Last Update: September 2025
Institutional Framework Database for Social Policy
in Latin America and the Caribbean
Dimensión jurídico normativa
The legal and regulatory dimension refers to the existing legal base of the institutional framework of social policy as a central element to identify the State's commitments to guarantee the economic, social, and cultural rights of people. This dimension incorporates the adherence and ratification of international compacts and treaties, the guarantee of rights, and the presence of different social themes in constitutional texts and specific national laws and regulations. Thus, it includes sectoral social laws, especially social development and social protection laws, as well as legislation devoted to specific segments of the population.


Metadata
For the elaboration of these charts, official information from the States was used to identify the existence of national legal instruments (laws or decrees) that establish the mechanisms for social protection of main sectoral topics and for certain population segments. Some States are not included in the graphic because they do not have official information on legal instruments available.
Latin America and the Caribbean (33 countries): Mention and coverage of social issues and specific groups with mentions in specific rules
Country Children and Adolescents Youth Older Persons Women Persons with Disabilities Indigenous Peoples Afro-descendants Migrants Education Labor and Social Security Social Housing Public Health Social Development
Antigua and Barbuda 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Argentina 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Barbados 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 2
Bolivia (Plurinational State of) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Brazil 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Bahamas 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1
Belize 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Chile 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Colombia 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Costa Rica 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Cuba 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Dominica 1 1 2 2 1 1
Dominican Republic 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Ecuador 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Grenada 1 2 1 1 1 1 1
Guatemala 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Guyana 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Honduras 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Haiti 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1
Jamaica 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1
Saint Kitts and Nevis 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1
Saint Lucia 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1
Mexico 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Nicaragua 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Panama 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Peru 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Paraguay 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Suriname 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1
El Salvador 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1
Trinidad and Tobago 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 1
Uruguay 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1 2 1 1 1
Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1


Mención directa      Mención indirecta      No menciona


 

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