Havana, September 17 (RHC) -- The United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) Deputy Executive Director, Ibrahim Thiaw, on a visit to Havana, praised the national preparation system to face disasters introduced in Cuba.

“I am very impressed by the way in which Cuba responds to disasters, by the way the population prepares itself together with the measures taken by the country to act before natural phenomena,” Ibrahim Thiaw said in his interview with Prensa Latina.

On the subject, he described as "very organized and positive" the system applied by the Cuban Civil Defense, which integrates the national government, with local authorities and the population in the case of weather emergencies.

He explained that when a natural disaster occurs, there is no time for improvisation, nor occasion for more drills. It is necessary to apply the provided measures because people´s lives are at stake.

In his opinion, Cuba is an example of that practice, something he said observed during a visit to the Civil Defense General Staff where he was briefed first hand the existing mechanisms over the national territory to act in the face of extreme climate situations.

He affirmed that he was “surprised at the fact this work is carried out by 300 persons, when I thought there were thousands involved in that task. Its achievements are in the system applied, in the work of the government, local authorities and in the response of the people.

The United Nations official said it was important to present Cuba's experience to the rest of the world, as well as to expand the exchange of information in which the UNEP can collaborate in order to facilitate North-South and South-South cooperation.