E-027/00
February 11, 2000

CANADIAN FOREIGN MINISTER TELLS OAS
HUMAN SECURITY IS A MAJOR ISSUE FOR HEMISPHERE

 

Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lloyd Axworthy, in an address to the Organization of American States' (OAS) Permanent Council today, renewed his call for "human security" to become a central part of the hemispheric agenda.

"We have to put people first," declared the Canadian minister, explaining that "our collective institutions--with the OAS heading the list--should begin to look at the demands of a human security agenda." Citing a specific case, he said Canada would put a proposal to the next OAS General Assembly--in Windsor, Ontario, in June--for all the countries of the Americas to work on measures to protect children affected by war.

Major threats to human security, he said, include illegal drugs, abuse of small arms and light weapons, human rights violations and lack of democratic values. Mr. Axworthy said he intends to invite the hemisphere's foreign ministers to participate in an "open, honest [and] frank dialogue" on human security issues, at the start of the OAS General Assembly. Also in Windsor, the Ministers will discuss priorities for the upcoming Summit of the Americas.

The OAS, he said, is "on the right track," proving increasingly responsive and flexible to human security challenges. He said the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) which developed the Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism to tackle the hemispheric war on drugs "has proven that this institution can begin to respond to one of the most serious scourges that the peoples of the entire hemisphere face."

The Canadian Foreign Minister called for greater inclusion of all sectors of society in the discussion of human security issues, stressing as well that "efforts to promote the inclusion of the hemisphere's small states must go further. They deserve a greater voice in the Organization itself, and a greater attention to their needs."

Permanent Council Chairman, Ambassador James S. Murphy of Belize, welcomed the Canadian minister to the forum of OAS member states ambassadors.

 

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