San José, Costa Rica.- In the coming months, Bolivia, Canada, Uruguay, the Dominican Republic, and Panama will host different technical meetings on sustainable development, labor, education, tourism, and science and technology, in the framework of the Organization of American States (OAS).

At today’s plenary session, the OAS General Assembly agreed to hold a high-level ministerial meeting in Bolivia to further the implementation of sustainable development in the Hemisphere. The meeting will be held at the end of 2001 on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the 1996 Summit of Santa Cruz de la Sierra.

The Assembly also resolved to hold the Twelfth Inter-American Conference of Ministers of Labor in Ottawa, Canada, from October 17 to 19, 2001, as well as the Second Meeting of Ministers of Education in Punta del Este, Uruguay, from September 24 to 25, 2001, under the auspices of the OAS Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CIDI). The purpose of the education meeting is to identify and set up appropriate hemispheric mechanisms to ensure the implementation of the education initiatives contained in the Plan of Action of the Third Summit of the Americas.

The Assembly also adopted the proposal from the OAS Permanent Council to hold the First CIDI Meeting of Ministers of Tourism and the XVIII Inter-American Travel Congress in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from October 31 to November 2, 2001. The General Assembly noted the important role tourism plays in the economic development strategy of the member states and the need to ensure the sustainable development of tourism in the Hemisphere.

Finally, the General Assembly agreed to convene the First Meeting of Ministers and High Authorities on Science and Technology, to be held in Panama City from January 17 to 19, 2002, under the aegis of CIDI. That meeting will seek to implement the decisions taken at the Third Summit of the Americas, by establishing priorities and projects that have a major impact on the population of the Americas.

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