H.E. Mr. President,
Dear Ms. Catherine Russell, UNICEF Executive Director
Honorable members of the Executive Board and other delegations:
We appreciate the presentations made and reiterate our recognition of UNICEF’s work to protect millions of children and adolescents around the world.
This commendable goal is threatened today, in an international context marked by the proliferation of conflicts and geopolitical tensions, inequality, poverty and climate crisis.
Given this complex scenario, we stress UNICEF’s efforts to respond to emergencies and contribute to capacity building in developing countries.
To preserve UNICEF mandate, it is essential that the Member States fulfill their commitments under the Funding Compact, in order to access adequate, flexible and predictable resources. Likewise, there can be no further delay in complying with the Official Development Assistance.
We belief that the UNICEF’s Strategic Plan for the period 2026-2029 is qualitatively superior and will enable a more appropriate response to current challenges.
We emphasize the need for greater and timely reconciliation of statistical information on children and adolescents with national governments in the next cooperation cycle, to ensure that UNICEF’s actions and strategies respond to their greatest challenges and vulnerabilities.
We ratify the priority that Cuba gives to the comprehensive protection of our children and adolescents, despite the intensification of the blockade imposed by the United States and its impact on all aspects of life in the country. This cumbersome system of unilateral coercive measures is the main obstacle to the development of our nation.
In the face of these challenges, UNICEF’s contribution to Cuba is essential to formulate and implement priority policies and programs in areas such as maternal and child health, comprehensive early childhood care, violence prevention, climate resilience, and response to natural disaster situations.
We are enthusiastic about the seventh round of the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey in Cuba, with data collection scheduled from November 2025 to February 2026. This tool will provide us with disaggregated and high-quality information to guide policies and measure the progress of the 2030 Agenda in the country.
We renew our will to support UNICEF mandate, as well as the consolidation and expansion of joint cooperation.
Thank you