The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor organized, this morning in the capital Aden, and in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), a specialized workshop to review the assessment of the impact of climate change on children and the extent to which social protection systems respond to these challenges.

The workshop was held under the patronage of His Excellency Dr. Mohammed Saeed Al-Zouari, Minister of Social Affairs and Labor, with the participation of members of the Advisory Committee for Social Protection, and a number of specialists in climate and environmental fields from the Ministries of Public Health and Population, Planning and International Cooperation, Public Works, Water and Agriculture, in addition to representatives of international and local civil society organizations, the Social Welfare Fund, and the Fund for the Care and Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities.

At the opening of the workshop, Ms. Faiza Abdulmajid, Acting Undersecretary of the Social Development Sector at the Ministry, delivered a welcoming speech to participants, highlighting the negative impacts faced by children as a result of climate change, including rising temperatures, drought, landslides, and other natural disasters, in addition to the catastrophic repercussions of the ongoing war and conflict, which have contributed to the destruction of basic infrastructure and community services. She called on participants to discuss the report and enrich it with constructive observations.

For his part, Dr. Abdullah Abdulaziz, Deputy Head of the Advisory Committee for Social Protection, stressed the importance of holding the workshop in identifying the population groups most vulnerable to climate risks, and in assessing the readiness of social protection plans and programs to respond to these risks, through reviewing possible solutions to mitigate the impacts of the climate crisis on children.

Meanwhile, Mr. Ramzi Saeed, UNICEF Representative, emphasized the participants’ interaction in enriching the report with valuable observations.

Participants then discussed the report on the results of the multidimensional assessment of the impacts of climate change on children in Yemen, and the readiness of the social protection system to respond to climate-related shocks and risks, presented by UNICEF. The report aims to support and accelerate Yemen’s transition towards an adaptive and shock-responsive social protection system.

The workshop program also included a presentation on poverty and humanitarian crises resulting from the protracted conflict, in addition to an overview of social protection systems and disaster risk management, particularly those that directly affect children.

The workshop concluded with a number of important recommendations, focusing on improving the level of coordination among entities providing social, cash, and humanitarian assistance, addressing challenges and reducing their impacts, and supporting social stability through climate shock-responsive social protection systems, while taking into account the observations and discussions raised by participants during the workshop proceedings.