Confirms Cuba commitment in favor of the sustainable rural development

Cuba ratified their commitment to sustainable rural development, inclusion and social equity in the 41 session of the Governing Council of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), which concluded here.

The governor of Cuba at the international agency and ambassador to Italy, Jose Carlos Rodriguez, emphasized to intervene in the encounter, this Wednesday, the willingness of his country to contribute to the goal of the 2030 Agenda of the UN to achieve zero hunger and the strengthening of resilience in the long term.

For the Cuban Government, noted, food security is a strategic objective and precise actions are performed in the short and long term, in favor of a sufficiency in food production and to reduce the high import levels.

The projects that we undertake today next to the IFAD are geared to that purpose, Rodriguez said, who thanked the institution and in particular its Division for Latin America and the Caribbean, support to his country for agricultural development.

To refer to another of the central themes of the Council, the diplomat stressed that despite the fact that Cuba is a small island state, it proves to be a nation with a strong resilience.

As an example he mentioned the recovery after the devastating hurricane Irma that raged in 12 of the 15 provinces by the end of 2017 and the affectations by other phenomena such as cyclical droughts, in addition to the extensive damage caused by the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States against the Cuban people.

He reaffirmed the commitment of the Island with the international cooperation and sustainable development, as well as the willingness to make, although modest, a contribution to the eleventh replenishment of IFAD's resources, similar to the one on the previous occasion.

In the same way I support the South-South cooperation and stressed that Cuba has a great potential of human resources and institutions willing to support the countries members of the Fund.

He also advocated by the triangular cooperation and came out in favor of multilateralism, and expressed its conviction that the objectives of sustainable development, embodied in the 2030 Agenda, will only be a reality with the effort and the support of the international community as a whole.

In the relations "dialog must prevail and not belligerence. It is unfair to waste large amounts of resources in wars, while 815 million people suffer from hunger," said Rodriguez.

The diplomat also called on developed nations to comply with the commitment made many years ago, but again and again, to allocate 0.7% of gross domestic product to official development assistance.

"It would be a significant contribution to the commendable efforts to achieve zero hunger for some and others in the world", he concluded.