Mides Priorities for 2026: Combating Poverty Through New Social Initiatives

The Ministry of Social Development (Mides) of Panama has announced its priorities for the year 2026, with the main goal being to reduce the number of people living in poverty and extreme vulnerability through social initiatives that allow them to improve their quality of life and become self-sufficient. Minister Beatriz Carles stated that the Conditional Cash Transfer Programs (PTMC) currently provided to over 186,000 Panamanians help them to subsist but do not transform their life situation. Therefore, the ministry will focus next year on creating new proposals that foster their development and capacity for self-sufficiency. In particular, the "Rural and Indigenous Woman" program will be launched, which will provide supplies, advice, and support to more than 2,500 women nationwide to establish the foundations of a business that will allow them to escape their current economic situation. In smaller communities that have not been reached by CAIPI, the "Cuidarte Comunitario" program will be developed, which involves training mothers in primary care so they can replicate this knowledge in children from 0 to 4 years old. Efforts will also be redoubled towards adolescents, especially those at social risk with behavioral problems, through the Center for Adolescent Training and Development (Cefodea), which will increase its capacity to 100 places by 2026. For young people in shelters, the possibility of including them in the internship program is also being considered. In the coming months, 5 new Comprehensive Care Centers for Early Childhood (CAIPI) will be opened, and conversations will begin for the opening of another 10 such centers at the regional level.