Excellencies, distinguished delegates, colleagues from the Global South:
Two years ago, we gathered in Havana to discuss the role of science, technology, and innovation in addressing the challenges facing the South. To further these efforts, we decided to declare September 16 as the International Day of Science, Technology, and Innovation for the South.
Today, more than ever, the Global South faces colossal challenges: food crises, climate change, pandemics, the growing gap between North and South, and an international financial architecture that continues to limit our possibilities for fair access to knowledge, technology, and resources. In this context, less than 2% of the already inadequate Official Development Assistance has been devoted to science, technology, and innovation capacities.[1]
Added to this is the shameless brain drain that has drained our prospects for progress for decades. Many eminent young people from our lands who study at universities in the so-called First World do not return to their countries of origin, attracted by high salaries and sophisticated research centers.
In this endeavor, capacity building is key to realizing the promises that science, technology, and innovation entail for sustainable development.
Mr. President:
Against this backdrop, the South is demonstrating—with determination and creativity—its ability to generate its own solutions, based on solidarity and scientific sovereignty.
Cuba has considerable scientific capabilities, inherited from the legacy of the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, who, with clear insight, identified this field as a source of development.
We have a system of government management based on science and innovation, which has become an important strength for the preservation of our sovereignty, best expressed in the creation of our own vaccines against COVID-19.
However, for Cuba, connecting knowledge with solving development problems is a monumental task, especially if these efforts must take place amid a strict economic, commercial, and financial blockade, exacerbated by Cuba's unjust inclusion on the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
These economic warfare measures have been exacerbated by the current smear campaign launched by the US Secretary of State against Cuban medical cooperation, despite it being a legitimate expression of South-South cooperation widely recognized by the international community and the United Nations system.
International medical collaboration symbolizes Cuba's commitment to science in the service of humanity. Since 1963, more than 605,000 Cuban health professionals have provided services in 165 countries.
Cuba currently provides support in 56 nations with more than 24,000 Cuban health professionals and has trained tens of thousands of doctors from other countries, mostly from the Global South.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 50 brigades from the Henry Reeve International Contingent assisted communities in the South and also in the North, saving lives where access was limited and strengthening local capacities with a deeply humanistic vision. Our collaborators also helped to combat Ebola in Africa and have assisted sister nations during earthquakes and other natural disasters.
Our solidarity has been genuine and its sole objective is and will continue to be, first and foremost, to save lives.
Mr. President:
These experiences demonstrate that the South can and must build its own path in science and technology, based on cooperation, complementarity, and technological sovereignty.
Let us recover that fighting spirit, traditional knowledge, creative thinking, and collective wisdom. Let us fight for our right to development, which is also humanity's right to exist.
Only then will we be in a position to participate in the scientific and technological revolution on an equal footing, without the constant threat of disappearing weighing on our dreams.
Thank you
[1] Data obtained from the UNCTAD’s Technology and Innovation Report 2023.