CP/RES. 807 (1307/02)

UPDATE OF COSTS OF 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. 768 (1234/00)," contained in document CP/CAAP-2578/01, prepared by the General Secretariat, which reports on the average cost of the services needed for one-, two-, and three-day meetings;

CONSIDERING:

That in resolution AG/RES. 457 (IX-O/79) the General Assembly instructed the General Secretariat to base its calculation of the costs of conferences on the cost of holding them at headquarters;

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

That the minutes contained in document CP/ACTA 962/93 reflect the decision by the Permanent Council that under this policy the definition of "government representatives" applies not only to elected and appointed government officials but also to any person chosen by a government to represent his or her 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;

That in resolutions CP/RES. 718 (1150/98) and CP/RES. 768 (1234/00) the Permanent Council instructed the General Secretariat to review annually the estimated cost of meetings held at headquarters and of 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; and

That, for statutory, regulatory, and administrative reasons, some organs and entities funded by the program-budget, such as the Inter-American Juridical Committee, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the Inter-American Defense Board, the Inter-American Children's Institute, the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL), the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD), the Administrative Tribunal, the Board of External Auditors, and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), do not rely entirely on the Secretariat for Conferences and Meetings to organize and manage their meetings;

BEARING IN MIND that the General Assembly instructed the Committee on Meetings and Organizations in resolution AG/RES. 1531 (XXVII-O/97) to study the costs of meetings and in resolution AG/RES. 1446 (XXVII-O/97) to seek ways to streamline the efforts of the Organization's councils and make them more efficient; and

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the budgetary situation of the Organization and the need to make more efficient use of the limited resources with which it must execute its mandates,

RESOLVES:

1.     To reiterate that the Regular Fund shall only be used to defray the costs of conferences and meetings already programmed 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 outlined 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 host country.

2.     To instruct the General Secretariat to duly specify in every agreement into which it enters with governments of countries interested in hosting meetings of the Organization the financial commitments to be assumed by the Organization, those which the host country agrees to cover, and those which will be covered by external funds. Specific external funds for the meeting and those deposited with the General Secretariat by the host country, in keeping with the agreement concluded, shall be administered by the General Secretariat and must be deposited with the General Secretariat at least 60 days before the beginning of the meeting. Should such resources not be deposited with the General Secretariat by the above deadline, the meeting shall 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. 768 (1234/00)" (CP/CAAP-2578/01), which are attached to this resolution. Any additional amount exceeding those resources approved by the General Assembly or the Permanent Council, in accordance with operative paragraph 7 of this resolution, shall be used exclusively to cover the travel costs of personnel of the Secretariat for Conferences and Meetings assigned to the meeting.

4.     To establish that for meetings funded by program-budget items 10A (General Assembly), 10E (Secretariat of the General Assembly, the Meeting of Consultation, and the Permanent Council), 10G (Secretariat for Conferences and Meetings), 10K (Meetings of the Inter-American Council for Integral Development, ministerial meetings, and the inter-American committees), and 10W (OAS conferences):

a. The Secretariat for Conferences and Meetings shall administer all funds allotted for holding meetings both at headquarters and away from headquarters, including additional amounts deposited with the General Secretariat coming from the host country or from external resources to cover additional expenses. b. The General Secretariat shall administer each meeting as a specific project of the Secretariat for Conferences and Meetings.

c. Regular Fund resources, resources contributed by the host country, and external resources deposited with the General Secretariat shall be used in accordance with the execution plan prepared to that end.

d. The General Secretariat shall not transfer or assign the execution of funds to officials in the host country.

5.     To establish that the Secretariat for Conferences and Meetings may provide services and support for other meetings of OAS bodies that are not funded under the program-budget items specified in operative paragraph 4 of this resolution, in accordance with the terms and conditions established by the Director of that Secretariat, provided that funds are available for that purpose.

6.     To reaffirm that if a member state offers to host a meeting which initially should have been held in Washington, D.C., any additional cost of said meeting shall be defrayed by the member state or with external funds.

7.     To instruct the General Secretariat to base the preparation of the proposed budget for any conference or meeting on a maximum of US$15,662 at headquarters and a maximum of US$23,222 away from Washington, D.C., for a one-day meeting, a maximum of US$23,113 at headquarters and a maximum of US$31,313 away from Washington, D.C., for a two-day meeting, and a maximum of US$30,511 at headquarters and a maximum of US$39,351 away from Washington, D.C., for a three-day meeting, in accordance with the guidelines contained in the document "Updating of resolution CP/RES. 768 (1234/00)" (CP/CAAP-2578/01); and that these amounts should be used to allocate the funds under subprogram 10W, "Programmed OAS Conferences," of the program-budget adopted by the General Assembly for 2002.

8.     To establish that Regular Fund appropriations shall be used to cover the travel expenses of member state representatives who have been appointed, on a case-by-case basis, by the competent authority, to perform duties on behalf of the Organization. In those cases, travel costs should be identified from funds of the Secretary General or the Permanent Council

9.     To instruct the General Secretariat to review annually the costs outlined in operative paragraph 7, and to report to the Permanent Council before November 30 of each year on whether they should be updated. These estimated costs would then be incorporated into the budgeting system and the various areas of the Organization will take them into account when estimating the costs of their meetings and conferences.

10.     To confirm that no meeting of the Organization directly funded by the Regular Fund should last more than three days. When an exception is requested, the Secretariat for Conferences and Meetings shall prepare for the approval of the Permanent Council's Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Affairs a meeting budget based on actual anticipated costs. It shall then be necessary to obtain approval by the Permanent Council upon recommendation from the Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Affairs.

http://scm.oas.org/pdfs/2002/cp09178e.pdf

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