Chapter XIX of the Charter defines specialized organizations as governmental organizations established by multilateral agreements, having specific functions with respect to technical matters of common interest to the American states. They enjoy full technical autonomy but must take into account the recommendations of the General Assembly and the Councils. At present there are six specialized organizations: the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Inter-American Children's Institute (IIN), the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM), the Pan American Institute of Geography and History (PAIGH), the Inter-American Indian Institute (III), and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA). Pursuant to Articles 132 and 90.f of the Charter, all specialized organizations are to present detailed yearly reports of their activities, a summary of which appears in this chapter. The annual report of each organization describes its activities in greater detail.

1. Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)

Established by the Second International Conference of American States (Mexico City, 1901-1902), the Pan American Health Organization is also the World Health Organization's regional agency for the Americas. Its basic purpose is to promote and coordinate the efforts of the American countries to combat disease, prolong life , and improve the physical and mental health of their peoples. PAHO has its headquarters in Washington, D.C. Its Director is Dr. George Alleyne.

Permanent Council

At its meeting in September 1995, the Council adopted 14 resolutions pertaining, inter alia, to relations with nongovernmental organizations, both national and inter-American; implementation of the goals and objectives of the Regional Plan of Action to control and prevent new, emerging, or recurrent diseases; and continued support for health sector reform in the Americas.

PAHO's New Mission

PAHO and the World Health Organization (WHO) have continued the process of reforming the Organization and of reporting on their progress to the governing bodies. The guidelines for the four-year period 1995-98 and the new structure of the Secretariat are intended to address the most important issues in that connection. There has also been progress in strengthening the Health for All policy, for which a new integrated scheme had been designed, based on equity, solidarity, and sustainability, through a broad-based process of consultations in the countries and by encouraging the participation of other institutions in developing the general framework of health policy.

The Secretariat's mission, which was defined with the full participation of its staff, stresses the importance of cooperating with the countries in technical areas and fostering cooperation among member states so that, as the peoples of the Americas maintain a healthy environment and make progress in human development, they can enjoy Health of and for All.

The main objective is Health for All and the priority strategy for achieving it is primary health care. In 1995, PAHO began a process of consultation in national and regional forums to give impetus to the Health for All policy, taking into account the possible effects of global trends that affect the health of the Hemisphere's people.

The Concept of Technical Cooperation

PAHO has started to review the concept of technical cooperation in health with a view to updating it to take into account the changes that have occurred since it was given a mandate in this area 50 years ago. With financial support from the Carnegie Corporation and the backing of WHO, PAHO organized a seminar on the topic, which was attended by experts in this field from governmental and nongovernmental sectors. Appreciable progress has been made in improving the Organization's effectiveness and efficiency by using the system of technical cooperation for planning, programming, follow-up, and evaluation for the region of the Americas. Progress has also been made in harmonizing projects with policy guidelines and with the priorities of the member states. In recent years, practices have been established to evaluate results in order to determine the effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, and impact of the Organization's activities in the context of the policies adopted by the governing bodies.

Highlights of Cooperation Activities

Following are highlights of accomplishments in cooperation activities:

PAHO, which played an important role in putting health on the agenda of the Summit of the Americas, has followed up on the issues included in the Plan of Action regarding health, such as, reform of the sector, the fight against AIDS, environmental health and sustainable human development, and infant health.

In conjunction with the OAS, IDB, World Bank, ECLAC, UNICEF, UNFPA, USAID, and the Government of Canada, a conference on health sector reform was held in Washington. The aim was to establish a frame of reference for reforming health mechanisms and defining PAHO's role in the implementation of national plans and programs.

The "Declaration of Paraguay," issued by the First Ladies of the Americas, specifies eight activities that they will undertake in connection with the recommendations of the Plan of Action of the Miami Summit on health care for women and children.

In the 1994-95 biennium, PAHO raised US$208 million from the international community to finance priority projects and signed an agreement with the IDB for regional investment in various health areas.

Together with the governments of Canada, France, Germany, the Nordic countries, and Spain, the Organization has channeled about US$2 million into key activities in the fight against AIDS.

Criteria and principles were established for PAHO's relations with national and international nongovernmental organizations.

The Pan American Conference on Environment and Health in Sustainable Human Development was held in October 1995. It was attended by ministers of health, the environment, and the economy. It culminated in the signing of the Pan American Charter on Health and Environment in Sustainable Human Development, as well as the Regional Plan of Action.

PAHO provided material and logistical support to the countries affected by natural disasters and mobilized external assistance for them. This activity targeted, in particular, the Caribbean countries struck by hurricanes.

There was a significant decline in the incidence of various diseases, others were eliminated, and a plan of action to eradicate measles by the year 2000 was executed.

The regional plans of action on health advocacy, violence and health, infant development, and nutrition are being implemented.

2. Inter-American Children's Institute (IIN)

Established by the Fourth Pan American Child Congress in 1924 and founded in 1927, the purpose of the Inter-American Children's Institute is to further the study of problems relating to children and the family and to help solve them. It has its headquarters in Montevideo, Uruguay, and its Director General is attorney Rodrigo Quintana Meléndez.

On January 8, 1995, Mr. Rodrigo Quintana took office as Director General of IIN. He had been selected by the Secretary General from a slate proposed by the Institute's Executive Council. The new director's work began as a review of the Statutes, policies, and plans of action, as mandated by the Executive Council, has been undertaken. Efforts are being made to adapt IIN to new circumstances in the Hemisphere and to the Organization's priorities. For that purpose, an Executive Council Working Group was set up, with membership open to all member states.

At its first meeting, held in Washington, the Group agreed that the basis for future IIN action should be:

1. To be the forum in the Americas to which governments, the OAS as a whole, and civil society resort in matters pertaining to the Convention on the Rights of the Child;

2. To provide advisory services and technical cooperation to governments in modernizing the social management of services for children, families, and the community;

3. To advise and assist those responsible for decision-making and for executing public policy in their national development objectives, encouraging investment in children;

4. To promote, support, and maintain a network of persons and agencies that work for children in the Americas;

5. To act as the main adviser of the OAS in the area of child welfare.

The Executive Council will hold a special meeting in Chile in March 1996 to analyze a document on the Institute's program, prepared in accordance with the guidelines agreed to in Washington. The Council will submit its proposals to the General Secretariat and the OAS General Assembly.

Activities of the Institute

Since 1989, IIN has been implementing the Inter-American Plan of Action for Disadvantaged Children, acting on its mandate from the OAS General Assembly. The Plan of Action comprises the following programs:

Inter-American Information Program on Children and Family. It has been implemented with resources from the OAS Regular Fund and technical and financial support from the governments of Canada, the United States, and Spain, and from UNICEF.

The Documentary Information Project (PID) has been the starting point for the establishment of an Inter-American Information Network on Children, which incorporates Latin America's largest documentary database on children and the family. It serves more than 4,000 user institutions, providing 42,000 bibliographical references. The sixth annual project evaluation workshop was held in Santiago, Chile.

The Child Data Systems Project (SIPI), with eight participating countries, was designed to provide technical assistance to national agencies and to become a policy-making tool on children's issues by following up on the situation of institutionalized children and permanently evaluating systems for providing care. Activities have been started in Honduras, Costa Rica, and El Salvador, using as a guide the experience from the completed stages of the system's implementation in Uruguay and Ecuador, together with the experience of Chile's National Minors' Service.

The objective of the Statistical Data Project (PIE) is to develop a method of quantifying the quality of life of children and comparing trends. The project comprises three main phases. The first two consist in the development of the methodology of work and its testing in the IIN host country; the third consists in expanding the methodology to the other countries of the region.

The Secondary Information Reference System Project (SIRS) has been implemented in its nine Focal Centers. It is designed to collect and disseminate information on institutions and events in the region relating to children and the family. The Disability Data System (SINDI), along with IIN's Disabled Children's Program, has been installed in the regional subcenters of the Information Program.

• Inter-American Program for Strengthening Child Welfare Systems (PROINFBI). The documents produced by the missions to evaluate training activities in four Central American countries, which were mentioned in the previous report, were edited and published. A regional seminar on "Evaluation and Proposals on Personnel Training in Child Welfare Systems" was held in El Salvador in late 1995. The book À Arte de Governar Crianças: A Historia das Políticas Sociais, da Legislação e da Assistência a Infancia no Brasil (The Art of Child Reasing: The History of Social Policies, Legislation, and Child Welfare in Brazil) was published.

• Drug Addiction Prevention Program. Three activities to follow up on the Prevention Encounters in Alto Valle de Cochabamba, Bolivia, in 1994, took place and the results were evaluated. The Preventive Education Encounter and a course on technical training in preventive education, with the participation of CICAD and PAHO, were held in Guatemala. Within the framework of the project Woman, Motherhood, and the Family, the Impact of Drug Abuse, established at the initiative of the CIM and CICAD, a first Inter-American Encounter of Experts is being planned and, in Uruguay, the first pilot experiments in non-formal preventive education are being carried out. IIN participated, in conjunction with PAHO and CICAD, in an Andean Subregional Consultation Group, which met in Caracas.

Program on the Rights of the Child. Advisory assistance was provided for legislation related to children in Guatemala, Panama, and Uruguay. The Institute participated in two meetings organized by PAHO on mental health and psychosocial development of children, one in Caracas and the other in San Salvador.

Program on Children, the Family, and Disability. Under the project "Growing Together in Community Life: A New Model for Developing Policies for the Disabled," prepared in conjunction with the Canadian Association for Community Life (CACL) and the Inter-American Federation of the International Union of Societies for Mental Health (CILPEDIM), four subregional seminars were held: in Guatemala, for Central America; in Uruguay, for the Southern Cone; in Mexico, for the Caribbean and North America; and in Ecuador, for the Andean region. These meetings focused on the target age groups 0-6, 7-12, 13-18, and over 18, respectively. The project seeks to produce a new model for policy and program development in the Americas that will promote support systems to minimize the disabling effects that a handicap could result in adult life.

Working with the Beach Center of the University of Kansas in the United States, the Institute issued a call for applications for the 1995 "Eloísa Lorenzo" Inter-American Prize for research in the social sciences on an issue concerning persons with disabilities and their families. The panel of international judges choose not to award the prize this year but singled out four candidates for special mention and four for recognition.

Civil Records and Vital Statistics Program. The Program advocates the improvement of civil records and vital statistics as a basis for the defense of human and children's rights and as a source of information for social planning. It hopes to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of civil records through a number of projects, based on the diagnostic studies of each country. During the period, the IIN collaborated with the IDB and the Unit for the Promotion of Democracy in the civil records project in Paraguay. Activities were aimed at a "Diagnostic Study of the Civil Records of the Republic of Paraguay" and the preparation of a framework project.

3. Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM)

Established by the Sixth International Conference of American States (Havana, 1928), the Inter-American Commission of Women serves as an advisory body to the OAS in all matters relevant to women in the Hemisphere and reports to the governments on progress made and problems to be addressed, offering recommendations to solve those problems. It has its headquarters in Washington, D.C. Its current President is Ambassador Dilma Quezada Martínez (Honduras) and its Vice President is the Deputy Minister of Justice of Peru, Miriam Schenone Ordinola. The member countries of the Executive Committee for 1994-1996 are Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, the United States, and Uruguay.

Convention of Belém do Pará

• With the support of 16 signatories and two ratifying countries, the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence Against Women, known as the "Convention of Belém do Pará," entered into force on March 5, 1995. It is the first and only convention in the world to recognize that violence against women is a human rights violation. Its speedy approval and entry into force were due to unprecedented efforts by the states, civil society, and the CIM to fill the void in international legislation in the area of women's rights. This instrument has the merit of establishing that gender-based violence is equally reprehensible whether committed by public officials or by private individuals, and that the state has the twofold responsibility to eradicate it and to make amends for its consequences through a wide range of measures. Similarly, the importance of this convention is evidenced by the fact that it is the template for amendment of ?member states' national legislation to combat and eradicate discrimination and violence against women.

• The Twenty-seventh Assembly of Delegates approved a program of action to obtain full ratification of the Convention. These activities include: designing programs to disseminate information on the Convention; holding subregional meetings to share information on progress made in the participating countries in the services envisaged; legislative reform; statistical and educational development; and information activities.

• In the context of its program to disseminate information on the Convention, the CIM will assist the countries that so request with its total or partial translation into widely-spoken languages. In that regard, resources have already been earmarked for translating and printing the Convention of Belém do Pará in one of the principal languages of Suriname. Similarly, the Permanent Secretariat of the CIM has sent the text to a number of persons and institutions, not only in the Americas but also in other parts of the world, who maintain regular contact with the Commission or who have requested copies of it and are involved in women's and human rights issues. The list includes representatives of various congresses and parliaments, as well as parliamentary associations and nongovernmental organizations engaged in areas related to women's issues or human rights.

• The Commission held three subregional meetings to follow up on the decisions of the Assembly of Delegates. The first covered the South American countries and was held in Santiago, Chile, December 13-14, 1994, under the management of the National Women's Service (SERNAM) and was sponsored by the CIM and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The second was held in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, April 24-26, 1995, and covered the Central American countries, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico. The third, for the CARICOM countries and Haiti, was held in Trinidad and Tobago, October 26-27, 1995.

Fourth World Conference on Women

As mandated by the Twenty-seventh Assembly of Delegates of the CIM, the President and the Executive Secretary, representing the OAS General Secretariat, and some principal delegates of the CIM participated in this event, held in Beijing, China, in September 1995, and presented the Convention of Belém do Pará. In addition to the member states' contribution, the CIM provided economic support to defray the costs of preparing the national reports to be presented at that conference. Similarly, as part of the preparations for the meeting, the CIM prepared its policy for the next decade, based on these national reports and the 1986 plan of action, and bearing in mind the progress and difficulties observed since then. This is set out in the "Strategic Plan of Action of the Inter-American Commission of Women," which was presented to the Conference and reflects the consensus in the region.

Strategic Plan of Action

Designed to improve the quality of life of women, this Plan has paid special attention to surveying the real situation of women in the region. It includes the urban and rural dimensions, cultural and ethnic plurality, age groups, and disadvantaged groups. It targets the participation and input of women of the member states in their countries' political, legal, social, and economic processes, in the activities in which they are currently involved, and in actions that must be taken to strengthen and consolidate their role towards the year 2000. The plan of action covers the following issues: participation of women in power and decision-making structures, institutional legal framework, work, education, health, elimination of violence, eradication of poverty, national institutions responsible for the advancement of women, regional cooperation, migrations, and women in areas of conflict. The CIM's next five-year plan of action attached priority to: women's participation in power and decision-making structures, education, elimination of violence, and eradication of poverty. Operational objectives have also been identified for this period: strengthening national governmental institutions and/or structures responsible for promoting, coordinating, and executing programs and policies for women, in addition to the development of horizontal cooperation in the region.

Summit of the Americas

In compliance with the directives of the Summit of the Americas on strengthening the Commission, the following activities will be carried out.

At the national level, efforts will be made to improve the formulation and execution of projects with a view to sustainability. This will in turn help the CIM delegates to carry out the tasks they have been assigned. One important aspect will be the strengthening of the installed capacity of national systems to promote the advancement of women.

At the institutional level, two aspects are important. The first concerns the human resources needed. The second pertains to the merits of contributing additional financial resources to the Seed Fund. Proposed activities include: strengthening the processes of consensus-building on priority issues, studies on priority areas, technical advisory assistance for project formulation, promotion of associative development, and establishment of an electronic database.

At the interagency level, strengthening should be focused on effective intersectoral coordination and cooperation with other entities of the inter-American and United Nations systems and with other organs that may share the CIM's interests (for example, parliamentary forums, research and training centers) to capitalize on the additional financial resources and technical experience. One example of this possible coordination is the coordination with UNICEF, UNIFEM, and the IDB on women's participation in the decision-making process.

In addition, the CIM will try to develop partnerships for development. Thus, it has started the process of identifying complementarities in areas and instruments that would facilitate effective cooperation. Proposals include: establishing and/or strengthening partnerships with other areas of the General Secretariat, particularly in specialized advisory services. One good potential forum for this will be the Inter-American Council on Integral Development (CIDI).

Agreements with Regional Agencies

As part of the process of rapprochement with regional organizations, the President of the CIM participated in the Forum of Women Politicians of the Central American Parliament, held in Panama in August 1995. During the meeting, a cooperation agreement was signed between PARLACEN and the CIM. Various activities and strategies in the Central American region are envisaged for the purpose of sharing information on areas of concern to the parties and taking steps to improve the social, political, cultural, educational, and economic status of women.

4. Pan American Institute of Geography and History (PAIGH)

Established by the Sixth International Conference of American States (Havana, 1928), PAIGH provides technical assistance, conducts training at research centers, distributes publications, and organizes technical meetings in the areas of cartography, geography, history, and geophysics. It has its headquarters in Mexico City and its Secretary General is Dr. Chester J. Zelaya-Goodman.

The XXXI Meeting of the Executive Council was held from November 12 to 18, 1995, in Quito, Ecuador. Highlights of the decisions adopted include the inclusion of Belize as a PAIGH member state, the cooperation projects with Spain for 1996, the Contest for the Great Impact Project in History, assessments of the technical assistance programs, and the organization of activities by national sections to commemorate the founding of the Institute. The financial regulations were also amended, proposals put forward for reforming the Organic Statutes, and the Rules of Procedure of the PAIGH General Secretariat approved. The Institute's General Secretariat worked in cooperation and coordination with the OAS in various areas, especially the technical areas of CIECC and CIES.

Publications Program

The regular issues of the following periodicals were published: Revista Cartográfica (Nos. 61, 62, and 63), which is now current; Revista Geográfica (No. 119); Revista de Historia de América (Nos. 116 and 117); Revista Geofísica (Nos. 38, 39, and 40); Folklore Americano (No. 56); Boletín de Antropología Americana (Nos. 26 and 27); and Revista de Arqueología Americana (No. 8, special issue to make the periodical current). The History Committee also published El Americanismo y su Errática Historia by Oscar Schvarzberg, which won the "Ricardo Caillet-Bois" Prize in 1993. In addition, the General Secretariat published various periodic or occasional papers on the Institute's activities.

Technical Assistance Program

• In the area of cartography, a meeting of the Aeronautical Charts Committee was held in Montevideo, Uruguay, March 20-24, to review the Specifications of Aeronautical Charts on a scale of 1:500,000; the Seventh Course on Geographic Names was held in Lima, Peru, May 29-July 9; the First Training Course on Remote Sensing and Digital Image Processing, organized jointly with Spain and Mexico, July 3-14, which was particularly important because it discussed the digital processing and analysis of images as an alternative for cartographic updating. During the meeting of the Hydrography Committee in Cartagena, Colombia, July 10-14, resolutions adopted on hydrographic programs and technical developments were revised. The Remote Sensors Applications Committee met in Santafé de Bogotá, Colombia, October 2-7, with the assistance of experts from the National Geographic Institute of Spain, who will participate in the project on Creation of a Database in the Galapagos Islands from Digital Images and installation of an Information System in the Galapagos National Park.

• In the area of geography, the first Conference-Workshop on "Coastal Tourism: Impact and Sustainable Management" was held in San José, Costa Rica, February 22-26, to promote research on the impact of tourism on various countries in neotropical climates; the second conference of this series was held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, July 6-11, with the theme "Rural and Mountain Tourism: Management and Impact." The Twenty-Second International Geography Course was held at the headquarters of the Pan American Center for Geographical Studies and Research (CEPEIGE) in Quito, Ecuador, May 22-August 4, and covered geography in territorial planning and management. Studies on environmental education and on urban poverty and spatial differentiation were also started; the Fourth Technical Meeting of the Geography Committee, on regional development, was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, October 23-28; and other multinational activities were carried out.

• In the area of history, work was continued on Rupestrian Art in Bolivia, research on Contemporary Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean, and research on Modernization of and Crisis in Central American Coffee Growing, on Foundations for Celebrating Masses in Spain and Latin America, and on Regional History and Integration in the Southern Cone of America. The History Committee's major event was the Third Pan American Symposium on History at PAIGH headquarters in Mexico City, September 25-30, attended by numerous historians from the member states.

• In the area of geophysics, the Second Latin American School of Geomagnetism was held at the campus of the Autonomous National University of Mexico (UNAM), in Taxco, Mexico, June 18-24, on operational aspects of Latin American magnetic observatories. The most important event of this Geophysics Committee was its Third Technical Meeting at UNAM, Mexico City, June 26-30. Studies were begun on Geotectonics of Central America and work was continued on International Gravity Links, the Latin American Gravity Network, and the Study of Convection Events in the South American Highlands. Also worthy of note is the research on Gravimetric Surveys of the Chicxulub Crater in Yucatán State, Mexico, conducted by Canada's Geological Service and UNAM.

• In the area of Great Impact Projects, arrangements were begun to implement the projects selected as winners of the contest launched in 1994:

In the area of cartography, the winner was the project on Production of Aeronautical Charts for Visual Flight Regulation (VFR), presented by PAIGH's Aeronautical Charts Committee.

In the area of geography, the winner was the project on Electronic Atlases and Geographic Information Processing for Sustained Development in Latin America. The project director, Dr. Fraser Taylor of Canada, is establishing contacts with the IDRC Regional Office in Canada and with senior officials of the OAS and IDB.

In the area of geophysics, the winner was a project on Measuring Land Elevations from Space, presented by Dr. Ken McConnell of Canada. The World Bank and the IDB have been contacted with a view to its implementation.

5. Inter-American Indian Institute (III)

Established under the 1940 Pátzcuaro International Convention, the basic objectives of III are to assist in coordinating the Indian affairs policies of the member states and to promote research and training of individuals engaged in the development of indigenous communities. The Institute has its headquarters in Mexico City and its Director is ethnologist José Manuel del Val Blanco.

Meetings of the Governing Bodies

The Executive Committee met in February 1995 to discuss matters related to III's program-budget. It subsequently met on two occasions, first on March 15, to discuss candidates for the Director's post and the schedule for accepting applications and electing the new Director; then on October 10, when the Mexican ethnologist, Mr. José Manuel del Val Blanco, was elected as the new Director of the Institute.

New Management of the Institute

The new management of the Institute views it as a center where all the initiatives of indigenous peoples, governments, universities, and nongovernmental organizations should converge, and as the appropriate forum for clarifying and building the complex path of diversity. In agreement with the member countries of the Institute, the management is working to set priorities, define strategies, and establish methodologies for executing programs and projects.

Financial Situation

During 1995, the Institute's financial situation was stabilized because of drastic spending cuts and a marked tendency of the member countries to regularize the payment of their annual contributions. Regular Fund income from member country quotas, debt collection, the sale of publications, and interest earned, amounted to US$336,795.34 on November 15, or 99.9 percent of the amount estimated in the program-budget. Total outlays, at the same date, amounted to US$295,401.83, equivalent to 87.7 percent of the programmed amount.

Twentieth Inter-American Course on Indian Rites and Practices

This course was held June 12-August 4, 1995. It was divided into two stages, as on previous occasions. The first, introductory stage to familiarize fellowship holders with the realities of Indian life in Mexico, was held at the Institute in Mexico City, June 12-26. The second, main stage, June 27-August 4, was based at the Indian Literature Editorial Center, A.C., CELIAC, Oaxaca de Juárez City, Oaxaca. Participating were 12 fellowship holders from seven member states, only four of whom identified themselves as Indians.

Publications

In the course of 1994-95, the Institute's periodical publications became current: América Indígena and the Anuario Indigenista. The quality of both publications was also improved and more space was given to information on action taken by the Indian movement, summarizing their main declarations and demands, and through the section Noticias Indigenistas, in América Indígena. Despite financial difficulties, it was also possible to publish the Final Act of the Eleventh Inter-American Indian Congress, held in Managua in November 1993, and to publish jointly with the Abya Yala publishing house in Quito, Ecuador, an edition of the book Teoría y Práctica del Indigenismo. El caso del fomento a la alfarería en Michoacán, Mexico, by Gunther Dietz.

6. Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA)

Founded in 1942 as the Inter-American Institute for Agricultural Sciences, IICA is the specialized organization of the inter-American system for the agricultural sector. It encourages, promotes, and supports the member states' efforts to achieve agricultural development and rural well-being. It has its headquarters in San José, Costa Rica, and its Director General is engineer Carlos Aquino González.

Working Relations with the OAS General Secretariat

IICA participated in a number of OAS meetings, including the General Assembly, the Tenth Conference of Ministers of Labor, the CIM, and the meeting with the secretariats of regional integration and cooperation organizations. The Director of the Department of Regional Development and Environment of the OAS General Secretariat visited IICA to review the status of border integration projects in Central America. Updated information on these projects was presented to the meeting of Vice Presidents of the Central American Isthmus in November, at IICA headquarters.

Meetings of the Governing Bodies

The fifteenth regular meeting of the Executive Committee was held at IICA headquarters in June. Under the chairmanship of the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Breeding of Costa Rica, Roberto Solórzano, the eighth annual meeting of the Inter-American Board of Agriculture was held in September at IICA headquarters. It approved the 1996-1997 program-budget and adopted decisions on other matters, such as support for rural youth, institutional transformation, rural development, and cooperation with other international agencies.

The Ministerial Forum on Agriculture with a View to the 21st Century was also held. Its moderator was the President of Costa Rica, engineer José María Figueres Olsen.

Technical Cooperation

Under the 1994-98 medium-term plan, technical cooperation activities are carried out through four areas of concentration and two specialized services.

Areas of Concentration

1. Socioeconomic policies, trade, and investment. At the national level, methodological development was continued on economic and market intelligence as a step towards analysis of competitiveness and investment. Technical support and training were provided to eight countries and the work was disseminated in Canada and the United States. At the supranational level, there was follow-up of the work of the groups set up by the ministers of trade in Denver for the Free Trade Area of the Americas. Training on agricultural trade negotiations continued. Data, methodologies, and experiences were shared with the Trade Unit of the OAS General Secretariat, the IDB, ECLAC, ALADI, FAO, EUROSTAT, and the OECD.

2. Science and technology, natural resources, and agricultural production. Guidelines for action were drafted and further action taken on projects for rational management of renewable natural resources and agricultural production. Work was carried out at the hemispheric level in support of reconversion and diversification of production in agriculture. Activities in this area were carried out in all the countries and IICA worked with other organizations.

3. Agricultural health. Activities were divided into two main components: harmonization of health and plant health standards; management of pests and diseases. In the latter area, IICA worked with the Caribbean countries, Paraguay, and Venezuela. It also collaborated with various multilateral organizations.

4. Sustainable rural development. Further action was taken on the hemispheric project for development of rural industry, with the establishment of networks in Nicaragua, Paraguay, and Venezuela, and progress in 12 other networks. Regional and national seminars were held and studies published from the program to analyze agricultural sector policy vis-à-vis women as producers of food in the Andean region, the Southern Cone, and the Caribbean.

Specialized Services

1. Training, education, and communication. The IICA-IDE cooperation program was completed. It defined national programs in five countries in Central America. Technical advisory assistance in the area of training was provided to institutions in five countries in Central and South America and joint human resource training activities were continued with CATIE. In the field of education, direct support for some universities in Central America and the Andean region was expanded and fellowships were awarded for short courses, seminars, and master's programs in various areas. In the communications sector, radio and television programs were produced to support IICA's technical activities. Within the framework of the IICA/ASDI regional project on communication, gender, and sustainable development, 40 training events were held with the participation of governmental and nongovernmental organizations in Central America.

2. Information, documentation, and computer technology. Assistance continued to be provided for IICA's technical activities and for countries in specialized information systems. An interdisciplinary group was organized. It analyzed the various IICA information systems and approved a strategic plan for the information systems it covered. Work on the establishment of an internal electronic mail network was continued and a number of courses were given on the Internet.

IICA Activities in the Countries

In accordance with the new structure approved in 1994, five regional technical cooperation centers were established. This involved decentralizing responsibilities and delegating authority so that activities in the countries could be more timely and expeditious. The technical cooperation agencies in the Institute's 33 member countries continued their activities within the context of this reorganization.

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