At the Church of the Holy Spirit in Old Havana, nearly 50 elderly residents gather three times a week for a free lunch of rice, beans, ground meat and coffee, a modest but essential supplement for pensioners whose monthly incomes often amount to less than $10 at informal exchange rates.

Among them is 84-year-old retired chemical engineer Carmen Casado, who receives a monthly pension of 2,000 Cuban pesos, worth roughly $4 on the informal market. Living alone, without children or remittances from relatives abroad, she relies on church meals in addition to the limited bread, rice and beans available through Cuba’s state-run ration stores.“This is a lifeline for us retirees with small pensions,” Casado said.

“What we get from the bodegas alone is not enough.”Older Cubans, many of them former state employees such as teachers, doctors, nurses and technicians, have been among the hardest hit by the worsening downturn, which intensified this year following an oil embargo imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.

The crisis has brought further cuts to subsidized goods that for decades formed the backbone of Cuba’s social safety net, while rising shortages and inflation have eroded the value of fixed pensions.At the same time, the migration of younger Cubans has left many elderly residents isolated, without family members to provide financial support or day-to-day care.

Cuba was already one of Latin America’s oldest societies before the latest wave of emigration. By the end of 2024, nearly 26% of the population was aged 60 or older, according to Cuba’s National Bureau of Statistics, compared with a regional average of 14.2% reported by the U.N. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).Over the last five years, Cuba’s population has declined by nearly 1.5 million, largely because of outward migration.

The number of residents on the island has fallen from 11.1 million to 9.7 million.The demographic shift is increasingly visible in Havana, where elderly residents stand in long lines for rationed food, sell small items such as cigarettes on the streets or search for assistance from churches and state institutions.

The pressure has prompted the government to authorize private entrepreneurs to operate elder-care services and residential facilities, a notable shift in a country where social services have traditionally remained under state control.Casado says she still considers herself fortunate. At 84, she remains physically independent, climbs the stairs to her aging apartment without a cane and needs only blood pressure medication, which she says is still available through state pharmacies.

Born in 1942, she has lived through the Cuban Revolution, the 1962 missile crisis, the Soviet-backed economic boom of the 1970s and 1980s, and the severe shortages of the post-Soviet “Special Period.”Despite today’s hardships, she continues to place responsibility for Cuba’s economic difficulties largely on the United States.

“We’re doing everything we can here to move the country forward,” she said. “But the thing is, we have a very powerful enemy, and he’s right there, right on our doorstep.”

Fisherman Ibrahima Mar, 55, said dwindling catches have upended a way of life sustained for generations in Rufisque, near Dakar. He described a steady depletion of fish stocks that has left traditional fishers struggling to survive. “The fish have been taken from our path,” he said, pointing to worsening conditions in recent years.

Analysts attribute the decline to a combination of illegal practices and large-scale industrial operations. Bassirou Diarra, Senegal country manager for the Environmental Justice Foundation, said vessels engaged in bottom trawling and other activities often operate under Senegalese flags but are linked to foreign ownership, including European and Asian interests.

“These practices not only reduce fish availability for local consumption but also limit economic returns to the country,” Diarra said, citing issues such as unauthorized fishing in protected areas, non-compliant equipment and lax licensing.

A 2025 report by the Environmental Justice Foundation estimated that 57% of exploited fish populations in Senegal are in a state of collapse, underscoring the scale of the crisis.

The decline has had ripple effects across coastal economies. According to census data, more than 82,000 people in Senegal depend on fishing, accounting for about 2% of the workforce. Ancillary sectors such as fish processing, transport and retail have also been affected.

Local fishing leaders say productivity has sharply declined. Mamadou Diouf Sene, head of the Rufisque Fishing Wharf Revenue Commission, said it now takes up to seven months to catch what previously required two months, reflecting the strain on marine resources.

The economic pressure has contributed to increased migration attempts, with some fishermen undertaking dangerous journeys to Europe in traditional wooden boats known as pirogues. Community members say these journeys often end in tragedy.

Environmental factors have compounded the problem. Researchers note that climate change is shifting small pelagic species, such as sardinella and horse mackerel, northward, further reducing local availability.

Authorities acknowledge enforcement challenges. Cheikh Salla Ndiaye of Senegal’s Directorate of Fisheries Protection and Surveillance said monitoring vast maritime areas remains difficult despite support from security forces.

Efforts to improve oversight are underway, with environmental groups such as Greenpeace introducing technologies including satellite tracking and mobile reporting tools to help identify illegal activity at sea.

The crisis has raised concerns about long-term food security and economic stability in Senegal, where fish remains a central component of both diet and cultural identity.

Child labour continues to persist across multiple sectors despite existing legal frameworks prohibiting its practice, with field reports indicating that economic pressure, weak enforcement and informal employment structures are sustaining its prevalence.

According to practitioners working with vulnerable communities, children are still engaged in labour across agriculture, small-scale manufacturing, domestic work and street-based activities.

They said the problem is particularly acute in informal sectors, where regulation is limited and oversight mechanisms are difficult to enforce.Child rights advocates reported that many families rely on supplementary income generated by children to cope with rising living costs.

They indicated that this economic dependence often leads to children entering the workforce at an early age, sometimes at the expense of their education and well-being. In such cases, work is frequently normalised within households as a necessary survival strategy.

Labour experts noted that while national legislation prohibits hazardous and exploitative child labour, implementation remains inconsistent. They said enforcement agencies are often understaffed and face challenges in identifying violations, particularly in remote or unregulated environments.

In addition, they indicated that legal provisions are sometimes undermined by gaps in monitoring and reporting systems.Field organisations working in urban and rural areas reported that children are commonly found working long hours in conditions that expose them to physical and psychological risks.

They said these include handling heavy loads, exposure to harmful substances and working in unsafe environments without protective measures. In many instances, children are also said to face verbal abuse or exploitation, with limited access to grievance mechanisms.

Education specialists highlighted a strong correlation between child labour and school dropout rates. They reported that children engaged in work often struggle to attend school regularly or complete assignments, leading to early disengagement from formal education.

This, they said, reinforces cycles of poverty by limiting future employment opportunities.Some practitioners observed that migration and displacement are contributing factors.

They said families relocating in search of work may lack access to social services, increasing the likelihood of children entering labour markets. In such contexts, children are often employed in low-paid, informal roles where their age makes them more vulnerable to exploitation.

Stakeholders also pointed to the role of supply chains in sustaining demand for cheap labour. They said small businesses and subcontractors may employ children to reduce costs, particularly in industries where profit margins are narrow.

Without adequate traceability, they added, such practices can remain hidden within broader production networks.Government officials have maintained that policy measures are in place to address the issue, including rehabilitation programmes and awareness campaigns.

However, observers said the scale of implementation varies significantly across regions, with some areas lacking the resources needed to deliver effective interventions.Non-governmental organisations reported that rescue and rehabilitation efforts face logistical and social challenges.

They said that even when children are withdrawn from labour, reintegration into education systems is not always straightforward. Families may continue to face financial hardship, increasing the risk of children returning to work.

Experts emphasised the importance of addressing root causes, including poverty, limited access to quality education and social protection gaps. They said that without comprehensive strategies targeting these underlying factors, enforcement alone is unlikely to eliminate child labour.

They further indicated that greater coordination between government agencies, civil society and private sector actors is required to strengthen monitoring and accountability. Improved data collection and reporting mechanisms were also identified as critical to understanding the scale and nature of the problem.

Practitioners stressed that child labour is evolving in response to economic and social changes. They said that as enforcement increases in formal sectors, the practice may shift into less regulated spaces, making it harder to detect.

This trend, they warned, requires adaptive policy responses and sustained attention from authorities.

Field reports suggest that while legal frameworks provide a foundation for addressing child labour, gaps in enforcement, economic pressures and structural inequalities continue to limit their effectiveness.