Oxfam Cuba Report Calls for Lifting U.S. Sanctions
25 MAY 2021 | PRESS RELEASE
Washington, D.C. Seventy-eight percent of women and girls living in Cuba were born under the pressure exerted by the US blockade on the island for nearly six decades. According to a new Oxfam report, these sanctions impact the daily lives of all Cubans, but especially women. The blockade affects families and their livelihoods, and limits progress toward a more fair and inclusive society.
The new Oxfam report, Right to Live Without a Blockade: The Impact of U.S. Sanctions on the Cuban Population and Womens Lives, explains how US policy blocks people from developing their capabilities and exercising leadership to pursue their goals and fully exercise their rights, particularly affecting the most vulnerable groups.
Oxfam calls for the US blockade to be lifted. For over a year, these sanctions have represented a real obstacle to the procurement of mechanical ventilators, face masks, diagnostic kits, reagents, vaccination syringes, and other necessary materials to address COVID-19. Our organization supports the campaign for a peoples vaccine that is free and accessible as soon as possible to everyone, everywhere. Cuba is developing five of its own vaccine candidates, two of which are currently in the final phases of clinical trials. Yet by blocking trade and commercial transactions, the US blockade is delaying widespread vaccination on the island, Elena Gentili, of Oxfam Representative in Cuba, explains.
Based on the research for this study and our experience working in Cuba since 1993 with local stakeholders, communities, cooperatives, partner organizations, and allies, Oxfam recognizes how the US blockade deepens the economic crisis and restricts access to suppliers of medicines, technology, food, and other essential products.
More:
https://www.wola.org/2021/05/right-to-live-without-blockade/