CP/RES. 965 (1733/09) 

TEMPLATES TO BE USED BY THE PERMANENT COUNCIL FOR RESOLUTIONS
TO BE REFERRED TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY FOR CONSIDERATION 

(Adopted at the meeting of December 16, 2009)

THE PERMANENT COUNCIL OF THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES,

CONSIDERING: 

That pursuant to Article 93 of the General Standards to Govern the Operations of the General Secretariat, the Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Affairs (CAAP) “…is the technical body in charge of advising the Permanent Council on all matters related to the management of the General Secretariat and to the formulation, discussion, approval, execution, evaluation, and monitoring of its program-budget” and shall also be “the Subcommittee on Administrative and Budgetary Matters of the Preparatory Committee and shall examine the proposed program-budget of the General Secretariat sent to it by the Preparatory Committee of the General Assembly for consultation, for the purposes set forth in Article 112.c of the Charter….,” 

That Article 112.c of the OAS Charter states that “The General Secretariat shall also perform the following functions: Prepare the proposed program-budget of the Organization on the basis of programs adopted by the Councils, agencies, and entities whose expenses should be included in the program budget and, after consultation with the Councils or their permanent committees, submit to the Preparatory Committee of the General Assembly and then to the Assembly itself;”  

That Article 41 of the Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly states that “in adopting any resolution providing for a project or activity that entails expenditure by the Organization, the General Assembly shall take into account financial estimates, which the General Secretariat shall prepare in advance, on the impact of such projects or activities on the budgetary calculations of the Organization, as well as prior statements by the Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Affairs of the Permanent Council or, as the case may be, by the General Committee of the General Assembly on such financial implications;” and  

That to ensure that the mandates involving projects or activities with cost implications for the Organization are approved by the General Assembly with estimated funding, and to facilitate the CAAP in carrying out its functions so that the program-budget of the Organization can reflect the funding of those mandates two different templates need to be adopted for those resolutions that will be referred to the General Assembly for consideration;  

RESOLVES:  

1.                  To adopt Template A for “Resolutions authorizing specific projects and other activities that require OAS financing,” which is contained in Annex A to this resolution.  

2.                  To adopt Template B for “Resolutions adopting policies not requiring OAS financing for projects and activities identified therein for execution in the present or next fiscal year,” which is contained in Annex B to this resolution.

3.                  To recommend to and request that CIDI and the other organs, specialized agencies, agencies, and institutions adopt the templates approved under this resolution for those resolutions that are to be referred to the General Assembly for consideration.

ANNEX A 

TEMPLATE A 

FOR RESOLUTIONS AUTHORIZING SPECIFIC PROJECTS

AND OTHER ACTIVITIES REQUIRING OAS FINANCING 

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, 

HAVING SEEN: 

            [Cite the document of the General Secretariat, the Permanent Council, the Inter-American Council for Integral Development, or any other organ of the OAS, which is presented to the General Assembly, explaining the activity to be authorized by this resolution. The document may be a resolution by the Permanent Council or by any other OAS organ included in the Annual Report to the General Assembly, in which the activity is recommended] 

CONSIDERING: 

            [Paragraphs should briefly outline the reasons for undertaking the activity, and may include, for example, reference to a broader political mandate contained in another General Assembly resolution, the Strategic Plan, a Summit decision, or a request by a member state for assistance. Furthermore, if the resolution gives instruction for the continuation of an ongoing activity, reference should be made to the previous resolution that authorized it. The aim is to have brief paragraphs, which should also start with the word "That" and end with a semicolon (;). Because this is not a political resolution, the number of preambular paragraphs should be kept to a minimum. The final paragraph should read: 

That the [direct and indirect (choose one)] costs estimated to fund the activities authorized under this resolution is $ XXXX.00.] 

RESOLVES: 

[All operative paragraphs should begin with a verb in the infinitive] 

1.         [Verb such as to urge, to provide, to instruct, to recommend] that the General Secretariat [define the activities to be undertaken], in accordance with the following requirements: 

a.         The costs of activities will be financed through: 

(i)                 The Regular Fund (chapter XX): $XXX.00.

(ii)               Specific funds identified: $XXXX.00.

(iii)             Specific funds not yet identified: $XXXX.00.

(iv)             Other: (May include donor financing that is not passed through the funds of the Secretariat,  such as when a host country finances all or part of a meeting by directly paying staff expenses, travel, and accommodation). 

b.         The undertaking of the activities envisaged in this resolution is subject to the allocation of resources in the program-budget of the Organization and the actual receipt of the other resources identified in paragraph a.  

c.         The activities shall begin no later than [date] and shall end no later than [date], unless their duration is amended by a General Assembly resolution, which will also allocate the resources for their funding.

d.         The General Secretariat, through the office responsible for the executing the activities, will present a progress report [quarterly, semi-annually, or within three months prior to the start of the next regular session of the General Assembly (choose one option or indicate an alternative schedule)]. Said report should include a financial statement and a description and summary analysis of the results achieved to date in relation to the purposes and objectives of activities.
 

ANNEX B 

TEMPLATE B 

FOR RESOLUTIONS ADOPTING POLICY NOT REQUIRING OAS FINANCING

FOR PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES IDENTIFIED THEREIN FOR

EXECUTION IN THE PRESENT OR NEXT FISCAL YEAR 

            THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, 

HAVING SEEN: 

            [Cite the document of the General Secretariat, the Permanent Council, the Inter-American Council for Integral Development, or other OAS organ which has been presented to the General Assembly explaining the policy to be authorized under this resolution.  The document may be a resolution of the Permanent Council or other OAS organ contained in its Annual Report to the General Assembly and recommending the activity.] 

CONSIDERING: 

[Paragraphs should briefly state the reasons for adopting the policy, which may include, for example, reference to a more general policy mandate contained in another General Assembly resolution, the Strategic Plan, a Summit decision, or a request for assistance from a member state.  Also, if the resolution reiterates, strengthens, or modifies previously adopted policies, then reference should be made to the prior resolutions that adopted or modified the policy.   The objective is to keep each paragraph short.   

Two options exist for drafting this part of the preamble: The section can begin with the subtitle “CONSIDERING” (as done above), and then all the following paragraphs will begin with the word “That” and end with a semi-colon (;).  As a second option, the subtitle “CONSIDERING” can be omitted and each paragraph will begin with alternating introductory phrases, such as: “TAKING INTO ACCOUNT,” “CONSIDERING,” “RECALLING,” “FURTHER RECALLING,” “TAKING NOTE OF,” “NOTING,” “EXPRESSING ITS SATISFACTION WITH,” “CONVINCED OF,” “RECOGNIZING,” “MINDFUL OF,” “NOTING WITH CONCERN,” “NOTING ALSO,” and end with a semi-colon (;).]  

RESOLVES: 

[1.        All “Resolves” paragraphs (also known as operative paragraphs) should begin with an infinitive and end with a period (.). 

2.         Resolutions adopting new rules and regulations (such as statutes for OAS organs, Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly, and General Standards; approving an inter-American convention; or adopting a strategic plan, as well as other documents like the declaration of a meeting, should set out those rules and regulations or documents as an Appendix A.  The operative paragraph in the body of the resolution should simply state:  “To approve [state name of document] attached to this resolution as Appendix A.”   

            When the new rules and regulations take effect on a date different than that of the resolution, the following phrase should be added:  “which shall enter into force on (state date).”]