Ambassador Daylenis Moreno Guerra, the Deputy Permanent Representative of the Republic of Cuba to the United Nations, spoke at the segment dedicated to Small Island Developing States (SIDS) during the 2025 High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF).
In her speech, the Cuban Ambassador stressed that structural imbalances in the international financial system continue to hinder the development of SIDS and the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals. She also noted that Cuba faces additional challenges due to the economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed by the United States government for over six decades and the country's unjust and arbitrary inclusion on the unilateral list of alleged state sponsors of terrorism.
The Cuban ambassador reiterated our country's support for the recently adopted Antigua and Barbuda Agenda and stressed that effectively implementing the agenda requires structural transformations at the global level. To this end, she emphasized the need to recapitalize multilateral development banks and improving their financing conditions for SIDS, including offering loans in local currencies; to strengthen public development banks and their cooperation with multilateral institutions, ensuring their actions align with the Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Agreement, and the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda. Additionally; and to define criteria for accessing concessional financing that go beyond gross domestic product, such as the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index.
The ambassador also advocated for the establishment of a specific service to support the debt sustainability of SIDS under the auspices of the United Nations, to redesign debt instruments to include relief clauses in the event of natural disasters or macroeconomic crises, and adequately capitalizing the Loss and Damage Fund. The ambassador called for effective compliance with international commitments on climate finance, including adopting a new Quantified Collective Goal.
"The alternative for our countries cannot be limited to the old recipes of yesteryear. The only sustainable solution requires profoundly rethinking the foundations that govern North-South relations, based on the premised of genuine cooperation, in which developing countries, particularly SIDS, have a voice, participation, and real capacity to influence decisions that affect their development and future on the planet,” said Ambassador Moreno Guerra at the conclusion of her speech.
Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations