HIGH-LEVEL THEMATIC DEBATE: STRENGTHENING COOPERATION BETWEEN THE UNITED NATIONS AND REGIONAL AND SUB-REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

May 4, 2015 - New York, United States

Your Excellency Yoweri Museveni, President of the Republic of Uganda,
Your Excellency Sam Kutesa, President of the United Nations General Assembly,
Distinguished Ministers,
Heads of Regional and Sub-Regional Organizations,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza regretfully could not be present here today and he sends his greeting and wishes for a successful debate. It is therefore my honor to address you today at this very important meeting. I would like to express our appreciation to the President of the UN General Assembly and Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the UN Secretariat for inviting the Organization of American States, the principal multilateral platform in the Americas, to this High-level Meeting which has become an important tradition among the heads of the international and regional organizations gathered here today.

We also recognize this meeting as an open space for dialogue to identify synergies and channels of cooperation, as well as an opportunity to move forward and strengthen and complement our respective mandates and cooperation among our institutions in support of our member states.

As has been mentioned before today, Chapter 8 of the UN Charter outlines the relationship between the United Nations and the regional organizations. Article 1 of the OAS Charter states that within the UN the OAS is a regional agency.

In 1971, the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) adopted resolution AG/RES. 57 (I-0/71), through which it approved the “Standards on Cooperative Relations between the Organization of American States and the United Nations, Its Specialized Agencies, and Other National and International Organizations."

Since then, the OAS and the UN have been successfully cooperating with each other for almost five decades to advance on issues of common interest ranging from peace and security to democracy, human rights and integral development, as well as to further coordination on multilateral initiatives. Of course this successful collaboration would not have been effective if we did not stand for the same goals of peace and prosperity and if we did not share the important values of democracy, human rights and equal opportunities or all.

Mr. President, the relationship between the UN and the OAs is a good one. We were pleased to receive Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon at the recently held historic 7th Summit of the Americas in Panama City, where we witnessed the participation of ALL the 35 member states of the OAS for the first time in more than sixty years. No doubt, we are back on the road of a united Americas.

Ladies and gentlemen, with a world population of 7 billion, we now have a complex global context with ever-changing needs and interests. We are also witnessing changing forms of armed violence, removed from the conventional/traditional context of war. Certain types of conflicts are characterized by high rates of violence, often criminal, perpetrated by non-state actors battling each other, the state, and society. From a development perspective we are also confronting unprecedented conflicts related to a variety of socioeconomic vulnerabilities like poverty and social exclusion, food insecurity, the impact of migration and the escalation of social conflict.

These realities are often exacerbated by a fragile state presence and response. Other factors, such as the abuse of force by police, the availability of arms, illicit trade networks, and a history of structural violence also serve to deepen these conflicts.

It is apparent that promoting regional peace, security and development in our respective regions is an indeed an ambitious task that requires a concerted effort by all levels of government and society.

I have long believed that regional organizations can and should play a crucial role in securing peaceful societies. At the OAS we have a long tradition of working with our member states in the areas of democracy strengthening, conflict prevention and peacebuilding. Often times Regional Organizations can serve as an effective “first approach” for addressing serious situations of actual and potential confrontation. Our deep understanding of the region and of the key stakeholders facilitates our active role in terms of preventing, managing and resolving conflicts. However, we must recognize that addressing the root causes of violence and conflicts must be a top-down and a bottom-up effort.

In the case of the OAS, our founding Charter, the Inter-American Democratic Charter and other regional instruments call for a large degree of preventive diplomacy and crisis management. Our organization has worked on both intra and interstate conflicts between and within states. It has done so through the promotion of democratic practices, respect for human rights and promotion of rule of law.

Clearly, what we have learned from decades of civil strife and conflict is that we need a stronger multilateral framework of action with a preventative focus. Starting small and from the bottom allows for successful initiatives and approaches to expand and move up. The complex and unique nature of conflict means that stronger partnerships through shared practices are essential and truly beneficial on local, national and international scale.

The OAS is convinced that we must continue to improve our capacities for conflict prevention, mediation and peacebuilding through enhanced cooperation and dialogue with Civil Society Organizations. The UN has encouraged cooperation between Regional Organizations and civil society organizations, calling for joint strategies and a “division of labor” that support Track II and Track III diplomacy. Therefore, we must look for ways to work in practical terms, we must develop concrete ways to foster partnerships in and between societies that create ownership and “buy in,” acknowledging that no solution which is imposed is going to be effective.

Strengthening our multilateral and intraregional cooperation will undoubtedly help our member states and the international community work towards a more effective implementation and monitoring of the post 2015 Development Agenda.
In this regard, the role of civil society in identifying local needs and providing input to governments as countries move toward a Sustainable Development Agenda will be critical. Civil society can provide accountability and monitoring of development policies at the local, national, and regional levels. Regional Organizations like the OAS are uniquely poised to facilitate this process with our member states. Both Regional organizations and civil society groups have great potential for facilitating the implementation of the sustainable development goals. In addition, we are convinced that the international community must do more to prioritize the role of the private sector in the development agenda.

As we are all aware, prioritizing the role of Regional Organizations in peace and security is one of the goals that we have in common with the United Nations and other regional organizations, which is why I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate our disposition to strengthen the cooperation among our institutions to benefit all our Members. These collaborative efforts will consistently contribute with the promotion of the rule of law, conflict prevention and mitigation, access to justice and guarantee more sustainable, equitable and peaceful societies.

Mr. President, in a multilateral world, where both interstate and intrastate conflicts as well as transnational threats affect all of us, it is crucial to intensify cooperation and communication not just within our own region but across regions to address these threats and promote a culture of peace and equality in the world.

In closing, allow me to make the following recommendations for your consideration:

1. We have to aim for a more structured management of the relationship between the UN and regional organizations, by developing a sound governance architecture, focused on building institutional capacity in both the UN and regional organizations to foster and deepen cooperation, especially in the area of quiet and preventive diplomacy, so as to avoid or mitigate conflicts before they become a regional or global security and humanitarian challenge.

2. The existing cooperation is a result of increased communication between the UN and regional organizations, as we have witnessed in the relationship with the OAS. I believe that, while this is a positive development, there is a need to systematize and organize this diverse cooperation with different actors within the UN System under a more coordinated framework so as to prevent duplication, build stronger synergies and to be more targeted in the execution.

3. I also suggest to examine the communication and dialogue channels that exist in this useful collaboration, for instance desk-to-desk, political consultation, participation in each other’s General Assemblies and meetings. Perhaps the communication between the UN and the regional organizations can be enhanced and become even more meaningful, if regional organizations can collaborate more directly with the regional offices of the UN in the field. The OAS has 28 offices in the Americas.

4. With regard to the accepted notion that regional organizations can play a positive role in the implementation of the transformative post-2015 development agenda, I believe that a clear process should be designed and agreed upon on how to embed these Sustainable Development Goals in the overall work programs of regional organizations. Otherwise I fear that the same member states will adopt different tracks of mandates. There must be unity in message and mandate at global and regional level, so as to optimize the use of available financial resources.

5. Over the past decades regional organizations have made enormous progress with regard to involving social stakeholders (civil society, business community, trade unions, youth and women organizations) in the work towards peace, stability and prosperity through consultative meetings and high level dialogue with Governments. I believe that the execution of the SDG’s could positively benefit from the input from these stakeholders and regional organizations should be encouraged to utilize the established channels of collaboration for this purpose more effectively. I am very pleased by the collaboration the OAS has forged with global institutions, other regional organizations and global igo’s (GPACC, IDEA) such as the one earlier mentioned by the Secretary General of the OSCE. The partnership between the OAS and GPACC, International IDEA, OSCE and others have created a new dialogue platform on the role of civil society and regional organizations in mitigating conflicts in the world.

6. Lastly, but not less important, I believe that under the framework of this high-level debate, while recognizing the diversity in purpose, objectives and action among regional organizations, the United Nations must make efforts to help strengthening direct cooperation among regional organizations, so we can exchange good practices, discuss challenges and build stronger cooperation networks. This will benefit the implementation of the SDG’s as well.

Mr. President, on a more personal note, as I will end my two terms at the OAS as Deputy Secretary General in July coming, I want to take this opportunity to thank my colleagues in the other regional organizations and at the UN for the excellent collaboration and the willingness to engage on new initiatives. I hope that the inter-regional cooperation process and the partnership with the United Nations will go from strength to strength.

I thank you.