Latin America and the Caribbean (33 countries): government mechanisms devoted to social development, 2017

Country	Ministry of Social Development or equivalent	Year of creation of specific first instance	Mission	Minister (year of entry)	Poverty and social development	Social protection	Wellbeing of specific segments	Intersectoral Commission for Social Development or equivalent
Antigua and Barbuda	Ministry of Health, Wellness, Social Transformation & The Environment	2004	To be responsible for community and social services, with emphasis on combating poverty, promoting equality and improving the quality of life of people.	Sir Molwyn Joseph (2023)	1	1	1	1
Argentina	Ministry of Human Capital	2023	The ministry's main objective is to centralize, align, and promote public policies related to the areas of education, labor, culture, childhood, adolescence, and family. Its aim is to develop protection and strengthening policies to ensure proper comprehensiveness, coordination, and impact in the design and execution of social programs.	Sandra Viviana Pettovello (2023)	1	1	1	1
Barbados	Ministry of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs	n.d.	To contribute to the overall socio-economic development of Barbados and the empowerment of all members of society by fully utilizing all available human, financial and technological resources; formulating evidence-based policy; and implementing timely, effective and equitably accessible social programmes and services. Its mission is reaching a transformed social landscape that provides ever improving and equal opportunities for all citizens to achieve a sustainable and acceptable standard of living, an enhanced quality of life and the ability to fully participate effectively in the overall development of the country.	Kirk Humphrey (2022)	1	1
Bolivia (Plurinational State of)	Ministry of Development Planning	2006	Manager and articulator of the objectives of the development in harmony with Mother Earth. It supports State entities in the planning of plurinational public management, applying policies, strategies and comprehensive instruments of state planning, public investment and financing, strengthening the role of the State and the actors of the plural economy. Its mission is to direct a Comprehensive Planning of the Plurinational State, towards the achievement of the objectives of Integral Development to Live Well in harmony with Mother Earth, within the framework of the Patriotic Agenda 2025. This aims to build a society and a more inclusive, participatory, democratic, non-discriminatory, and with less racism, hatred, or division. Its pillars are: the eradication of extreme poverty; the socialization and universalization of basic services with sovereignty; health, education and sports in order to form an integral human being; among other.	Sergio Cusicanqui (2022)	1	1		1
Brazil	Ministry of Social Development and Assistance, Family and Fight Against Hunger	2023	Among the competencies of the ministry are strengthening national policies for social development, food and nutritional security, social assistance, citizenship income, and the coordination with governments at the federal, state and municipal level, as well as with the Federal District and civil society, to establish guidelines for the said national policies. The ministry is also responsible for the management of the National Social Assistance Fund, the Eradication of Poverty Fund, the coordination, supervision, control and evaluation of income transfer programmes, and the approval of the general budgets for the Industry Social Service, the Trade Social Service, and the Transportation Social Service.	Wellington Dias (2023)	1	1	1	1
Bahamas	Ministry of Social Services, Information and Broadcasting	n.d.	The Ministry has oversight for the following areas: Social Development; Social Services; Public Assistance; Social Welfare; Old Age Pensions; Care of Indigent and Aged Persons; Care Facilities; Child Protection; Disabled Persons; The Williemae Pratt Centre for Girls; The Simpson Peen Centre for Boys; Rehabilitative Services; Community Development, among others.	Myles Kentworth LaRoda (2023)	1	1	1
Belize	Ministry of Human Development, Families & Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs	n.d.	The Ministry is the lead entity of the Government of Belize in the development of people, enabling them to realize their full potential and play a meaningful role in their communities. In collaboration with all relevant partners, its mission is to facilitate policy development and to implement programmes that promote social justice and equity, enabling people to be self-sufficient, responsible and productive citizens. Its main values and principales are: Social Justice; Equality; Equity; Family Preservation; Non-Discrimination; Participation; Respect and appreciation for the people being served.	Dolores Balderamos-Garcia (2020)	1	1	1
Chile	Ministry of Social Development and Family	2019	To contribute to the design and application of social development policies, plans and programs, especially those aimed at eradicating poverty and providing social protection to vulnerable people, promoting mobility and social inclusion. Likewise, it must ensure the coordination, consistency and coherence of the policies, plans and programs in the area of social development, at the national and regional levels and evaluate the pre-investment studies of projects that request financing from the State to determine their social profitability, so that they respond to the strategies and policies of growth and economic and social development that are determined for the country.	Javiera Toro (2023)	1	1	1	1
Colombia	Administrative Department for Social Prosperity	2011	It is the entity of the National Government that seeks to create and implement policies, general plans, programs and projects for assistance, attention and reparation to the victims of violence; social inclusion, attention to vulnerable groups and their social and economic reintegration. Its mission is to design, coordinate, and implement public policies for social inclusion and reconciliation.	Gustavo Bolívar (2024)	1	1	1	1
Costa Rica	Joint Institute for Social Aid / Ministry of Social Development and Social Inclusion	1971	To be the leading institution in the country in overcoming poverty, which effectively articulates the efforts of society for that purpose, on the base of their knowledge of the issue and institutional values. For this, the Ministry's mission is to promote dignified living conditions and the social development of people, families and communities in a situation of poverty or risk and social vulnerability, with an emphasis on people in extreme poverty; providing them with opportunities, services and resources, based on knowledge of the real needs of the target population, with a focus on rights, gender equity and territoriality; with the active participation of different social actors and with transparency, and a spirit of service and solidarity. As the leading institution in the country in overcoming poverty, it effectively articulates the efforts of society, based on its knowledge of the subject and institutional values. The management of the Institution will be based on the following values: justice and solidarity; teamwork; excellence; service; transparency.	Yorleny León Marchena (2022)	1	1		1
Cuba	Ministry of Labour and Social Security	1994	To propose, direct and control the policy of the State and the Government in the matters of work, protection, safety and hygiene of work, social security and prevention, assistance and social work. Its mission is to develop full employment, the strategic management of human resources for the achievement of a high human, economic and social performance, and the new model of social security management, with the aim of being an institution recognized as advanced in the management of full employment, human capital and social security for all.	Marta Elena Feito Cabrera (2019)	1	1	1
Dominican Republic	Social Policy Coordination Cabinet	2004	Articulation instance of the formulation, execution, monitoring and evaluation of the programs included in the Social Protection System of the Dominican Republic, based on three main areas: conditional transfer programs, economic inclusion and human and social development programs. Its functions are: coordinating the formulation, execution and evaluation process of social policies; design, establish and follow up on a strategic agenda of the social sector and inform the President of the Republic about its evolution; know, attend and give effective response social demands in the matters related to its field of action; recommend to the executive preventive action courses for real and potential problems that could affect the sector; analyze and make recommendations about matters of a general nature that are related to the other institutions that comprise it; study the issues that affect the competence of several Ministries related to the social sector and that require the preparation of joint proposals, prior to their resolution. Its mission is to ensure the effectiveness of the strategy and social policies, articulating the programs and actions that in terms of social demand create the institutions that make up the Cabinet, focused on influencing the integral development of Dominican families who live in situations of vulnerability and in the reduction of poverty.	Francisco Antonio Peña (2020)	1	1		1
Ecuador	Ministry of Economic and Social Inclusion	2007	Be the regional and national reference in the definition and execution of economic and social inclusion policies, contributing to the overcoming of inequality gaps; through the joint construction of a good quality of life for the Ecuadorian population. To this end, the Ministry's mission is to define and execute policies, strategies, plans, programs, projects and quality services that are executed with care, for economic and social inclusion. That is to be done with emphasis on the priority attention groups and the population that is in situation of poverty and vulnerability, promoting development and care during the life cycle, upward social mobility and strengthening the popular and solidary economy. The management of the Institution will be based on the following values: Integrity; Transparency; Warmth; Solidarity; Collaboration; Effectiveness; Respect; Responsibility and Democratic leadership.	Zaida Rovira (2023)	1	1	1	1
Grenada	Ministry of Social & Community Development, Housing and Gender Affairs	2004	The provision of services geared towards the resolution of individual and family problems, the alleviation of poverty, rehabilitation of the disabled, disadvantaged, deprived and those affected by the crisis and natural disasters. To become the vanguard and exemplary organization for positive social development of the citizens of Grenada, Carriacou and Petit Martinique. The Ministry through the development of policies and the delivery of a range of social welfare services aims to provide equitable and sustainable improvement in the quality of life of all citizens, in particular the needy of our society, the elderly, families, victims of abuse, children, young offenders and persons in need of immediate financial and material assistance.	Gloria A. Thomas (2024)	1	1	1
Guatemala	Ministry of Social Development	2012	It is the leading entity that promotes and articulates policies and actions for the sustainable social development of the population excluded from their basic opportunities, in order to contribute to improve their living conditions and reduce poverty. It strives to be efficient, transparent and reliable, to accompany the vulnerable population of Guatemala, in order to improve their living conditions with dignity and integrate them into the productive activity of the country. The Ministry formulates, dictates and establishes public policies aimed at improving the welfare level of people and groups that are socially vulnerable. As part of the Executive Body it was declared as a national emergency, which implies that it must formulate strategies for people to optimize their health, education and quality of life, while at the same time strengthening national food security. The Ministry is oriented to the attention of Human Rights in general and of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in a particular way, considering that many of the social difficulties are based on manifest deficiencies within the combination of these rights.	Abelardo Pinto (2024)	1	1	1	1
Guyana	Ministry of Human Services and Social Security	n.d.	El Ministerio de Servicios Humanos y Seguridad Social está comprometido con el desarrollo sostenible y la rehabilitación de los niños, las mujeres, las familias y los ancianos, y brinda capacitación y servicios / programas sociales y de bienestar a personas en circunstancias difíciles y personas desfavorecidas.	Vindhya Persaud (2020)	1	1	1
Honduras	Secretariat of Social Development	2022	The Secretariat is in charge of the design, planning, coordination, monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of social development and protection policies, aimed to vulnerable groups, to establish a Honduras based in solidarity, inclusion and peace.	José Carlos Cardona (2022)	1	1	1	1
Haiti	Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour	1983	To define and implement the Government's social policy; to guarantee the protection of workers in the formal and informal sectors of the economy and improve living and working conditions; establish, on the basis of national solidarity, an adequate social security regime against physical, economic, social and other risks; lead the fight against hunger, malnutrition, unemployment and indigence; create, authorize, promote and supervise social assistance works, both public and private.	Georges Wilbert Franck (2024)	1	1	1	1
Jamaica	Ministry of Labour and Social Security	2000	To promote a responsive labour market and deliver effective social protection programmes for the vulnerable in an efficient manner while promoting a national culture of productivity within the decent work agenda. Its main mandates are: to provide effective social protection and promote social inclusion; Promote a stable industrial relations climate; promote productivity growth; ensure safety and health of workers; maintain an effective and efficient labour market.	Pearnel Charles Jr. (2023)	1	1
Saint Kitts and Nevis	Ministry of Education, Youth, Social Development, Gender Affairs, Aging and Disabilities	2011	El Ministerio de Desarrollo Social y Asuntos de Género es la rama del gobierno dedicada a la protección social y la defensa de los derechos sociales, apoyando y salvaguardando los derechos humanos y el bienestar de todas las personas, incluyendo grupos vulnerables como los ancianos, las personas con discapacidades, los indigentes, y los jóvenes que tienen problemas con la justicia.	Geoffrey Ian Hanley (2022)	1	1	1	1
Saint Lucia	Ministry of Equity, Social Justice and Empowerment	n.d.	To promote, support and facilitate the participation, development and organization of our people, in utilizing their resources to effect self-directed change towards the economic, social, cultural, political and spiritual advancement of themselves, their communities and the nation.	Joachim Henry (2021)	1	1
Mexico	Secretariat of Welfare	2018	The Ministry of Welfare has responsibilities on the following matters: I. Strengthen welfare, development, inclusion and social cohesion in the country. II. Formulate, conduct and evaluate the general policy of social development for the effective fight against poverty. III. Coordinating actions that affect the welfare of the population, the fight against poverty and human development, promoting a better standard of living. IV. Encourage the activities of civil society organizations in welfare affairs, poverty eradication and human development V. Evaluate the application of transfers of funds to states and municipalities, and of the social and private sectors, which are derived from the actions and investments agreed upon in the terms of this article; VI. Coordinate, specify and execute special programs for the attention of the most unprotected social sectors to raise the standard of living of the population VII. To promote policies and follow up on programs of social inclusion and protection of the rights of children and adolescents VIII. Develop public policies and follow up on the programs of support and inclusion of young people to participatory and productive social life; IX. Promote public policies and follow up on inclusion and care programs for older adults and their rights; of persons with disabilities and of indigenous peoples XI. Promote, through the National System of Public and Private Social Assistance, public policies regarding social assistance and family integration. XII. Promote the construction of infrastructure and equipment to strengthen the development and social inclusion. XIV. Formulating, conducting and evaluating the policy of promotion and development of the social sector of the economy; XV. Promoting the organization and constitution of all types of cooperative societies, whose purpose is industrial production, distribution or consumption, and XVI. To encourage and support rural family subsistence production units; XVII. Participation in the coordination and implementation of rural development policies to raise the level of welfare of families, communities and ejidos; XVIII. Assist in the design and implementation of public policies aimed at promoting agroforestry, productivity, social economy and employment in rural areas and to prevent migration from rural areas; XIX. Promote programs to promote co-responsibility in an equitable manner between families, the State and social and private assistance institutions, regarding child care and protection of vulnerable groups; XX. Coordinate, together with the General Coordination of Programs for Development, the State Delegations of the Programs for the Development of the Federative Entities XXI. Integrate, maintain and update an information system with the lists of beneficiaries of social programs of the Federal Public Administration, as well as debug their duplications.	Ariadna Montiel Reyes (2022)	1	1	1	1
Nicaragua	Ministry of Family, Adolescence and Childhood	2007	To facilitate the execution of integral actions for the benefit of vulnerable population groups, underprivileged and abandoned children, elderly people and people with different abilities, seeking to offer self-supporting solutions. By mandate of the Law 290, it implements social policies for the promotion, prevention and special protection of the rights of girls, boys, adolescents, seniors and families that are in situations of social risk. Its mission is to guarantee the restitution and protection of the fundamental rights of children and adolescents who are in a situation of greater disadvantage, vulnerability or risk. For this, we work with astrategy of shared responsibility with the participation of families; young people; the Cabinet of the Family, Communities and Life and the Solidary Homes.	Johana Vanessa Flores (2018)	1	1	1	1
Panama	Ministry of Social Development	2005	Main executor of the social policies of the Panamanian State, its responsabilities are: To strengthen the abilities and capacities of the country's human capital and to achieve the sustainability of national development, Saving for social protection and regulation of the quality of services, to prevent social exclusion and compensate for its consequences. Its mission is to become a government entity that facilitates processes that generate social policy and that invests in the promotion and strengthening of collective capacities and in the prevention of social exclusion and compensation for its effects. It aspires to carry out an institutional management guided by widely agreed social policies that promote social organization, equity and common welfare.	Beatriz Carles de Arango (2024)	1	1	1	1
Peru	Ministry of Social Development and Inclusion	2011	The Ministry (MIDIS) is the main entity that is responsible for national policies that promote Development and Social Inclusion. Its mission is to ensure that the social policies and programs of the different sectors and different levels of government act in a coordinated and articulated manner, in order to close gaps in access to universal quality public services and access to the opportunities that economic growth opens up. The MIDIS was created to change the inertia, fragmentation and disarticulation of the Peruvian State in the face of poverty and social exclusion and to coordinate joint actions in the different territories of the country, monitor compliance with agreements and evaluate the impacts that are generated in order to mark the course of the State towards an effective fight against poverty.	Julio Demartini Montes (2022)	1	1		1
Paraguay	Ministry of Social Development	2018	Its responsabilities are: The design and implementation of policies, plans, programmes, and projects that deal with development and social equity, through the interinstitutional coordination of all actions aiming at reducing inequalities and improving the quality of life of population segments facing situations of poverty and/or vulnerability with a life-cycle approach,grounded in the constitutional principles and values relative to the respect of human rights, social justice, equity, inclusion, solidarity, sustainability, equality of opportunities, and social participation.	Miguel Tadeo Rojas (2023)	1	1	1	1
Suriname	Ministerie van Sociale Zaken en Volkshuisvesting	1980	The Ministry supports vulnerable groups in our society, so that they can also enjoy a decent level of life. Some of the groups supported by the Ministry are children and young people; people with disabilities; homeless persons and households; senior citizens; persons and families with low incomes.	Ines Pané (2023)	1	1	1
Trinidad and Tobago	Ministry of Social Development and Family Services	1989	The MSDFS is the core social sector Ministry with responsibility for coordinating the implementation of Government’s social and human development objectives. The MSDFS is mandated with responsibility for addressing the social challenges of poverty, social inequality and social exclusion. Particular emphasis is placed on developing and executing programmes and services that protect and assist vulnerable and marginalized groups in society such as women, children, persons with disabilities, the elderly, the poor/indigent, the socially displaced, ex-prisoners, deportees and persons living with HIV/AIDS. The major roles and responsibilities of the Ministry of Social Development and Family Services are: serving as a central coordinating body for the social sector with respect to the conduct of research, policy and programme planning and development; and monitoring and evaluation; facilitating networking, information and data gathering and dissemination within the social sector and with external agencies; initiating and operationalizing programmes for subsequent hand over to relevant social sector Ministries; developing systems, strategies and programmes to realize positive attitudes and behaviour in the citizenry; identifying gaps and making recommendations for the drafting and amendment of legislation relevant to the sector; fostering peace, harmony and social justice through programmes such as community mediation; fostering good governance through the promotion of participatory development approaches; delivering social services and providing social support for vulnerable groups, towards sustainable enhancement of their well-being. The Ministry’s seven Strategic/Corporate Objectives according to its core stakeholder groups are as follows: to reduce the incidence of the poverty in society; to increase the level of participation of persons with disabilities in society toward the realisation of their full potential; to sustain and enhance the well-being of all elderly persons; to reduce the number of socially displaced persons; to reduce substance abuse in the population; to develop, monitor and evaluate the policy framework for the effective delivery of social services; to achieve a high performance, customer focused organization that meets its operational and strategic objectives in an efficient and effective way.	Donna Cox (2020)	1	1	1	1
Uruguay	Ministry of Social Development	2005	To formulate, execute, supervise, coordinate, program, monitor and evaluate the policies, strategies and policies regarding women, young people, families, the elderly, people with disabilities and social development in general. The Ministry of Social Development, is responsible for nation wide social policies, as well as coordination - in both sectoral and territorial level -, articulation, monitoring, monitoring and evaluation of plans, programs and projects, in the areas of its competence, regarding the consolidation of a progressive redistributive social policy. Likewise, it is the mission of this ministry to contribute to the development of social participation that allows the strengthening of the active citizenship of the Uruguayans, promoting the broadest integration of the citizens in their activities.	Alejandro Sciarra (2024)	1	1	1	1
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Ministry of National Mobilisation, Social Development, Family, Gender Affairs and Persons with Disabilities	n.d.	Our missions are: to facilitate social, cultural and economic development at the community level; to promote sustainable economic development by engineering and regulating a vibrant co-operative sector in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; to provide persistently, effective programmes and efficient services aimed at advocating equity in family relations, fostering the Rights of the Child, persons with disabilities, the elderly and enhancing the socio-economic development of all family members; to ensure that all citizens of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines have equal access to opportunities that will shape their social, cultural, spiritual, educational, economical and political development, and to provide a caring environment in which boys 7 – 16 years old having familial, educational, social, emotional, and or behavioural difficulties can develop skills that would allow them to become responsible and productive citizens.	Keisal Peters (2024)	1	1	1
Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)	People's Ministry for Communes and Social Movements	2013	To implement social policies that promote the democratic exercise and vitality, in terms of promotion, assistance and integral participative social development, through committees, plans, programs and projects of the social protection system. This is based on the integrality not only of care for the affected or social group injured in extreme poverty or maximum social exclusion, but also to the social context surrounding the affected or vulnerable population at possible risk.	Ángel Prado (2024)	1	1	1	1

Mention      Information not available.

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), on the basis of official information from the countries.

/a The countries for which the date of creation of the Ministry of Social Development are not available are not included in the chart (Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Dominica, Haiti and Trinidad and Tobago).

/b It should be mentioned that in Uruguay previously there was the Ministry of Housing and Social Promotion which was dissolved in 1977.

* he Ministry of Labor and Social Security of Cuba was created in 1994, through the Decree Law 147 of the reorganization of the agencies of the Central State Administration. In 2001 the National Institute of Social Security was created making the work of the Ministry more complex. In the year 2012 through the Agreement No. 7335 of the Council of Ministers the Ministry of Labor and Social Securityis given the mission to propose, direct and control the policy of the State and the Government on labor, protection, safety and health of work, social security and prevention, assistance and social work.

Note: The registered years in the data base show the creation of the instance with the explicit mandate.