Cuba to present report on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda at the UN

HAVANA, Cuba, Jul 13 (ACN) In compliance with its international responsibilities and commitments, Cuba will present this Tuesday, at the United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, its First Voluntary National Report on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

Deputy Prime Minister and minister of Economy and Planning (MEP), Alejandro Gil Fernández, will present, virtually, the results, actions, initiatives and challenges around that program, which is embodied in the alignment of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), established by the UN, with the strategic axes of the National Economic and Social Development Plan (PNDES) until the aforementioned year.

Susset Rosales Vázquez, director of Strategic Planning and Development of the MEP, explained to the Cuban News Agency that the government's priorities are focused on continuing to promote the integral and full development of human beings, with equity, higher standards and quality of life of the population, and without neglecting to strengthen the environmental dimension.

However, the criminal economic, commercial and financial blockade by the United States has been and continues to be the main obstacle to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda, and no matter how difficult the conditions may be, the country has not renounced the SDGs, and its efforts and progress in terms of universal access to health, education, culture, sports, justice, security and social assistance are evident.

The official said that one of the chapters of this First National Voluntary Report refers to the current national and international context, so it includes what the Cuban State has done - and is doing - in the fight against COVID-19, the country's potential in health, biotechnology and medicine production, among other branches or activities.

She pointed out that an expression of the seriousness and commitment with which Cuba assumed the 2030 Agenda was the creation of the National Group for its implementation, which is led by the MEP and has as pillars the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, and the National Statistics and Information Office, for the sake of political, collaborative and informative assurance, respectively.

Rosales Vázquez told ACN that in this institutional mechanism more than 30 Central State Administration Agencies, entities, civil society organizations, academia, the business system, the non-state sector and territories, among others, share the strategic vision and national priorities of development, exchange experiences and good practices in pursuit of achieving the objectives and goals proposed.

Since 2019, an interactive computer platform or project called Laboratorios ODS Cuba has been created, an initiative that responds to the demand of the National Group to strengthen technological innovations for the management of information at the country and local level, and thus facilitate analysis and decision making.