Geneva, Thursday, 25 June 2026 – The delegation of Cuba delivered today a joint statement on behalf of several nations from the group of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS), participating in the 62nd session of the Human Rights Council.
The statement was delivered by the representative of the Island, Ivette Lamigueiro Cañedo, during the interactive dialogue with Ms. Elena Carolina Díaz Galán, Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights.
The countries endorsing the statement emphasized that the eradication of extreme poverty is a fundamental objective of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and one of the most urgent challenges for developing countries. They expressed concern that this goal will not be achieved within the next four years, as originally agreed in 2015.
In her intervention, the Cuban representative presented alarming figures that demonstrate the need for immediate action. She recalled that 1 in every 10 people in the world lives in extreme poverty, while nearly 690 million suffer from hunger. If current trends persist, 7% of the world’s population, approximately 590 million people, will continue to live in extreme poverty, and only one third of countries will have succeeded in halving their national poverty levels by 2030.
In this context, Cuba, on behalf of the aforementioned group, issued an urgent call to strengthen international cooperation and improve access to financing to address the factors that contribute to extreme poverty. Among these factors, the statement highlighted the lingering effects of the financial and economic crisis, food insecurity, food price volatility, and the growing challenges posed by climate change.