Delegates from Organization of American States member countries will gather in La Paz, Bolivia, from July 29 to 31, for the First Meeting of Ministers and High Level Authorities Responsible for Policies on Decentralization, Local Government and Citizen Participation in Municipal Governments in the Hemisphere.

The meeting will be inaugurated by OAS Secretary General César Gaviria and Bolivia's Interim President Jorge Quiroga. International experts and representatives of multilateral lending institutions will also attend the meeting that is being convened by the OAS in collaboration with the Government of Bolivia, under a mandate from the Third Summit of the Americas held in Canada this past April.

This event seeks to promote methods to foster community involvement in local political life as well as economic and sustainable development of communities. The delegates will also promote the adoption of strategies and policies to improve local governments, to make them self-sustaining.

Gaviria expressed the view that "this first hemispheric meeting in Bolivia offers an unprecedented opportunity for national leaders to come together to begin regional dialogue on decentralization as a vehicle to consolidate democracy in the Americas."

With assistance from other inter-American agencies, and in particular the multilateral banks, the OAS proposes as well to foster exchange of information and administrative practices that encourage local officials to be more involved with organized community groups.

The five-part agenda covers: an inter-American perspective on the Summit of the Americas; the role of the Organization of American States; the Bolivian experience; hemispheric decentralization processes; and consideration and adoption of a draft Declaration of La Paz.

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