What works in Cuba

Cuba has enacted significant legal reforms on family rights and gender equality, with its 2022 Family Code passing a 66.85% referendum on 74% turnout, legalising same-sex marriage, banning discrimination based on sex and gender identity, and making shared domestic responsibility a legal duty between spouses. Digital-literacy training reaches across the country through over 600 free Joven Club centres that have trained 4.55 million cumulative graduates since 1987, though this exists within a state-controlled and expensive internet environment. Forest cover has risen from 14% in 1959 to 31.2% by 2020 under the national reforestation programme, though the post-2020 economic crisis has cut annual tree planting by roughly 35% and reveals persistent implementation gaps. The evidence demonstrates legislative ambition and institutional reach, but also highlights gaps between legal frameworks and lived reality, as well as resource constraints in environmental delivery.