ENVIRONMENT

Environmental conservation figured prominently on the Miami agenda. In 1996, Bolivia will be the site of a Summit Conference on Sustainable Development.

The Summit of the Americas proposed a new partnership that will promote cooperative activities to develop environmental policies, laws and institutions; to strengthen and build technical capacity; promote public awareness and public participation; continue to pursue technological, financial and other forms of cooperation, and facilitate information exchange, including information on environmentally sound technologies. The governments decided to promote the participation of the OAS, the IDB, the Multilateral Investment Fund, the World Bank, PAHO, and nongovernmental actors and organizations, to finance, develop and implement priority projects.

Given the role assigned to the OAS in this partnership for pollution prevention, an Environment Unit must be established within the General Secretariat to address matters related to cooperation in developing policies and laws and strengthening environmental institutions. The technical cooperation programs can be handled with the Secretariat's existing capability.

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