Yusnir Romero

United Nations, June 8 (RHC)-- Cuba praised the assistance of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to confront the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and its support of national efforts during the recovery phase.

The island's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Yusnier Romero, also regretted the continuous decrease in the basic resources destined for development, which constitute guarantees to duly attend to the needs and priorities of the recipient countries.

He was speaking at the annual session of the Executive Board of UNDP, the United Nations Population Fund, and the United Nations Office for Project Services.

Concerning Cuba, he pointed out that the restrictions associated with the economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed by the U.S. Government affect access to various external sources of financing.

Likewise, he added that siege limits the effective implementation of international cooperation projects and constitutes the main barrier to achieving the goals of the 2030 Agenda.

Cuba believes that only through true international cooperation for development, with predictable and unconditional contributions, will we be able to change the current course and move towards achieving the goals proposed for the year 2030, the diplomat stressed.

Romero also referred to the announcements of cuts in UNDP's core funds for development to allocate them to other purposes, which jeopardizes the effectiveness of the entity's work in the current complex environment.

A few days ago, UN Secretary-General António Guterres described as alarming the indications shown by some countries to make deep cuts to Official Development Assistance.

He indicated that such a decrease would be a significant reversal of previously agreed commitments through his official Twitter account.

UN officials began sounding the alarm in May due to the decrease in development aid budgets, from which money is taken in order to finance the response to the conflict in Ukraine.

In recent weeks, several countries, including the United States, have redirected funds from their development aid programs to finance their military support for Ukraine.

Diplomatic sources indicate that Norway and Sweden are among the other nations considering similar measures.