Organization of American States
www.oas.org

                                                                       (E-240/01)

December 11, 2001

  

OAS TO HOLD FORUM TO STRENGTHEN DEMOCRACY IN HEMISPHERE

 

Following up on a mandate from the 2001 Summit of the Americas in Quebec, Canada, the Organization of American States (OAS) will host a two-day forum to examine how the role of political parties can strengthen democracy in the hemisphere.   

The meeting will be held December 13-14 at the Hotel Intercontinental in Miami, Florida. It will establish an Inter-American Forum on Political Parties, which will begin an ongoing process of dialogue among political parties, civil society, the media and international cooperation agencies, among others. 

At the April Summit, the leaders of the Americas called on the OAS, with the collaboration of  the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), to hold these meetings to study issues such as "political party registration, access of political parties to funding and to the media, campaign financing, oversight and dissemination of election results and relations of political parties with other sectors of society." 

In addition to the OAS and the IDB, other organizations supporting the event include the National Democratic Institute (NDI), the International Republican Institute (IRI) and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). Speakers will include OAS Secretary General César Gaviria, NDI President Kenneth Wollack and IRI President George A. Folsom, as well as the former President of the Dominican Republic, Leonel Fernández, and Honduran President-elect Ricardo Maduro. This conference is being funded by the governments of Canada and the United States.

 

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For further information www.upd.oas.org

contact: Javier Montes, [email protected]

202-458-6194       

703-517-7019 (mobile phone)