New York, 7 September 2017. Cuba underlined today, at the Second Session 2017 of the Executive Board of UNDP, UNFPA and UNOPS; the importance of strengthening operational activities for development, based on their fundamental principles, as well as on the mandates of the Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review (QCPR) of the United Nations Development System.
Within the framework of the UNDP segment, Cuba's representative, Carlos Fidel Martín Rodríguez, Deputy Director of the Division of International Economic Bodies at the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, reiterated Cuba's support to the organization. He expressed the Cuban government's willingness to continue to contribute to UNDP regular resources despite our economic limitations, as well as to the promotion of South-South cooperation, the exchange of experiences and good practices and to the promotion of the mobilization of resources, on the basis of national priorities.
Mr. Martín expressed concern about the steady decline of regular funds over the past 20 years, and about the alarming imbalance between regular and complementary resources. He pointed out that the latter continues to be granted in a pre-established and conditioned way, contributing to the fragmentation of the System, and biasing the main role of UNDP with regards to development.
He finally took the opportunity to urge donor countries to reverse the current financial situation by prioritizing and targeting their contributions to regular resources for development programs.
Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations