United Nations, February 11 (RHC)-- Cuba’s Alternate Ambassador to the UN Oscar León called on UN member states to set realistic measurement indicators to assess compliance with the set UN development goals and to encourage global debate.

Addressing a high-level UN debate to discuss ways of implementing the new framework for global progress, the Cuban diplomat said: 'One of the great lessons of the Millennium Development Goals is that without the necessary means of implementation, it is impossible to make these plans for development a reality,' Prensa Latina news agency reported.

The Cuban ambassador advocated the creation of international mechanisms to guarantee and check compliance with the sustainable development objectives that will be part of the UN post-2015 development agenda.

The forum, which opened Monday, seeks to identify key instruments for the effective implementation of the post-2015 development agenda, focusing on the eradication of extreme poverty and reducing inequities, in order to give continuity to the goals previously set for the 2000-2015 period.

According to León, Cuba is advocating new priorities accompanied by measures to ensure the required conditions in the countries of the South, including the flow of resources, capacity building, transfer of environmentally sustainable technology and updating of multilateral trade rules.

In this regard, he stressed the significance of development assistance, an unfulfilled commitment by many of the world powers, who nevertheless continue to maintain huge military expenditures. According to the Cuban alternative ambassador, equally important is the role of mechanisms for monitoring and tracking the implementation of the agenda, for which intergovernmental negotiations are already underway, in order to establish these in September.

The international community is currently shaping the post-2015 agenda, for which 17 development goals and 169 related tasks have already been identified.