Skills for Green Jobs: PROSPECTS South–South Workshop Connects MENA and ESA UNICEF Offices
A cross-regional exchange on how green skills can strengthen learning-to-earning pathways for adolescents and young people in displacement-affected settings.
On 2 and 3 December 2025, UNICEF teams from MENA and ESA convened in Cairo to exchange lessons on green skills and green jobs under the PROSPECTS partnership.
PROSPECTS is a partnership bringing together UNICEF and key partners to strengthen education, skills development, and livelihood opportunities for forcibly displaced persons and host communities through national systems.
Climate change, displacement and economic pressure are reshaping labor markets across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA). In Cairo, UNICEF teams and partners came together to explore one key question: How can green skills translate into real pathways to livelihoods for young people?
This learning brief captures the key takeaways and recommendations from the exchange.
Why this workshop?
Young people, especially refugees and vulnerable host communities, are among the most exposed to climate impacts, yet remain excluded from emerging livelihood opportunities. This workshop created a practical space for UNICEF teams to exchange what works, identify bottlenecks, and strengthen approaches that connect learning with earning.
What’s inside the Learning Brief?
The brief highlights:
- Discussion of key barriers stopping youth from moving from training into livelihoods
- Emerging country experiences and entry points for scale
- The role of youth-led climate action as part of employability pathways
- Recommendations on strengthening green learning-to-earning programming across PROSPECTS
Green skills are most effective when they are embedded in systems and linked to real labor-market demand , not delivered as isolated activities.
The workshop reinforced UNICEF’s role in connecting education, skills development and youth engagement to sustainable livelihoods, with equity at the centre.
Explore Country Profiles
The workshop brought together six country experiences across MENA and ESA. Explored how each context is approaching green skills and green jobs programming, including key entry points, challenges and emerging solutions.
Funded by the Government of the Netherlands, the PROSPECTS Partnership brings together UNICEF, UNHCR, ILO, IFC, and the World Bank to enhance education, protection, and livelihoods for refugees, internally displaced people, and host communities. The initiative operates in eight countries — Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Sudan, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Uganda, where over 20 million people are forcibly displaced where the majority are children and young people.