Mr. Chairman,
The Cuban delegation endorses the statement by Algeria on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement and by El Salvador on behalf of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).
Mr. President,
Cuba associates itself with the statements delivered by the delegations of Morocco on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement and by the Republic of El Salvador on behalf of the Community of Latin American States.
We appreciate the contribution to our work made by Mr. Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations and Mr. Atul Khare, Under-Secretary-General for Field Support.
Mr. Chairman,
We appreciate your introductory statement and we join the rest of the delegations that have congratulated you on your election.
We would like to convey our congratulations to Ms. Henrietta H. Fore, on her appointment and her willingness to work jointly for the well-being of the girls and boys.
Mr. Chairman,
Mr. President,
Cuba supports a genuine and profound reform of the Security Council, to convert it into an effective, transparent, representative and democratic body in in line with developments of the United Nations and international relations.
We welcome the adoption by the Security Council of its Presidential Note S/2017/507, which consolidates all presidential notes on the Council's working methods.
Mr. Chairman,
As expressed in the Secretary-General's report on the priority issue, in the regions and countries most affected by poverty, statistical indicators show only a slight reduction in extreme poverty rates. More worryingly, this does not indicate that the root causes of this phenomenon have changed or tend to disappear. In reality, the situation remains very serious. In many countries, extreme poverty has continued to grow and, generally speaking, prospects for compliance with Goal 1 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development are discouraging.
Mr. President,
We are grateful for the convening of this meeting within the framework of the intergovernmental negotiations on Security Council reform (IGN), approaching their 10th anniversary this year.
In this context, we support the renewed and sustained efforts aimed at advancing the negotiations on Security Council reform, an issue that has been on the agenda of the General Assembly for more than 20 years.
Honorable Sr. Isata Kabia, Minister of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs of Sierra Leone,
Distinguished Permanent Representatives and delegates,
The international cooperation developed by Cuba in terms of humanitarian assistance for epidemic disaster relief is a modality that responds to the fundamental principles of our National Health Care System and our foreign policy, whose key pillars are internationalism, humanism and solidarity.
Mr. President,
We appreciate the holding of this open debate of the Security Council and support the statement delivered by the delegation of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement.
We express once again our deep concern about the situation in the Middle East region, in particular the lack of tangible progress towards a just, peaceful, comprehensive and lasting solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the core of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Mr. President,
Esteemed Achim Steiner, Administrator of UNDP,
Esteemed members of the Executive Board and other delegations,
My delegation wishes to associate itself with the statements delivered by the distinguished delegation of Egypt, on behalf of the G77 and China, and Maldives, on behalf of the Small Island Developing States.
We thank the Administrator of UNDP for his substantive statement and the Bureau members for the preparations to hold this first session of the Executive Board in 2018.
Mr. Chairman,
The Cuban delegation is grateful to you for convening this meeting of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country, and we seize this opportunity to reiterate once again our full support and express our best wishes in your tenure in this year that has just begun.
As members of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country, we work to ensure that it timely addresses all issues that arise in the relations among the Organization, the Member States and the Host Country.
Mr. Chairman,
