New York, 21 November 2017.During his statement at the High-Level Donor Conference for Recovery of the Caribbean after hurricanes Irma and Maria, held at the United Nations headquarters, Mr.Rodolfo Reyes Rodríguez, General Director for Multilateral Affairs and International Law of the Cuban Foreign Ministry, once again called on the international community to accord priority and mobilize resources to help the Caribbean Small Island States and territories devastated by hurricanes Irma and Maria. At the same time, he expressed Cuba's willingness to increase cooperation, to the extent of its modest possibilities, to the brotherly peoples and governments of Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica, among other Caribbean countries and territories that suffered the terrible destruction caused by those hurricanes.
The representative of Cuba thanked the convening of this meeting in such difficult times for the countries affected by the destructive hurricanes Irma and Maria, and indicated that the recent catastrophe demonstrated once again the vulnerabilities of Small Island Developing States in the face of natural events of this magnitude.
Reyes Rodríguez reiterated that the major obstacle facing developing countries, particularly the Small Island States in terms of disaster risk reduction is precisely underdevelopment, which is reproduced and aggravated by an unjust international economic order and unsustainable patterns of neoliberalism
Cuba, he said, highly values international collaboration on disaster risk reduction, as well as the exchange of experiences and good practices in preventing and addressing these events. In this context, he stressed that the Caribbean nation has engaged in exchange and cooperation with its peers from the area, also involving agencies of the United Nations System, international and regional government agencies, and non-governmental organizations, among others actors.
The Cuban diplomat affirmed that the impact of hurricanes Irma and Maria reveals that confronting climate change is a priority for humanity, under the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, and particularly the need for special and differentiated treatment for Small Island States, such as the sister nations of Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica.
Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations