Cuba

February 2017: Requested meeting with Geneva mission but they had a delegation from capital in town.

March 2017: Did not attend Buenos Aires conference. May 2017: Requested meeting with Geneva mission but too busy.

August 2017: Save Geneva spoke with the humanitarian rep in the Cuba Mission. She has shared the documentation in capital but has not received feedback on whether endorsement is possible. She is interested to know more about the possibilities for implementation, and also asked if Cuba could play a role in introducing language in Geneva processes, in particular the Human Rights Council.

October 2017: Save the Children Geneva and GCPEA met with the expert in Geneva. She advised that Cuba does not, on principle, adhere to non-negotiated international processes. Her view was that Cuba agrees with the aims of the Declaration but is unlikely to endorse unless there is an intergovernmental negotiation. Save the Children Geneva followed up in writing, sharing a GCPEA letter for the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

February 2019: GCPEA and Save the Children Geneva had a brief meeting with the Ambassador and Advisor. The Ambassador made a positive remark about the increased level of endorsement and noted that the USA hasn’t yet endorsed. He had had a discussion with the Ambassador of Argentina in December but hadn’t received any information or resources in order to report back to capital. Follow-up: GCPEA followed up in writing, sharing a letter for the Foreign Minister, and list of GCPEA resources and publications.

April 2019: GCPEA and UNICEF met with the Ambassador of Cuba who was familiar with the background and with the upcoming Third International Conference. She reassured how education has always been a priority for Cuba and shared how proud they are of their education system and high literacy rates. The Ambassador said Cuba had no disagreements with the Declaration itself, but they felt excluded from the Declaration development process. They have not endorsed it because they believe everyone should have had the opportunity to participate. UNICEF highlighted that Cuba can play an important leadership role in the region. GCPEA added how Cuba has concrete examples of good practice to share in improving protection of educational facilities, which can be shared during the Spain Conference and applied by conflict-affected countries. GCPEA followed up in writing explaining that all UN all member states had been invited by Norway and Argentina to the consultations on the Safe Schools Declaration in Geneva.

July 2022: The Mission in New York replied to our meeting request, saying that they could not endorse the SSD because the initiative was developed outside of the auspices of the UN (the same argument we often hear from them).

November 2022: Following Colombia’s endorsement to the SSD, GCPEA convinced and supported the Permanent Mission of Argentina in Geneva to send a Note Verbale to the remaining GRULAC non-endorsing states: Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cuba, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela – encouraging them to endorse the SSD.