Mr. President,
Our delegation congratulates you on your election to lead the work of this Working Group once again.
We acknowledge your leadership and commitment to advancing the promotion and recognition of the right to development.
We welcome the inclusion, in this session, of thematic debates on two issues that represent serious obstacles to the realization of the legitimate right to development of our peoples. Unilateral coercive measures and the burdensome external debt have a disproportionate impact on the development efforts of countries in the South. We will expand further on these matters in the coming days.
Mr. President,
There is no doubt that in today’s turbulent and challenging context, the implementation of the right to development is an urgent matter. Global and collective solutions are required for problems of global scope. Unilateralism and individualism have failed.
The prevailing development paradigms in today’s world generate poverty and exclusion for the majority. The irrational patterns of capitalist production and consumption, driven by blind market laws and mandates, disregard what is most valuable: human life and dignity.
Why do we state that the implementation of the right to development is both imperative and necessary?
- It would entail the transformation of the current unjust global economic order and the democratization of the international financial architecture, which cannot be postponed.
- It would contribute to the immediate resolution of the external debt crisis, the adoption of debt relief measures, and the sustainability of debt levels.
- It would be decisive in the comprehensive and realistic implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and of any future development agendas.
- It would enhance international cooperation, ensure compliance with Official Development Assistance commitments, and provide means of implementation to support national policies, including capacity-building, technology transfer, and concessional external financing.
- It would promote equal opportunities for all in accessing basic resources, education, healthcare, food, housing, employment, and the fair distribution of income. It would also help to eradicate social injustices, achieve gender equality, and realize all human rights in a comprehensive and non-discriminatory manner.
- It would require full respect for the principles of international law, including the prohibition of the threat or use of force and the imposition of unilateral coercive measures for political or interventionist purposes.
Mr. President,
We consider it necessary that the work of this Group continues to be preserved as a space for political, theoretical and practical discussion on the operationalization of the right to development. This contributes to its visibility and to accelerate the unavoidable recognition of other collective rights.
We trust that efforts toward the negotiation and adoption of the proposed International Covenant on the Right to Development by the General Assembly will continue to accelerate. You can count on Cuba's active and determined participation in this process.
Thank you.