Mr. President,
Excellencies and Colleagues,
My delegation associates itself with the statements made by the delegations of Iraq on behalf of the G77 and China, as well as by Palau on behalf of AOSIS.
Mr. President, I would like to congratulate you on your election, as well as the other members of the Bureau. We look forward to working closely with you during this session of the Committee.
In a time when multilateralism is facing enormous challenges, it is crucial to strengthen our alliances with countries in the Global South based on solidarity, mutual support, and respect for each country's priorities.
Cuba considers South-South Cooperation a strategic tool for development. Our commitment to cooperation has remained steadfast, even amid the most challenging circumstances imposed by the United States' economic, commercial, and financial blockade.
Despite this, we have maintained and strengthened our cooperation programs in key sectors such as health, education, human capital development, science, technology, and disaster response with our limited resources.
In the health sector alone, over 605,000 Cuban professionals have provided services in 165 developing countries over the past 62 years. During the pandemic alone, Cuba sent 58 Henry Reeve Contingent medical brigades to 42 countries and territories at their governments' request to support the health emergency response.
Cuba's solidarity activities fully align with the principles of South-South Cooperation and the WHO's and PAHO's international standards. These activities are based on intergovernmental agreements between Cuba and the recipient country and respect the sovereignty and internal affairs of each country. Therefore, the U.S. government's offensive against Cuban international cooperation, particularly the provision of health services to countries in need, is unacceptable.
It is immoral for the U.S. government to attack Cuba's current solidarity cooperation, which involves more than 24,000 collaborators in 56 countries, while withdrawing from the WHO and suspending its financial contributions to the organization. This affects the WHO's ability to support countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America in preparing for and responding to new health emergencies and epidemics, and improving health indicators.
Cuba will continue to promote and implement its cooperation programs, including those in the health sector, on the basis on Cuba's unwavering commitment to the right to development and the human right to health and on Cuba’s genuine interest in modestly contributing to the efforts of the Global South to achieve important sustainable development goals. We are grateful for the recognition and support of many nations for our efforts, as well as for the solidarity provided by Cuba and its health professionals.
Mr. President,
Cuba reiterates its firm support for strengthening cooperation for development and for an international architecture that recognizes the voice of the Global South. At the same time, we reaffirm the need for South-South cooperation to be recognized as valuable supplementation, and not as a substitute for the North-South cooperation and the commitment of developed countries to their historical responsibilities.
We support the catalytic role of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) and encourage continued support for impactful projects. It is crucial that the UNOSSC continue facilitating access to specific sources of funding for South-South initiatives for countries in the Global South.
In conclusion, we reaffirm that South-South cooperation is a means of sharing solutions based on our experiences and realities. However, the challenges we face require global responses. Now more than ever, the international community must demonstrate its capacity to enhance solidarity and international cooperation.
Thank you