Ciego de Avila, Cuba, (ACN) The resident representative of the UN Development Program (UNDP) in Cuba Maribel Gutierrez stressed in this central province the national efforts to safeguard the people’s health in a scenario marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, despite economic shortages.
Unlike other countries, Cuba prioritized the people’s health and well-being over any economic interests which represented a huge efforts considering the financial limitations and lack of resources resulting from the impact of the global sanitary crisis, Gutierrez said.
Since the year 2020, the UNDP has backed Cuba’s COVID-19 efforts with donations from several countries which have shipped resources to the island’s health system. The European Union, Italy, Switzerland and Canada are some of the major contributors of sustainable development projects currently underway in the country, including a repair program for homes affected by weather phenomena and the rehabilitation of coastal areas.
The UNDP is also backing a study on the Havana seafront about the impact of waves and hurricanes, which will lead to actions that will help face these phenomena. The UN agency will also fund the promotion of renewable energy sources in tune with the country’s energy policy and the sustainable development goals approved by the United Nations.
The UNDP official said that the results of such projects justify the presence of the agency in Cuba while she is pleased to see the progress achieved in the central province of Ciego de Avila.