Search

For many, discussion of the UN's development goals inspires images of poor and marginalised communities in the global south receiving aid, loans, and NGO support from the global north. Can a country from the global south with limited resources reach the UN's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as well as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and do so without the support, aid or influence of the global north and the development industry? The case of Cuba and its sustainable development approach may offer some evidence for overcoming these challenges. In particular, this article will examine Cuba's successes in meeting MDG and SDG targets in healthcare, education, gender equality and the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses Cuba's medical missions in the South Pacific and specifically in Timor-Leste (East Timor), the largest outside of Latin America. Here, the adaptation of Cuba's low-technology and low-resourced preventive-focused medical model (based on the development of human capital) is used to highlight lessons regarding effective medical cooperation. This article finds that these lessons should be drawn from the dynamic and creative adaptations of the Cuban medical model, which are assisting South Pacific medical systems by scaling up primary care workforces to target previously underserved areas. Thus, the contribution of Cuban medical personnel, bolstered by the education of indigenous South Pacific students (trained by Cuban professors, both in Havana and locally) has developed into unique medical models for South Pacific nations. Such models of cooperation are also clearly adaptable elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]