Cuba to chair the Forum of Latin American and Caribbean Countries on Sustainable Development

From April 23 to 26, Cuba will chair the third meeting of the Forum of Latin American and Caribbean Countries on Sustainable Development, which will take place in Santiago de Chile with the participation of government representatives, international institutions and academia, private sectors and civil society in general, says Telesur.

The Forum is held annually under the sponsorship of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and it is convened by the member state that holds the presidency of the Committee of the Whole of this organization, to evaluate the progress and main challenges faced by the region in the implementation of Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development.

During the meeting, ECLAC will present a report on the results of the implementation of the ODS in the region in the last four years.

ACCURACY

Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, President of the Councils of State and Ministers, during the 37th session of ECLAC (held in Havana in May 2018), stressed the need to transform the culture of inequality associated with the region’s colonial past, which fundamentally affects people of African descent, indigenous communities, girls, boys and women. He warned against these challenges:

Concentrate efforts on underprivileged populations to meet the Sustainable Development Goals in order to face the serious challenges facing the region today, including slow productive growth, poor diversification of production structures and poor technological modernization.
Seek equal opportunities and social justice as ways to reduce and eliminate the growing poverty suffered by hundreds of millions of Latin Americans and Caribbeans.
Promote development policies and programs to reduce poverty, inequality and hunger.
Guarantee access for all to food, work, health, culture and better living conditions.
Confront climate change by strengthening the bonds of solidarity and cooperation among the countries in the area and comply with the ODS for the future.
Cuba, in spite of the current economic problems, mainly associated with the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States, will continue to focus on the goals for 2030.

(Taken from Granma in Spanish)

Written by Radio Grito de Baire