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AG/RES. 1449 (XXVII-O/97)

OAS CONTRIBUTION TO THE SUMMITS OF THE AMERICAS PROCESS

(Resolution adopted at the sixth plenary session, held on June 4, 1997)

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

RECALLING:

The purposes and principles established in the Charter of the Organization of American States (OAS);

The Declaration of Montrouis: A New Vision of the OAS, adopted by the General Assembly at its twenty-fifth regular session;

Resolution AG/RES. 1377 (XXVI-O/96), "Support for the Summit of the Americas Initiatives";

Resolution AG/RES. 1349 (XXV-O/95), "Inter-American Summits Management," which established a Special Committee of the Permanent Council on Inter-American Summits Management to ensure effective, timely, and appropriate follow-up of the activities assigned to the Organization by the Summit of the Americas;

The important role entrusted to the OAS in the coordination and follow-up of the agreements of the Summit of the Americas on Sustainable Development;

Resolution AG/RES. 1448 (XXVII-O/97), "Support for the Summit of the Americas Initiatives," and the report of the Permanent Council on inter-American summits management;

The Declaration of Principles of the Summit of the Americas held in 1994, which urges the OAS and the Inter-American Development Bank to assist countries in implementing their pledges, drawing significantly upon the Pan American Health Organization and the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as subregional organizations for integration; and

The Commitment of Lima: Toward a Culture of Peace and Development in the Americas, adopted by the General Assembly at its twenty-seventh regular session; and

CONSIDERING:

That relations among states of the Hemisphere have entered a new era, characterized by dialogue, consensus, and cooperation;

That current conditions in the Hemisphere have engendered a community of interests and values where it is now possible to work together to achieve common objectives through bilateral and multilateral cooperation;

That the priority matters on the hemispheric agenda call for appropriate cooperation among states and that even matters traditionally considered as the exclusive province of states, such as the institutional development of countries and the overcoming of poverty and discrimination, have a multilateral dimension;

That management of these matters requires institutionalized coordination to avoid a diffusion, fragmentation, and duplication of cooperative effort within the inter-American sphere; and that the OAS is the main forum in the Hemisphere available to states for the management of hemispheric affairs; and

That it is therefore necessary to equip the OAS with the necessary instruments for effectively facing the challenges of the new hemispheric relationship,

RESOLVES:

1. To accelerate the process of modernization and institutional strengthening of the Organization to place it in the best possible position to follow-up on decisions adopted at summits of the Americas that are entrusted to it and to coordinate with other institutions of the inter-American system the execution of commitments assigned to it.

2. To instruct the Secretary General to draw up and distribute to member states as soon as possible a work plan to achieve the purposes set forth in this resolution, on the basis of the deliberations of the Summit Implementation Review Group (SIRG). The financial implications of the work plan for the OAS will be submitted to the Permanent Council.

3. To request the organs, agencies, and entities of the inter-American system to cooperate actively in all stages of the process.

4. To request the Secretary General to present brief monthly reports in writing to the Special Committee on Inter-American Summits Management on progress in the development and implementation of the work plan and to prepare a final report which will be made available to the SIRG before the next Summit of the Americas, in Santiago in 1998.

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