Mr. President,
My delegation associates itself with the statements delivered by the distinguished delegations of Thailand, on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, and the Maldiveson behalf of the Small Island Developing States.
Mr. President,
We appreciate the presentation of the reports and relevant documents by the Secretary-General on Agenda Item 24.
Mr. President,
The adoption of the 2030 Agenda last year poses ambitious and transformative challenges for which we should design tangible monitoring and implementation mechanisms in terms of development aid.
The United Nations System and its specialized bodies are called upon to play an essential role for development and to address the effects of the economic and financial crisis affecting the planet.
Accordingly, it is important to emphasize the role of Operational Activities for Development, as a direct and vital expression of the impulse of the United Nations System towards the sustainable progress of our peoples.
Mr. President,
The forthcoming Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review of Operational Activities for Development will be a good opportunity to reaffirm and hold high the principles governing the activities of the United Nations System in our countries, to further strengthen its intergovernmental nature and its strictly development-related objective.
We wish the United Nations System to be ever more proactive in eliminating poverty and achieving Sustainable Development, and in responding more effectively to the national strategies and priorities of the countries, at all times under the mandates and responsibilities of every organization.
The coordination of Operational Activities must ensure that all United Nations Agencies, Funds or Programs act in compliance with the guidelines agreed by the relevant intergovernmental control bodies. Such guidelines, agreed upon by the Member States, require a timely, inclusive and transparent implementation, which must be at all times respecting the principle of voluntariness and express consent of the receiving State.
Mr. President,
My delegation advocates for developing countries to be decisively engaged in the governance of the United Nations System for Development. These countries know their situation best and it falls to them to identify priorities regarding the assistance to be received. The Executive Boards of Funds and Programs must ensure that their composition and decision-making mechanisms include respect of the principle of equitable geographic distribution.
Additionally, the United Nations Agencies, Funds and Programs must assure highest quality accountability to intergovernmental bodies. An efficient performance assessment not only enhances the outcome and impact of field activities, but also ensures the necessary environment of respect and credibility required by the representatives of agencies, funds and programs in the countries where they are operating.
Strict accordance with the mandate and specific field of action of every agency, fund and program and the respect to the sovereignty of all nations to determine assistance priorities, remain the key to the success of operational activities for development.
Mr. President,
The 2030 Agenda imposes upon us the achievement of 17 objectives and 169 goals. Cuba reaffirms the indivisible and universal nature of the Sustainable Development Goals. Encouraging approaches different from this premise will do nothing other than making development biased, conditional and partial.
My delegation would like to note that the United Nations System, and thus the Operational Activities for Development, should not be designed by imposing unique models and pre-established formulas. To implement an inclusive Agenda, discrimination must be uprooted and priority of some activities in detriment to others must be prevented. Cuba rejects the intention of some donor countries to manipulate operational activities for development to meet their desires for hegemony and the imposition of models that facilitate their interests of domination.
We recognize and welcome the positive experiences resulting from the strengthening of the resident coordinator system. This will not however mean in any way to ignore the voluntariness of this process and the specific and diverse nature in the mandates of funds and programs in the field.
Mr. President,
Core resources continue to be the cornerstone of the United Nations operational activities, and these are the only guarantee that the needs and priorities of receiving countries are adequately addressed. Therefore, the increasing imbalance between core and non-core resources must be urgently reversed. Such imbalance is an unresolved issue and one of the main causes of inconsistency in operational activities.
We note with concern the emphasis imposed on South-South cooperation, resorting to it as salvation and false justification for the persistent non-compliance by the developed countries of their commitments to official development assistance. Although we acknowledge that South-South cooperation remains a real possibility to promote development programs and initiatives, it is not and cannot be a substitute for North-South cooperation. It has a complementary, not a substitutive nature.
Mr. President,
We are working towards the strengthening of operational activities for development of the United Nations.
Development assistance represents a pillar and core objective of the Organization. It is the most efficient and safe instrument to promote international peace and security, conflict prevention and realization of the equity and justice we are aiming at.
Cuba is working to strengthen efficient international institutions for development, that respect self-determination of peoples, that have growing, predictable and untied resources, that possess the means required to foster the socio-economic development of our peoples in a neutral way, that respond the requests and address the priorities established by national governments and that act in full alignment with the development policies and strategies established by the States. Respect to national sovereignty is not negotiable.
My delegation expresses its readiness to constructively work in order to achieve these goals.
Thank you very much.