Ambassador Daylenis Moreno Guerra, the Chargé d'Affaires, a.i. of the Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations, spoke in the general debate of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, which takes place from July 21 to 23 in New York.
The Cuban representative warned that, with only five years to go before the deadline for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, the global outlook is disheartening. She said that while resources are denied to development, substantial sums are allocated to war and genocide, which undermines the principles of the 2030 Agenda.
The Cuban diplomat highlighted that the 2030 Agenda will only be effective if accompanied by a profound transformation of the current international order based on justice, equity, and solidarity. She acknowledged the progress of the recently adopted Seville Commitment and urged concrete actions to achieve a truly transformative agenda.
She called for reforming the international financial architecture to include greater representation and access for Southern countries, creating a multilateral mechanism to renegotiate sovereign debts, recapitalizing development banks, and promoting global fiscal cooperation through the UN.
He also advocated adopting indicators broader than GDP, such as the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index, to access financing on favorable terms. He emphasized the need to strengthen cooperation in science, technology, and innovation, and to reform international value chains to facilitate industrialization in developing countries.
He reiterated Cuba's firm rejection of unilateral coercive measures that hinder development, such as the economic, commercial, and financial blockade that the island has endured for over six decades. The Ambassador denounced the arbitrary inclusion of Cuba on unilateral lists and discrediting campaigns against the country's medical cooperation.
On the eve of the 80th anniversary of the United Nations, the Ambassador concluded with a call to mobilize the necessary political will to relaunch the 2030 Agenda and correct the structural failures that have prevented its fulfillment.
Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations