is based.