The Executive Committee of the Council of Ministers of Cuba approved the , which establishes the Economic Inclusion Program for the provision of tools, equipment, and small-scale supplies to individuals living in households with accumulated deprivations in various areas, such as health, education, employment, housing, and food security.
The regulation, signed by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz on September 18, was published on Thursday in the .
According to the first article of the agreement, the program aims to "strengthen the social protection system, promote economic autonomy, create sustainable jobs and income, and reduce multidimensional vulnerability in individuals and households by providing small-scale productive assets."
The text defines these assets as "tools, utensils, light machinery, supplies, or equipment that are acquired and maintained at a low cost," suitable for individual, family, or associative management, and categorizes them into four groups.
The first encompasses agricultural and agroecological inputs: agricultural tools, small-scale irrigation systems, seeds, modules for small livestock, and breeding stock for poultry, rabbits, sheep, and goats.
The second category includes equipment for artisanal and service trades: carpentry, masonry, sewing, shoemaking, hairdressing, gastronomy, plumbing, community laundries, and vehicle repair.
The third includes energy-efficient technological and digital support equipment aimed at community services, administrative management, printing, basic advertising design, and repair of mobile phones and microelectronics.
A fourth category remains open for "other" assets based on the needs of each territory.
The assets will be delivered through a loan agreement, and access to the program requires three conditions: residing in a household identified as multidimensionally vulnerable, being of working age with physical and mental fitness, and agreeing to comply with an Economic Inclusion Plan—an individualized instrument that gathers the beneficiary's capability assessment, the activity to be developed, and the assigned asset.
The agreement establishes five priority groups: caregivers able to balance this role with economic activities; women with dependents under their care and low incomes; young people aged 18 to 30 who are disengaged from education and work; persons with disabilities who have work skills; and individuals in informal situations.
The coordination of the program falls under the Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MTSS), the municipal and provincial administrations of the People's Power, social workers, economic actors from various management forms, and training centers. Interested parties can submit their applications on their own initiative to the municipal offices of Labor and Social Security.
Agreement 10445 updates and formalizes a mechanism that was already outlined in Agreement 9152 from August 2021, which allowed municipal boards to provide productive assets to vulnerable individuals to integrate them into non-state employment, but without the eligibility criteria or categories of assets now established by the new regulation.
Gaceta No. 88 also published the regarding the strengthening of social work and the that establishes a program for job training for young people aged 18 to 30 offering courses ranging from one to six months, with a monthly income of 3,210 pesos, thus creating a comprehensive regulatory framework for social policy.
The Agreement 10445 is part of the 176 economic and social transformations presented by the Cuban government in June 2026, which aims to gradually replace universal subsidies with targeted assistance for vulnerable individuals and families. The Cuban government announced in October a monthly distribution of food intended for approximately 883,000 individuals in vulnerable situations.
Related videos:
Filed under: