Nairobi, May 12. The 26th Session of the UN Human Settlements Program (UN-Habitat) was held in Nairobi from 8 to 12 May 2017, where Cuba was represented by its Permanent Representative, Ernesto Gómez Díaz, as an observer member.
The important conclave was inaugurated by Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta, after a video message sent by UN Secretary-General, António Guterres. The opening ceremony was also attended by Sahle Work Zewde, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Nairobi; Erik Solheim, Executive Director of UNEP; Joan Clos, Executive Director of UN-Habitat and Peter Thompson, President of the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
During his address to the plenary, the Permanent Representative of Cuba to UN-Habitat recalled that Cuba, "being a small developing Caribbean island that continues to suffer the devastating effects of climate change, is forced to face the consequences of events from extreme weather conditions, that have increased the housing deficit in the country, forcing the Cuban government to make great efforts to reverse this situation. However, the implementation for more than 55 years of unilateral economic, financial and commercial measures, with extraterritorial effects, against my people, conspire against this objective".
"The successful implementation of the New Urban Agenda in developing countries will depend to a large extent on technology transfer, capacity building and the effective channeling of financial resources from the developed countries mainly, under the globally accepted principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities", the Cuban diplomat said.
As part of the meeting, an exchange of members of the Committee of Permanent Representatives to UN-Habitat with part of the High-level Panel, appointed by the UN Secretary-General, took place. The Panel will review the implementation of the New Urban Agenda and will seek to increase the efficiency of this Program.
This is the first Council meeting to be held after last year's UN Habitat III Conference, where the New Urban Agenda was adopted, which should be fully implemented over the next 20 years.
Embacuba Kenya