CP/RES. 768 (1234/00)

UPDATE OF CP/RES. 718 (1150/98),
"CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS FUNDED BY THE OAS"

THE PERMANENT COUNCIL OF THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES,

HAVING SEEN the document "Updating of resolution CP/RES. 718 (1150/98)," contained in document CP/CAAP- /00, prepared by the delegation of Colombia with the assistance of the General Secretariat, which reports on the cost of one-, two-, and three-day meetings;

CONSIDERING:

That in resolution AG/RES. 457 (IX-O/79) the General Secretariat was instructed to base the costs of conferences on expenses at headquarters;

That in resolution AG/RES. 1230 (XXIII-O/93) the General Secretariat was instructed to pay travel expenses for government officials from the member states only when such representatives travel on behalf of the Organization; and

That the minutes contained in document CP/ACTA 962/93 reflect the decision by the Permanent Council, which is that in this policy the definition of "government representatives" applies not only to elected and appointed officials of a country, but also to any person chosen by a government to represent its country in any forum of the OAS;

That resolutions AG/RES. 1277 (XXIV-O/94), AG/RES. 1317 (XXV-O/95), AG/RES. 1381 (XXVI-O/96), and AG/RES. 1531 (XXVII-O/97) all reiterate that no funds entrusted to the Organization shall be used to pay travel costs other than those incurred on behalf of the Organization; and

That in resolution CP/RES. 718 (1150/98), the Permanent Council instructed the General Secretariat to review annually the estimated costs of holding meetings at headquarters as well as those held outside Washington, D.C., and to report to the Permanent Council by February 28 of each year on whether these amounts should be revised;

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the budgetary situation of the Organization and the need to make the most of the limited resources available to fulfill the mandates entrusted to it; and

BEARING IN MIND that the General Assembly also instructed the Committee on Meetings and Organizations, in resolution AG/RES. 1531 (XXVII-O/97), to examine the costs of meetings and, in resolution AG/RES. 1446 (XXVII-O/97), to look for ways to streamline and make more effective and efficient the effort of the Councils,

RESOLVES:

1. To reiterate that the Regular Fund can only be used to defray the costs of conferences and meetings already covered in the budget of the Organization, regardless of whether the allocation refers to a meeting at Headquarters or away from Headquarters and provided that the amounts do not exceed those contemplated in operative paragraph 7. Any additional cost or cost not covered by the Regular Fund must be met out of external funds or by the country hosting the meeting.

2. To instruct the General Secretariat to duly specify, in every agreement signed with the governments of countries interested in hosting meetings held away from headquarters, the financial commitments to be assumed by the Organization, those that the interested country promises to meet, and those to be covered by external funds. The external funds and those deposited by the interested country with the General Secretariat under the agreement shall be administered by the General Secretariat and shall be deposited at least 60 days prior to the start of the meeting. In the event that the resources are not deposited with the General Secretariat by the above deadline, the meeting must be held at headquarters.

3. To instruct the General Secretariat, when preparing the agreement, to use as a basis the amounts set forth in the specific items of expenditure envisaged in the "meeting models" contained in the document "Updating of resolution CP/RES. 718 (1150/98)," (CP/CAAP-2505/00) which are attached as an appendix to this resolution. The additional amount provided by the Organization shall be used exclusively to cover the travel costs of personnel of the Secretariat for Conferences and Meetings personnel assigned to the meeting.

4. To establish that the Secretariat for Conferences and Meetings will administer all funds allotted for holding meetings away from headquarters, including the corresponding additional amount and the funds deposited with the General Secretariat that come from the host country or from external sources.

5. To establish that for those meetings that were to be held in Washington, D.C., but for which a decision was made to hold them away from headquarters, because of offers made by the member states to host them, in each specific case, the additional margin and any additional cost shall be defrayed by the host country or with external funds.

6. To instruct the General Secretariat to administer each meeting as a specific project of the Secretariat for Conferences and Meetings. The resources of the Regular Fund, those contributed by the country, and those from external sources deposited with the General Secretariat shall be used in accordance with the execution plan prepared to that end. The General Secretariat shall not transfer or assign the execution of funds to officials in the host country.

7. To instruct the General Secretariat to base the preparation of the proposed budget for any conference or meeting on a maximum of US$14,500 at headquarters and a maximum of US$22,000 away from Washington, D.C., for a one-day meeting; a maximum of US$21,000 at headquarters and a maximum of US$29,200 outside of Washington, D.C., for a two-day meeting, and a maximum of US$28,000 at headquarters and a maximum of US$36,900 outside of Washington, D.C., for a three-day meeting, in accordance with the guidelines contained in the document Updating of resolution CP/RES. 718 (1150/98)." These amounts should also be used to allocate the funds under subprogram 10W, "Programmed OAS Conferences," of the program-budget adopted by the General Assembly for 2001.

8. To reiterate that, as a general rule, Regular Fund appropriations shall be used only to finance the travel expenses of government representatives when such individuals, including persons elected to serve in OAS bodies, are performing duties on behalf of the Organization. Any travel costs for other representatives whom the Permanent Council considers it appropriate to finance shall be approved on a case-by-case basis, within the context of the provisions of paragraph 6 of this resolution.

9. To instruct the General Secretariat to review these estimated costs annually and to report to the Permanent Council by February 28 of each year on whether these amounts should be updated.

10. To establish that when, under exceptional circumstances, the cost of a meeting is higher than the amounts stipulated in operative paragraph 7, approval by the Permanent Council shall be necessary to obtain additional funds, with a prior recommendation from its Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Affairs.

PROPOSED BUDGET
SECRETARIAT FOR CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS

 MEETING:		ONE PLENARY SESSION MODEL				
 HEADQUARTERS:	WASHINGTON DC											
 INTERPRETATION:	4  LANGUAGES			TRANSLATION:	4  LANGUAGES	DATE OF MEETIN	 		
 ACCOUNT:	 									DURATION:	1 DAY	
														

 CONF.SPECIALIST:	 				COOR.A.TEC.:	 		COMM.SECR.:	
					 			 						

 OBSERVATIONS:	$8,000 for documents is an estimate.					
	 	Travel fares, terminal expenses, and per diem allowances are not paid					
	 	Audio-visual equipment (projectors, screens, etc.) 					

 COSTS PER OBJECT OF EXPENDIRE													
 Obj.2 -  OVERTIME														
 Overtime					25 x	32hours		800	800	800				
															

 Obj.5 -  DOCUMENTS								
Documents 							8,000	8,000	8,000				
															

 Obj.6 - EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES											
 Equipment and supplies						300	300	300				
										 					

 Obj.8 -  CONTRATS 							 							
 8 Interpreters (*)			8x	390x	1day		3,120						
 4 Translators/reviewers		4x	280x	1day		1,120						
 2 Room attendants			2x	80x	1day		160						
 1 Control operator			1x	86x	1day		86	4,486	4,486	13,586		
															

 Obj.9 -  OTHER COSTS														
 Comumucations							100						
 Unforeseen expenses - 5% sub-total					684	784	784	784	14,370	 															

(*) Shift = 6 hours													
															

 TOTAL BUDGET						14,370							
	  														

Exc. PPTMODEL-1A

PROPOSED BUDGET
SECRETARIAT FOR CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS

MEETING:		ONE PLENARY SESSION MODEL					
HEADQUARTERS:	WASHINGTON DC										
INTERPRETATION:	4  LANGUAGES		TRANSLATION:	4  LANGUAGES	DATE OF MEETING:	 	
ACCOUNT:								DURATION:	2 DAYS
													

 CONF.SPECIALIST.:				COOR.A.TEC.:	 			COMM.SECR.:
					 			 					

 OBSERVATIONS:	$9,000 for documents is an estimate.				
	 	Travel fares, terminal expenses, and per diem allowances are not paid				
 		Audio-visual equipment (projectors, screens, etc.) 				

COST PER OBJECT OF EXPENDITURE												
 Obj.2 -  OVERTIME													
 Overtime				25x	64hours		1,600	1,600	1,600			
														

 Obj.5 -  DOCUMENTS													
Documents 						9,000	9,000	9,000			
														

 Obj.6 - EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES										
 Equipment and supplies					450	450	450			
										 				

 Obj.8 -  CONTRACTS 							 						
 8 Interpreters (*)			8x	390x	2days	6,240					
 4 Translators-reviewers		4x	280x	2days	2,240					
 2 Room attendants			2x	80x	2days	320					
 1 Control Operator			1x	86x	2days	172	8,972	8,972		20,022	
														

 Obj.9 -  OTHER COSTS													
 Communications						100					
 Unforeseen expenses - 5% of sub-total				1,006	1,106	1,106		1,106	21,128
														

(*) Shift = 6 hours												
														

 TOTAL BUDGET						21,128						

PROPOSED BUDGET
SECRETARIAT FOR CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS

 MEETING:		ONE PLENARY SESSION MODEL		
 HEADQUARTER:	WASHINGTON DC										
 INTERPRETATION:	4  LANGUAGES			TRANSLATION	4  LANGUAGES	DATE OF MEETING:	 	
 ACCOUNT:	 									DURATION:	3 DAYS
													

 CONF.SPECIALIST:	 				COOR.A.TEC.:	 			COMM.SECR.:
					 			 					

 OBSERVATIONS:	$10,000 for documents is an estimate.				
	 	Travel fares, terminal expenses, and per diem allowances are not paid				
 		Audio-visual equipment (projectors, screens, etc.) 				

 Obj.2 -  OVERTIME														
 Overtime				25x	96hours		2,400	2,400	2,400				
															

 Obj.5 -  DOCUMENTS														
Documents 						10,000	10,000	10,000				
															

 Obj.6 - EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES									
 Equipment and supplies					600	600	600				
										 					

 Obj.8 -  CONTRATS 							 							
 8 Interpreters (*)			8x	390x	3days	9,360						
 4 Translators-reviewers		4x	280x	3days	3,360						
 2 Room Attendants			2x	80x	3days	480						
 1 Control Operator			1x	86x	3days	258	13,458	13,458		26,458		
															

 Obj.9 -  OTHER COSTS														
 Communications								150						
 Unforeseen expenses - 5%  of sub-total							1,330	1,480	1,480		1,480	27,938	 
															

(*) Shift = 6 hours													
															

 TOTAL BUDGET						27,938							

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