GENEVA, Oct 6 (NNN-ACN) — Cuba ratified Wednesday its commitment to the eradication of racism, during the 51st regular session of the Human Rights Council, in Geneva, Switzerland.
Juan Antonio Quintanilla, ambassador and permanent representative of Cuba to the international organizations , while intervening in the general debate highlighted the Cuban progress in this purpose, with the implementation of the National Program against Racism and Racial Discrimination, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
This public policy approved by the Council of Ministers in 2019 has made it possible to identify inequity gaps and, based on this, to work purposely to eliminate the vestiges of discrimination, the diplomat assured.
Quintanilla also highlighted the contribution of Cuba to the anti-racist cause, even outside the national borders, since thousands of Cubans supported the national liberation movements in Africa and against the apartheid regime, and today tens of thousands continue contributing their cooperation, particularly in health.
In Cuba, the defense of hatred, xenophobia, intolerance and supremacist ideas on the basis of national, religious or ethnic origin are outside the political, social and economic life of the country, he affirmed.
The objectives outlined in the Durban Declaration and Program of Action have not yet been achieved, more than 20 years after their adoption, and on the contrary, the multidimensional crisis aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the structural inequalities that foster discrimination, intolerance and exclusion of Afro-descendants and other ethnic groups, Cuban diplomat warned. — NNN-ACN
