Radio Cadena Agramonte emisiora de Camagüey
Havana, Feb 19.- The entry into force of the Code for Children, Adolescences and Youths (Law 178/2025) consolidated in Cuba an institutional system aimed at guaranteeing the rights of girls, boys and adolescents, through the creation of the Comprehensive Protection System, specified the newspaper Granma.
The new framework responds to the constitutional mandate of 2019 and the Family Code of 2022, by recognizing the new generations as full subjects of rights and establishing mechanisms to make them effective.
Among its guiding principles is the consideration of infants as developing persons and subjects of special protection, with shared responsibility among families, educational institutions and state entities to ensure inclusive and violence-free environments.
The structure is organized into seven specialized subsystems: Education, Health, Protection against violence, Alternative care, Social protection, Prevention and early intervention, and Adolescent criminal justice, each with specific functions to address the various dimensions of childhood and youth life.
In the area of violence, the system has support services, legal assistance and psychological care, as well as mandatory protocols in institutions for the detection, reporting and monitoring of cases.
Alternative care guarantees the right to live in a family environment through modalities such as foster care or institutional care, the latter being exceptional and temporary, always under judicial decision.
Adolescent criminal justice prioritizes restorative and socio-educational measures over sanctions, with an express prohibition of the death penalty and life imprisonment, and separation from facilities intended for adults.
Protection measures may be administrative or judicial, from family support to separation from the environment, always as an exceptional resource, with the minor's right to be heard and the participation of defenders and technical teams.
National governance falls to the Commission on Children, Adolescences and Youths, chaired by a Deputy Prime Minister and made up of heads of 11 ministries, with regular sessions every two months to approve guidelines, evaluate legislative projects and guarantee the active participation of minors in decisions that concern them.
At the provincial level, the commissions are chaired by the governors, while at the municipal level, priority is given to risk detection and the receipt of complaints and reports, ensuring coordinated functioning at all levels.
This institutional framework constitutes a decisive step in the comprehensive protection of childhood in Cuba and establishes monitoring and periodic evaluation mechanisms to guarantee its effectiveness. (ACN) (Photo: Taken from the Internet)
