The chief of staff of the island’s Civil Defense, General Ramón Pardo Guerra, offered the experience and cooperation in the field of extreme events, which Cuba practices with other nations, particularly in the Caribbean.
Before the plenary of the VIII Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Americas and the Caribbean, which meets in the Uruguayan resort of Punta del Este, the Cuban representative pointed out the notable increase in the impact of climate change and disasters, which underline the vulnerabilities and dangers, particularly in developing countries.
In this regard, he reiterated the cooperation of the Cuban government with the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, which includes commitments of the international community.
Pardo Guerra said that his country, which has suffered several disaster situations, managed to develop a risk reduction management strategy.
We have shared our experiences in protecting people’s lives from the impact of disasters with other developing countries, including our Caribbean brothers and sisters as part of South-South cooperation, he said.
In recent years specialists from the region have been trained with Cuban tools in disaster risk reduction management, with the participation of the scientific community and the support of the United Nations system.
Pardo Guerra added that rescue corps from Latin America and the Caribbean have participated in the courses offered by Cuba at the regional Fire and Rescue Training Center.
He informed the participants of the regional forum that in June of this year his country will host the XI International Congress on Disasters and the VI International Conference of Firefighters.
He commented that Cuba recently assumed the presidency of the Group of 77 plus China and in that scenario ratified its willingness to ” cooperate with the member countries and in particular with the island developing States in the field of disaster risk reduction”.
In his speech, the Caribbean delegate expressed his condolences to the people and governments of Syria and Türkiye for the human and material losses caused by the intense earthquake of February 7.
He also reiterated the gratitude of the Island to several countries, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the United Nations system in Cuba, and other cooperation actors “who supported Cuba after the impact of different disaster situations in 2022”.
