Cuba ratified at the UN its commitment to the Agenda 2030

 

HAVANA, Cuba, Jul 18 (ACN) Alejandro Gil Fernandez, Cuban deputy prime minister, ratified before the United Nations (UN) his country's commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and stressed that this global strategy is closely in line with the objectives and goals of the island's National Development Plan.

Speaking on Monday, on behalf of the Government of Cuba, at the United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, Gil Fernandez, who is also Minister of Economy and Planning, denounced that the economic, commercial and financial blockade by the United States is the main obstacle to his country's efforts to make progress in the implementation of the aforementioned programs.

In addition to the combined effects of a multidimensional crisis at the global level, Cuba must face the unprecedented tightening of Washington's unilateral policy, which has escalated to a qualitatively more harmful and inhuman dimension, with a reinforced extraterritorial component, said the high-ranking official in his speech at the United Nations headquarters in the U.S. city of New York.

He stressed that the permanence of Cuba on the list of State sponsors of terrorism has reinforced the dissuasive and intimidating impact of the blockade, as well as the difficulties of the country to be inserted in international trade and to carry out financial operations.

Despite the difficulties, our country continues advancing in the construction of a sovereign, independent, socialist, democratic, prosperous and sustainable society, Gil Fernandez emphasized.

Public policies, he said, continue aimed at maintaining and achieving important social achievements, under the principle of "leaving no one behind".

Cuban deputy PM explained that with a view to 2030, his country is strengthening planning and coordination at different levels of government, and promoting innovation, scientific research and the construction of multi-stakeholder alliances as essential tools for recovery and progress.

The UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development aims to take stock of progress in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 goals, including ending poverty, eradicating hunger, achieving food security, ensuring healthy lives and quality education, ensuring access to water and energy, and promoting economic growth.