Marked by the commitment to continue working together in multiple spaces, the meeting took place this Wednesday morning, where the Cuban Head of State thanked the senior United Nations official for the cooperation that both she and said organization have maintained with Cuba in all these years.

In this sense, the president highlighted the support received during the confrontation with the COVID-19 epidemic; more recently on the occasion of the passage of Hurricane Ian through Cuban territory, and in general the work that has been sustained in matters of advice and exchange of criteria on the demographic issue in Cuba. He also made reference to a group of programs for the care of children and adolescents in situations of vulnerability; the treatment of HIV/AIDS and other population issues that are addressed together.

After acknowledging the support provided to Cuba by the United Nations Population Fund in confronting the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the US administration, President Díaz-Canel ratified the Cuban Government’s commitment to all the agreements of the Conference International Conference on Population and with the Sustainable Development Goals for 2030.

Consequently, he detailed to Dr. Natalia Kanem about the link that has been achieved in the Government’s strategic planning with these working principles, closely related to the National Economic and Social Development Plan of Cuba for 2030.

“We are at a particularly important moment to continue strengthening our mutual cooperation and collaboration,” said the Cuban president. In particular, Díaz-Canel highlighted the recent approval, in a broad democratic exercise, of a new Family Code, which is advanced and modern, and in which many guarantees and rights are defended that have to do with very sensitive issues for the Cuban population.

After explaining other aspects related to the new legal norm and highlighting the development of several projects that are being carried out in conjunction with the United Nations Population Fund, the Cuban president confirmed to the executive the will of our Government to continue deepening and working on those issues.

The solidarity of the United Nations is invariable

Meeting between the Cuban President, Miguel Díaz-Canel, and the Deputy Secretary General of the UN, Natalia Kanem, on October 19, 2022 in Havana. Photo: Revolution Studios.

Thanks and recognition followed by Dr. Natalia Kanem, who conveyed to the President of the Republic a greeting from the Secretary General of the United Nations Organization, Antonio Guterres. The United Nations —she assured— is also very happy with this visit.

The senior executive of the UN, a pediatrician by profession, commented to the Cuban Head of State that shortly before this meeting she had given a keynote speech, as part of the work sessions of the Cuba-Health International Convention 2022. “I am coming right now from the Convention Palace and I was very happy to see so many young people from all over the world at that meeting”, he highlighted.

I must express to you, she said, the admiration I feel for this country. Next, he detailed to President Díaz-Canel about other activities carried out during his stay in Cuba, such as visits to a daycare center and the Belén Convent where he was able to verify —he meant— the treatment and attention given to people of the elderly, something very important, bearing in mind that it is an aging population.

Associated with this last topic, Dr. Natalia Kanem reflected on the dissimilar challenges that exist in population issues and in which it is urgent to face a series of inequalities. “Our organization is working on projects that involve Afro-descendants and indigenous people; We hope that Cuba can also join those efforts.”

During the cordial and relaxed dialogue, the distinguished visitor was accompanied by members of her team. Meanwhile, on the Cuban side, Rodrigo Malmierca Díaz, Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, and Anayansi Rodríguez Camejo, Vice Minister of Foreign Relations, also participated.

According to the Fund’s representation on the island, during his visit, which will last until next Wednesday, he will exchange with national authorities, tour the projects developed by UNFPA in Cuba and participate in the 2022 Cuba-Health International Convention, inaugurated this Monday.

The senior official has a history of more than 30 years of strategic leadership in the fields of medicine, public and reproductive health, social justice and philanthropy.

Her academic career began at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Columbia University School of Public Health.

From 2014 to 2016, Kanem represented UNFPA in the United Republic of Tanzania, and in July of that year she was appointed UNFPA Deputy Executive Director with responsibility for programmes.

In addition, she was the founding president of ELMA Philanthropies Inc., a private institution whose work primarily targets children and youth in Africa, and she held the position of senior associate of the Lloyd Best Institute of the West Indies.

She has a medical degree from Columbia University (New York) and a master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Washington (Seattle), specializing in Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine. Likewise, she graduated with honors from Harvard University, where she studied History and Science.

Natalia Kanem is the fifth Executive Director of UNFPA since the Fund began operations in 1969.

(With information from Cubaminrex)

The two-kilowatt power equipment comes from the European Union and is manufactured in China, distributed in the four provinces of central Cuba (Camagüey, Ciego Ávila, Sancti Spíritus and Villa Clara), which were affected in 2017. by Hurricane Irma, specifically in the northern municipalities.

In statements to the local press, engineer Juan Carlos Lacaba, main specialist of the Renewable Energy Sources Business Unit, attached to the Provincial Electric Company, assured that the most remote coastal towns of Nuevitas, Sierra de Cubitas, Minas and Esmeralda will be the beneficiaries, in the case of Camagüey.

“The UNDP focuses with this donation on vulnerable families, with women with more than one child and that their housing was in unfavorable construction conditions, that is also the policy of the Cuban state, in addition all these nuclei were affected by Hurricane Irma, and they are people who do not have current by any means of the National Electroenergetic System”, he said.

Already in Camagüey, in the four mentioned coastal municipalities “109 panels of this type of the 342 have been assembled, and instructions and training have been given to people for their use, since there are equipment that cannot be connected because they have more power than the one admitted”, argued the engineer.

Modern panels, “one of the best that has entered Cuba, and these systems have advantages, since they resist inductive loads, they also have motors with a rotating process, and great autonomy due to their battery that allows them, even if the day is without sun or in a cold front, load up and put yourself at the service of the family”, according to Lacaba.

In July, the United Nations Undersecretary General and UNDP Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, Luis Felipe López-Calva, was in the largest of the Antilles and exchanged with Cuban authorities.

His stay was crucial to discuss the cooperation established by the Program with the Caribbean nation in the framework of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, expressed in the National Economic and Social Development Plan.

(With information from Prensa Latina)

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, Bruno Rodríguez, will speak today at the high-level segment of the 77th session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly.

On this occasion, Cuba will ratify its commitment to peace and multilateralism, in an effort to achieve a more democratic, fair and equitable international order, based on full respect for the UN Charter and International Law, the Foreign Minister recently said. Cuban on Twitter.

Rodríguez heads the delegation from the largest island of the Antilles to this meeting, the first to be held in person after the Covid-19 pandemic, in which 150 heads of state, government and foreign ministers from all over the world participate. .

Since his arrival last Saturday in New York, United States, the highest representative of Cuban diplomacy has developed an intense schedule of bilateral contacts with counterparts from a dozen nations.

The day before, the Cuban official spoke with his counterpart from the Saharawi Arab Republic, Mohamed Salem Ould Salek, about the historic links of cooperation and solidarity between both peoples and governments.

Also, in a meeting with the Portuguese Foreign Minister, Joao Cravinho, the parties agreed on the need to develop and expand the political dialogue.

The minister also met with his Syrian counterpart, Faisal Mekdad, on the consolidation of ties between the two countries and mutual support in the face of unilateral blockades and sanctions, and thanked the Nicaraguan Foreign Minister, Denis Moncada, for the constant shows of solidarity with Cuba.

Previously, Rodríguez spoke with Adaljiza Magno, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Timor-Leste and former member of the Constituent Assembly, about the remarkable results of the island’s medical collaboration.

(With information from Prensa Latina)