ECOWAS ministers of social development hold forum in Accra
The Forum of Ministers of Social Development for the ECOWAS countries and policy makers are meeting in Accra to discuss the challenges and impact of environmental change on social inclusion and vulnerability.
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Participants will also share knowledge and experiences and formulate policy recommendations on how to improve linkage between research and policy on the subject.
The two-day forum on the theme,“Societal Vulnerability: The Social Inclusion Challenges of Environmental Change” is being organised by the government in co-operation with UNESCO.
The event is part of a series of meetings of Ministers of Social Development under the auspices of UNESCO’s Management of Social Transformations (MOST) programme.
The outcome of the forum will feed into other major policy processess at the regional and international levels, including sessions of the MOST Intergovernmental Council and the Commission for Social Development of the UN General Assembly.
The overall purpose of the MOST Fora is to facilitate policy design and implementation on the basis of rigorous social science knowledge by creating an innovative space for policy-oriented dialogue involving experts, as well as high-level decision makers globally.
Common framework
Welcoming the participants, the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Nana Oye Lithur, called on the participants to fully support the initiative of developing a common framework for developing policies and programmes that addressed environmental change in the sub-region as this would help to influence international discourse.
She said West Africa and the whole world was experiencing environmental change, and social development had implications because of climate change, biodiversity loss and fresh water scarcity and that people and communities became vulnerable due to climate change and social development.
Those vulnerable to climate change
“It is the most vulnerable, poor people, the very young, the elderly and persons with disabilities, the youth and women who, due to environmental degradation, may become under-nourished and have poor health,” she said.
According to her, if these issues are not addressed in a sustainable manner, the situation will become more aggravated, adding that it is the majority of the poor population who live in the rural areas and mainly depend on agriculture for their livelihood who become vulnerable to climate change.
Global environmental change
On her part, Ms Angelo Melo, the Executive Secretary of the MOST programme, indicated that global environmental change such as climate change, biodiversity loss and freshwater scarcity were directly linked to social inclusion and social transformation.
