CLC-Conference-Proceeding-2018

unfavorable to their development and
education is an important aspect for social
research for transformation purposes.
Participation in the educational and
instructional process is considered the
fundamental way to prevent situations of
disadvantage, which are affecting this segment
of the population.
All this, as a whole, contributes to the
improvement of their quality of life.
In another hand it is very important to
refer that in Cuba there are about 400 children
without family protection living in institutions
(homes for children without family protection).
These are governed by the Ministry of
Education, mainly through the addresses of
Pre-school and Special Education. The State
contributes human, material and financial
resources so that the life in them is developed
as close as possible to the conditions of a
family home, with a reduced number of
children (no more than 20) (UNICEF/Cuba
2015/Castillo).
The growing but still limited access to
information and communication technologies
opens a range of perceptions, interests and
aspirations in the universe of Cuban children
and adolescents (UNICEF/Cuba2015/Piedras).
In the country, important investments have
been made so that each school has computers
to be able to develop in all children and
adolescent’s computer and communication
skills.
There are several challenges for the
Cuban State and Government to maintain, in
some cases, and improve in others, the care of
Cuban children and adolescents. For this,
social policies, programs at local and
community levels are designed, according to
the needs of these population segments, which
have been a priority in the country for nearly
six decades.
Conclusions
At present, Cuba has a very favorable
situation regarding the attention to Cuban
children, adolescents and youth. Since 1959,
this country has been an example in the
attention and protection of these population
groups, which has been a priority of the Cuban
Government and State; This has allowed the
results of the evaluation of indicators related to
the quality of life of children to be similar to
those of developed countries.
This dedication and protection has
allowed a comprehensive development of
Cuban children and adolescents. The design
and implementation of various social policies,
projects and programs have had very good
results in the individual and social
development of this population group.
However, the effects of the economic
crisis that began in the 1990s caused changes
in access to opportunities, which caused
heterogeneity and inequalities in the living
conditions of the population, which are related
to some risk conditions for families.
One of the population segments that
was most affected by this situation was Cuban
children and adolescents, especially children,
girls and adolescents who come from a
population sector that has been studied by some
authors since the 1980s, And whose socioeconomic
and socio-demographic indicators, as
well as other cultural and lifestyle aspects,
differ from the average values of the
population: families in situations of social
disadvantage.
These and other difficulties have been
addressed through educational institutions,
health care and social care at community level,
fundamentally. There are still aspects that can
be improved in relation to childhood and
adolescence, but taking into account the