Mr. President:
Thirty years ago, at the first World Summit for Social Development, it was agreed to put individuals at the centre of development and to take on the elimination of poverty, the goal of full employment and the promotion of social inclusion as priority objectives. The Copenhagen agreements continue to be a chimera.
The year 2030 is fast approaching. It has already become evident that none of the Sustainable Development Goals agreed under the 2030 Agenda will be achieved within the stipulated timeframe.
There has been a clear lack of consistency between the agreements reached at Summits and the actual political and funding priorities of developed countries.
While the international resources available to achieve these goals have been wholly insufficient, military spending has been increasing for nine consecutive years. All indications suggest that in the coming years, this expenditure will grow even more rapidly, to the detriment of peace and sustainable development.
There can be no real access to financing for development when countries in the South are forced to spend more on debt servicing than on health, education and full employment.
Never before has the world been so unequal, nor inequities so profound. Wealthy nations persist in upholding an international order that shifts the greatest costs and least benefits onto those in the South. A select few concentrate political and economic power, making decisions for everyone else.
A world order where over 400 million people remain unemployed and the number of young people who neither work nor study has raised to 260 million cannot be sustainable. Without progress towards full employment and decent work for all, poverty cannot be eradicated.
The practice of imposing unilateral measures as a means of political and economic coercion against countries in the South constitutes an obstacle to efforts aimed at achieving sustainable development and must come to an end.
The Doha meeting cannot be just another Summit. It must have a tangible impact on the lives and livelihoods of the majority of people living in the South.
Cuba reiterates its commitment to participate in this process, centred in New York, with a transparent, constructive and proactive approach, just as it did 30 years ago.
We will advocate for the Summit to adopt, among other outcomes, concrete commitments and actions on poverty eradication, full and productive employment, decent work for all, and social inclusion.
Thank you.