Mr. Chairman,
Cuba 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).
We appreciate the convening of this thematic debate on the Role and Authority of the General Assembly.
The revitalization process of the Assembly, and particularly the strengthening of its role and authority, should have as a premise the consolidation of its democratic and participatory nature.
The role and authority of the General Assembly are clearly established in the Charter of the United Nations, being its full respect unavoidable.
The General Assembly is the main deliberative, policymaking and representative organ of the United Nations.
Membership of this Organization should be understood as a responsibility that entails, among other issues, the implementation of the provisions and rules established by the General Assembly, including its Regulations.
Mr. Chairman,
Cuba reiterates that the interaction among the main organs of the United Nations, namely, the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the International Court of Justice and the Secretariat, should be established in accordance with their respective functions, authority, powers and competencies enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations.
Regarding the interaction between the Security Council and the General Assembly, we call for the cessation of the Council's growing and dangerous tendency to invade the Assembly's scope of action, which entails a violation of the procedures.
Likewise, we regret that the Security Council continues to submit to the General Assembly annual reports which are a mere descriptive overview of the meetings, activities and decisions of the Council, instead of including an explanatory, exhaustive and analytical content on the work of this organ, which enables the evaluation of the causes and implications of its decisions.
In like manner, it is regrettable that the Security Council still does not submit the special reports on its actions for the consideration of the General Assembly, as provided in the Charter, in its Articles 15 and 24.
Transparency in the interaction among the main organs of the UN should prevail. In this regard, we welcome the distribution of the informative summaries issued by the President of the General Assembly on the meetings he has held during his tenure with the Presidents of ECOSOC and of the Security Council.
There has been significant progress on the interaction between the Secretariat and the General Assembly. We take this opportunity to acknowledge the work done by the Secretariat of the General Assembly during its 71st session, particularly during the High-Level General Debate.
We hope that as a result of the ongoing revitalization process, this interaction will be further strengthened and the Secretariat will continue to respond, efficiently and effectively, to the mandates determined by the member states.
The communication work carried out by the Department of Public Information, according to its mandate, remains fundamental to raise public awareness of the role of the General Assembly in the promotion of development and peace.
Mr. Chairman,
We welcome a series of events for action on sustainable development goals conducted by the President of the 71st session of the General Assembly, H.E, Mr. Peter Thomson during the months of January to June 2017, as part of the efforts to support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda by our governments.
In this regard, we emphasize the importance that the General Assembly continues to assess, through thematic debates, sustainable development issues, bearing in mind that the eradication of poverty in all its forms and dimensions continues to be one of the main challenges facing humanity
I conclude by reiterating our willingness to continue supporting the revitalization process of the General Assembly, which consolidates its democratic and participatory nature.
Thank you very much.