[NYTr] Cuba, South Africa Sign Cooperation Agreement

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Agencia Cubana de Noticias (ACN)
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Cuba-South Africa Sign Cooperation Agreement

Havana, Sept 3 (acn)Cuba and South Africa signed on Monday a five-year
cooperation agreement to promote the exchange of experiences in the
field of social security between the two countries.

The accord was inked by Cuban Minister of Work and Social Security,
Alfredo Morales Cartaya, and South African Minister of Welfare and
Population Development, Zola Sidney Themba, who is currently paying an
official visit to the island.

The document establishes an increase of Cuba-South Africa relations for
the purpose of training specialists, fighting poverty and protecting the
most vulnerable social groups in that African country.

During the encounter, Morales Cartaya briefed the visiting delegation on
the social programs undertaken throughout the island since 2006, which
have reduced the unemployment rate to less than 2% -the lowest one in
Latin America and acknowledged as full employment by the International
Labour Organization (ILO).

According to statistics, the infant mortality rate in the island has
decreased to 5.3 per one thousand live births, while life expectancy has
reached 77 years. The Cuban social assistance system equally benefits
all citizens through monetary loans or services.

Sydney Themba noted that the Cuban experiences in this field will be
very useful in South Africa where the large colored minority lived in
abject poverty and segregated during the Apartheid regime.

South Africa is located in Africa's most southern extreme. It has over
1.2 million square kilometers and some 44 million inhabitants. Cuba and
South Africa established diplomatic relations on the occasion of Fidel
Castro's visit to that country in 1994.