Cuba

In Cuba, HI works in community resilience and disaster risk reduction, promoting the active participation of people with disabilities in society.

Seven people stand next to each other in a room, smiling at the camera.

People supported as part of an inclusion project in Cuba. | © HI

Actions in process

Cuba is highly prone to natural disasters, especially during the hurricane season, which runs from June to December each year. In the province of Pinar del Ríoo on the western tip of the country, HI is working on disaster risk reduction and the development of resilience strategies with local authorities and civil society actors to help vulnerable populations prepare for these events. The programme is strengthening local partners' knowledge of risks and their capacity to anticipate and prevent them, while ensuring that people with disabilities are taken into account in the responses provided. They are then able to draw on their experience and heightened expertise to make disaster preparedness plans more effective.

HI is also implementing a project to support the population in the wake of Hurricane Ian, which hit the province hard in 2022. In three municipalities, HI is supporting community initiatives designed to help people regain and sustain their livelihoods. Our teams are also accompanying the development of urban community and family gardens to strengthen food autonomy. Furthermore, HI is helping three schools to prepare for disaster risks and providing training and awareness raising for teaching staff.

Lastly, still in the province of Pinar del Río, and in collaboration with numerous organisations of people with disabilities, Cuban civil society organisations and government ministries, HI is supporting capacity building for people with disabilities, particularly young people and women, in order to promote their participation in decision-making bodies and ensure their voices are heard.

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Situation of the country

Cuba, the largest country in the Caribbean, is facing its worst economic crisis since the 1990s, and the most vulnerable communities are the hardest hit.

The Republic of Cuba developed as a socialist country in the wake of the 1959 revolution. After the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, the country, whose economy had been strongly dependent on the USSR, entered a long period of economic hardship that gradually led to a diversification of the national economy.

However, although many countries have recently revised their position towards Cuba and promoted economic, cultural and political exchanges, the embargo imposed on the country by the United States continues to have a severe impact not only on the island's capacity for growth, but also on the lives of all Cubans. The Cuban economy has been hit hard by the tightening of the embargo and US sanctions since 2018, as well as by the difficulties of its main ally in the region, Venezuela. Despite a limited human toll, the COVID-19 crisis worsened an already precarious situation by depriving the country of one of its main resources, tourism.

Cuban GDP fell by 11% in 2020, before rising by 0.4% in 2021 and 1.8% in 2022.

In recent years, this complex economic scenario has resulted in galloping inflation and limited access to basic necessities, such as food, health and hygiene products. The country's fuel supply has also been severely affected, leading to periodic energy and transport crises. This situation has prompted many Cubans to emigrate to the United States or European countries.

Number of HI staff: 1

Programmed opened in: 1998

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