New York, May 31, 2018.In the general debate on item 134 of the agenda of the General Assembly: "Review of the efficiency of the administrative and financial functioning of the United Nations," in the framework of the second resumed session of the Fifth Committee, the Deputy Permanent Representative of Cuba, Ambassador Ana Silvia Rodríguez Abascal, reiterated the island's support for the efforts of the Secretary General to make the United Nations a more agile, efficient and responsible organization, focused on people, allowing it to play a more active role in the maintenance of peace and the promotion of development, in strict adherence to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and effectively complying with the opening words of its Constitutive document: "we the peoples of the United Nations".
Rodríguez Abascal said that the management reform of the organization should continue to consider the Member States, as leaders and guardians of the process. She also recognized the importance of strengthening the planning tools and the accountability system of the Secretariat to the Member States.
The Cuban diplomat stressed that the commitment to the reform and the organization, in addition to words must be translated into actions, recognizing that the payment of assessments on time and without conditions is a fundamental element so that this process can move forward smoothly. In this regard, she questioned the fact that the Organization is required to work effectively, complying with the established mandates and to be transformed, while the payments to it are intentionally withheld, in clear reference to the position of the United States.
In concluding, she expressed Cuba's willingness to work in a constructive spirit in the negotiations on the management reform process of the Organization, in order to translate this into a concrete improvement in the functioning of the UN.
Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations