The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is currently developing a study to determine the effect of climate change on children and adolescents in communities on Cuba's southern coast.

Ciego de Ávila, Cuba.- The communities of La Coloma, in Pinar del Río, and Júcaro, in Ciego de Ávila, were chosen for the study, as they have a high level of risk and vulnerability to extreme weather phenomena.

Both municipalities are part of the Mi Costa (My Coast) global project. The initiative aims to implement natural solutions and create capacities to face complicated climate scenarios.

During a visit to southern Ciego de Ávila, Dariadna Barrios, a specialist at the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO) in Cuba, underscored the interest in knowing the level of exposure and sensitivity to climate change in children and adolescents.

Barrios added that the study is essential to organize and strengthen the actions of international and national organizations committed to protecting children.

Based on the experience of La Coloma in Pinar del Río, research techniques, and methods, including group interviews and exchanges with teachers, students, social workers, government representatives, community leaders, and local managers of different organizations, were applied during the fieldwork in Júcaro.

A group of houses were visited in the vulnerable neighborhoods of La Puya and Palmarito, near the coast, where families responded to questionnaires, whose results will contribute to assessing livelihoods and strengthening the project’s capacity-building process at early ages.

During the survey, the FLACSO-Cuba team highlighted the support of the Community Monitoring Brigade founded by the Mi Costa (My Coast) Project in Júcaro, and expressed satisfaction with the experience in that community, as they do not have the opportunity to do fieldwork every day. (PL)