Cuba Ratifies UNESCO Convention on Underwater Heritage

[Mika]

Cuba Ratifies UNESCO Convention on Underwater Heritage

Cuba ratified on Tuesday the UNESCO Convention on the protection of underwater heritage.

UNESCO’s General Director Koichiro Matsuura received in Paris the documents that ratify the adherence of the Caribbean nation to this accord adopted in 2001 that will allow the protection of its underwater natural richness.

This decision by the Cuban government is a very good piece of news, said Matsuura during a ceremony in which he also thanked the Cuban authorities for taking this step that will lead other countries of the region and the world to follow the example.

For his part, Cuba’s Ambassador to UNESCO, Hector Hernandez Pardo, said that this ratification is part of the Cuban tradition of commitment to the international law and norms and also an expression of the Cuban historic support of UNESCO, multilateralism and the United Nations System, in general.

This international treaty sets basic principles for the protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage and it includes a system of cooperation among countries and practical norms commonly acknowledged for the treatment and research of this patrimony.

The Convention will come into effect three months after 20 countries present their retification instruments. With this step, Cuba has become the 17th nation to do it.

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