With (and for) young Cuba, again

70 years ago, a great girl broke into Santiago de Cuba and Bayamo at dawn, and forever changed the halo of Santa Ana. Among the more than 150 people involved in the events of the assault on the Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, three were over 40 years old, some 130 were under 30, and there were two over 17, according to historical investigations.

This had happened since the first struggles for independence, thus in the vindication of dignity at the beginning of the Neocolonial Republic, thus after 1959 in the defense of sovereignty won at the cost of the blood of many generations with the leading role of the most inexperienced .

Then, and now, the youth leads and assumes the main battles of the nation, today centered on economic development, the consolidation of social programs, the ideological debate for socialism, in the midst of a convulsive context of unprecedented imperialist aggression, a society and a very diverse and constantly controversial society.

In this framework of contradictions and aspirations, the newest generations of this country live and grow, dream and are disappointed, question and contribute.

In this way, the Comprehensive Care Policy for children, adolescents and youth recently approved by the National Assembly of People's Power can be assumed as a tribute to the role of batches of young people throughout history and understood as an instrument for the realization of a recurringly expressed will but not always materialized.

Does it mean that we did not serve this sector of the population? Why is a Policy needed in a State that exhibits educational, health and access to culture, sports practice or dream postgraduate indicators, and of which children and youth are the main beneficiaries? What makes the implementation of their action plan urgent as a preamble to a Law in the immediate future?

Well yes, this system of activities, priorities and responsibilities was necessary and urgent given the current demographic statistics, especially aging and emigration. It is urgent that all of us, institutions, entities, authorities, families, work in a concrete and integrated way so that childhood is more respected, adolescence is better understood and attended to in its uncertainties, and that young people find in their country and in their municipality the place where to meet their vital needs.

Faced with realities as painful and worrying as the fact that 18% of pregnancies correspond to girls between 13 and 18 years of age, or in our neighborhoods more minors wake up every day who do not want to study or join a job, it is time to name who and how they should deal with it.

Faced with infants and adolescents who are uncontrolled consumers of digital social networks and any product on the Internet, victims of cultural colonization and a few other scourges, it is time for more coherent actions and better-enforced regulations.

Of course, the document by itself will not solve all the difficulties on the fly, but I am confident that it is not just another piece of paper. With 14 specific objectives, each one contemplates a broad action plan in the short (2023-2025) and medium (2026-2030) terms, with clear managers and measurable indicators to evaluate its implementation.

In times of economic crisis, some of his proposals are closer to the aspiration, such as the inclusion of young couples among the priorities in housing construction, or broadband connectivity in educational institutions, but the majority "illuminates", indicates , requires doing... with grounded feet, creative hands and a truly committed heart, with those people in training who will not be able to defend a better future if we do not build around them, from the moment they are born, a more propitious present.

In the immediate future, each school, workplace, organization, community group... and so on, even the People's Power assemblies and ministries, must update their development programs in line with the regulations.

From there, and with adequate communication, we should all study and decide how much more we can do in the nearby space that begins at home, in the neighborhood and radiates towards society and its institutions, for our childhood, adolescence and youth, continuity of so many girls protagonists of the most crucial hours in Cuba.

Translated by Linet Acuña Quilez

 

 

  • To promote mechanisms for the representation and participation of children and youth in territorial and country policies, as well as the link between agencies and organizations to address their training and ethical and professional development in a timely and equitable manner, with the territory as the main scenario.
  • To raise the quality in the identification, analysis, care and follow-up of children, adolescents and young people in vulnerable situations, their families and the community environments where they develop, and encourage them to acquire knowledge, skills and competencies to exercise their rights and obligations in the environment.
  • To improve comprehensive health care for children, adolescents and young people throughout the life cycle.
  • To improve vocational training, professional guidance and training of children, adolescents and young people for their performance in the science, technology and innovation sector.
  • To increase the insertion and stability of young people in quality jobs, with opportunities to increase their material and spiritual well-being, in line with the economic and social development of the country and encourage them to materialize their life project in the national territory.
  • To encourage children, adolescents and young people to study history and socialize values, particularly patriotic values and national identity.
  • To promote the increase in the quality of life of children, adolescents and young people, the satisfaction of their needs for goods and services and equitable access to cultural, sports and healthy entertainment alternatives, with an environmental culture and a humanist, patriotic and socialist foundation, that allows an integral formation.
  • To strengthen the supply of connectivity and equipment, the quality and variety of Cuban digital services and content for boys, girls, adolescents and young people, as well as their skills, knowledge and abilities for their critical use, as tools for social inclusion and citizen participation, especially in groups in vulnerable conditions.
  • To improve the communication component for children, adolescents and young people and its responsible use to guarantee their protection, education, information, participation, recognition of their rights and culture of dialogue, in order to confront cultural colonization.
  • To facilitate young people's access to adequate housing.
  • To reduce the rates of violence, social indiscipline and crime, and achieve the social reintegration of a greater number of adolescents and young people.
  • To stimulate a positive link with Cuba for children, adolescents and young people residing abroad, which favors personal and collective development in accordance with national development priorities.
  • To update legal instruments on children and youth, in particular Law No. 16 Child and Youth Code.
  • To integrate and to complete the statistical information on children and youth in a subsystem of the National Statistical System.