Madam President,
As the celebration of the 20 years of the adoption of resolution 53/243 approaches, Cuba reiterates the validity of the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace, as well as its commitment to this agenda and to multilateralism.
Peace efforts by the international community must be focused, primarily, on full respect for the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of States and non-interference in matters that are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of States, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and international law.
In addition, the root causes of conflicts, including extreme poverty, hunger, inequality, exclusion, lack of access to and quality of health and education services, must be addressed immediately. Understanding, tolerance and solidarity, respect for culture and history and for the different religions and idiosyncrasies of every nation must be fostered.
Madam President,
Despite the sustained international call for achieving and strengthening a culture of peace, there remain phenomena that hinder and undermine the real possibilities of meeting such a noble goal.
These phenomena include: the promotion of covert change of regime agendas in developing countries; the violation of the principles of international law by some States; the threat and use of force contrary to the Charter of the United Nations; the development of new ever more deadly and sophisticated weapons, including the persistence of large nuclear arsenals; unilateral coercive measures; intolerance and discrimination on ethnic, religious or racial grounds.
A culture of peace also requires condemning without hesitation all acts, methods and practices of terrorism; and taking concrete action to combat this scourge, regardless of its forms, manifestations and whoever commits them, including State terrorism.
Manipulations and double standards in areas such as human rights, with the aim of singling out developing countries and discrediting their legitimate governments, also fail to contribute to the ideal of a culture of peace.
The declaration of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, adopted in 2014 in Havana within the framework of the II Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), is a demonstration of our region's commitment to strengthening peace and negotiated solutions to conflicts and differences, as well as a contribution to a global culture of peace. We therefore reaffirm its full relevance and validity.
Madam President,
We take this opportunity to express Cuba's support for the draft resolution submitted by the delegation of Venezuela on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement on the International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace. This initiative shows the strong commitment of the members and observers of the Movement to the promotion of peace, understanding and mutual respect among nations. We look forward to everyone's support in adopting this resolution contained in document A/73/L.48.
Thank you very much