Children, a priority in Cuba.

In our country there is a political will to guarantee the adequate development and well-being of children. The Convention on the Rights of the Child entered into force in Cuba on September 20th, 1991.

International Children’s Day is celebrated in different countries around the world on June 1 st .

The purpose of the day is to remember that children are the most vulnerable group affected by the different regional and global crises. In this sense, the United Nations proposes on this date to emphasize the defense of the basic rights of children: Health, Education and Protection.

The history of this commemoration reveals the struggle for the recognition of these rights. The starting point was the International Conference in Defense of Children in Vienna in 1956. There it was proclaimed that just for being born, the child has the right to be happy.

In our country there is a political will to guarantee the adequate development and well-being of children. The Convention on the Rights of the Child entered into force in Cuba on September 20th, 1991.

In 2023 the deputies of the tenth legislature approved the Policy for the Integral Attention of Children, Adolescents and Youth.

The policy articulates the factors that intervene in the conditions in which these age groups live, mainstreaming their rights and conceiving the new generations as strategic actors for the country’s development.

Not only in terms of legislation, Cuban children, adolescents and young people are also a priority in the health and education sectors.

Each Cuban infant is protected against thirteen ailments, most of which are scourges in other Latin American and African countries. UNICEF globally recognized Cuba’s experience in early childhood education through the Educa a tu Hijo (Educate your Child) program and the Círculos Infantiles (Children’s Circles).

In the largest of the Antilles, we are clear about the Martí principle that children are the hope of the world.

Written by  Regla Yasira de León Reyes.