During the first days of March, Matilde Luna traveled to Cuba to work, firstly, with UNICEF Cuba and the local government, in order to prepare a strategy for promoting the creation of a foster care programme in that country; and secondly, to be a speaker at the regional meeting ‘First 1000 Days of Protection with Equity’ of UNICEF Latin America and the Caribbean, carried out in Havana.

The work experience with the Cuban government has been very positive, since the policy on children without family support in Cuba has a strong preventive nature, with a clear emphasis on community and solidarity. The country has made significant progress that, we consider, is important to systematise. The Cuban foster family programme has grown a lot, with the number of foster families having increased from 15 to 85. These families receive institutionalised children in a similar fashion as to what is known as ‘sponsorship’. RELAF, for its part, gave a training on foster care to promote the creation of a program in the country, where participants received a copy of RELAF’s Foster Care Guide.

From March 1 to 3, the regional meeting ‘First 1000 Days of Protection with Equity’, organised by UNICEF LACRO, took place in Havana, with participants from the United States, Canada, Chile, and Colombia, among others. The first day saw talks from experts such as Delia Pop, Kevin Browne, Teresa Kilbane and Pía Britto. Matilde Luna spoke about the situation of children under 3 years of age in institutions in the region, and about the Model for the prevention of abandonment and institutionalisation, showing the results of its application in Panama and Uruguay. As a result of our participation, the visibility of institutionalisation and confinement as a form of violence against children under 3 was strengthened, as well as its inclusion in the agendas of UNICEF offices, showing the need to create prevention strategies from an integrated, inter-sectorial and co-responsibility perspective.

Access the meeting’s fact sheet here

Matilde Luna, Director of RELAF, met with María Caridad Calvo, Methodologist of the Ministry of Education of the Government of Cuba, to analyse and discuss the progress and obstacles in that country regarding the protection of children separated from their families of origin. RELAF will participate in the meeting on early childhood development to be held in Cuba next year, where it will develop a working agenda with the Cuban government, jointly with UNICEF.