Cuba is training green job managers

HAVANA, Cuba, April 29 (ACN) Deemed crucial for the implementation of a national methodology to identify, classify, and promote a just transition to the development of green jobs, the Cuban Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MTSS), along with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the International Labor Organization (ILO), held in this city the Green Job Managers Training Workshop in the Sugar Agroindustry.

Intended to strengthen the country’s technical and conceptual capacities, the event gathered 50 participants, including sugar production leaders and decision-makers at the national and regional levels.

The sessions were focused on the socialization and implementation of the Instrument for the Identification of Green Jobs in Cuba, a novel methodology developed by the MTSS in coordination with the Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment (CITMA).

Onixa Mazorra Fuentes, Director of Science and Innovation at the MTSS, referred to this tool as a major step towards the integration of Tarea Vida (Task Life, the State Plan to tackle climate change) into the country's employment policies through a methodology based on measurable dimensions and parameters along two main axes: labor (formality, fair remuneration, social security, social dialogue, and non-discrimination) and the environment (waste management, use of renewable energies, circular economy, adaptation to climate change, and ecosystem protection).

This tool allows for the identification of just transition opportunities in strategic sectors such as the sugar agro-industry, with high potential in bioenergy, the management of byproducts, and seed banks, the specialist remarked.

The workshop combined theoretical panels, practical activities in regional groups, and an analysis of the legal and regulatory framework for a just transition, which is bound to create new employment opportunities for young people and women, a priority goal of the Cuban government's strategy.

One of the most significant contributions, in line with the main objectives of the international project, is the conception of young people as strategic stakeholders rather than mere passive beneficiaries, in addition to benefits such as the use of skills gap analyses, training pathways, partnerships, and basic timelines.

 Israel Antonio Riverón Sánchez, Director of State Employment at the Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MTSS), emphasized that they are training managers to disseminate knowledge at regional level in order to both create socially protected and discrimination-free jobs and reduce the environmental impact of economic activities.

 The global initiative, called Strengthening Policies and Capacities for Green Jobs for Youth, involves sugar agro-industrial companies (EAA) in several Cuban provinces.

The Cuban government requested that the sugar agro-industry be prioritized, due to its potential to increase employment of young workers and its commitment to the transition to a circular economy the reduction of the carbon footprint.