United Nations, October 17 (RHC)-- Despite nearly 60 years of U.S. blockade, Cuba currently excels in social indicators and meets several goals set by the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.

Ana Silvia Rodriguez, Cuba´s Deputy Representative to the United Nations made that statement on Wednesday at a meeting of the UN General Assembly.

“Although Cuba is a small island developing state, subject to the adverse effects of powerful hurricanes, droughts and climate change, it is currently the second in the world with the lowest value in the Multidimensional Poverty Index,” she recalled, and added that the island is the only nation in Latin America and the Caribbean that has eliminated severe child malnutrition, according to the 2018 UNICEF Report.

Also, it ranks fifth among the first 14 countries to reduce the Hunger and Malnutrition Index on a sustained basis for several years, said the Cuban diplomat.

Rodriguez stressed that the commitment to definitively eradicate poverty in all its forms and dimensions could be achieved if nations such as the United States, which devote multimillion-dollar resources to military expenditures, dedicated them to development.

The day before, in the debate 'Eradication of poverty and other development issues' of the Second Committee of the United Nations, at its 74th session, Cuba reaffirmed its commitment to South-South cooperation and international solidarity to overcome these problems.