This country is a laboratory of human development
• States UNICEF representative in Havana

Lisandra Fariña Acosta

ANOTHER June 1, another International Day of the Child. According to statistics, 20,000 children died that day, as they do every day, as a result of preventable causes. News about childhood continues to be less than encouraging, in a world which needs to rethink itself and end inequality, if it hopes to survive. Children are our hope, yet the world continues to neglect giving them what they deserve.

José Juan Ortiz Brú, UNICEF representative  in Cuba, commented that this is the only  country he knows where the International  Day of the Child can be celebrated dancing.  (Fotos ANABEL DÍAZ MENA y Alberto Borrego)

Cuba celebrated the day in a different way, according to José Juan Ortiz Brú, representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Cuba, speaking with Granma about the challenges countries face in guaranteeing children’s rights.

Since the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child, progress has been made, but the current situation continues to generate inequalities. Given that the world is more developed today, it is absolutely unjust that there are still hundreds of millions of children with very serious needs. If the system cannot generate more equality, it must be changed.

Our children have the right to live, and this right must be protected. The Convention says that it is the responsibility of states and of the international community. All nations, except for the United States and Somalia, have ratified this Convention. Therefore, not doing so is a dereliction of duty. It is a crime, having the ability to prevent these boys and girls from dying and letting them die.

At UNICEF we have analyzed the situation facing children, using the same indicators in all countries. What is the paradoxical fact about Cuba? It is a poor country, but has been guaranteeing children’s rights for 50 years. It is not a question of money, but rather of political priorities. If children were a priority in the world, the problems boys and girls face could be solved in a matter of years, as Cuba did.

Clearly, the Millennium Goals will not be met around the world. Cuba, nevertheless, serves as an example that it can be done. If we analyze the funds spent on weapons and those generated by corruption within the system, we can see that there is money, but it is not spent on children or human development. The gap between the rich and the poor is growing larger all the time. Capitalism has never generated equality; it won’t do so, it’s not a goal.

I’m very optimistic about Latin America. The Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (ECLAC) is a new hope, because, among other things, the people are looking to social, progressive governments, which are beginning to prioritize the rights of people, more so than economic benefits for the rich.

Cuba has always been an example in the area of human development, with levels of equity similar to those in more developed countries. Its great challenge, as in other countries, is achieving responsible consumption. Cuba has taught people to share, the challenge lies in maintaining this, as the world moves in the opposite direction. Values education and policies which strengthen the family must be prioritized, recognizing that what is consumed in the North is unsustainable on the planet.

The fundamental achievement, equality, has been won. The point is to sustain it. It is a treasure that Cuba cannot lose. Here, no one is excluded and these are human rights.

Since it was created in 1992, we have worked with a degree of freedom and autonomy which has allowed us to function satisfactorily. Our strength has always been collaborating with public policies supporting children or developing such policies. There has always been transparency and trust in our work, and this has allowed us to involve ourselves with sectors with which we had not previously collaborated, because they weren’t prioritized.

The role of the mass media in the development of children is exemplary, despite the limitations and has been a great help to us.

So we have taken on two areas of work. One is the cultural sphere, as a guarantor of rights. The best demonstration of equality in Cuba is that UNICEF doesn’t have to address an area like the survival of children, but can address others such as the right to enjoy culture, which is what makes us free.

The other sphere has been the protection of small sectors, such as minors in trouble with the law, or facing domestic and sexual violence. Work with children who have committed acts considered crimes – another challenge for Latin America and the Caribbean – is exemplary in Cuba. No children are behind bars here. What exists is rehabilitation for these youth who, for different reasons, have adopted inappropriate behaviors.

Nor is there a single child with disabilities who is not supported, even served at home if he or she cannot go to school. This is a miraculous achievement.