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OAS Permanent Council Approves Registration of 14 Civil Society Organizations

The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) today approved in its regular meeting the inclusion of 14 new civil society organizations in its official registry in accordance with the provisions of the "Guidelines for the Participation of Civil Society Organizations in OAS Activities.”

Following the presentation by the delegation of Colombia, that currently leads the Committee on Inter-American Summits Management and Civil Society Participation in OAS Activities, the inclusion of the following organizations was approved: Disabled Peoples International North America and the Caribbean (DPI NAC) (Antigua and Barbuda), Instituto de Estudios Internacionales (IDEI) (Bolivia), Associação ARTIGO 19 (Brazil), el Instituto de Estudos da Religião (Brazil), Égale Canada, Asociación de Mujeres Afrocolombianas (AMUAFROC), Colombia Diversa, Corporación Alegría (CORPOALEGRÍA) (Colombia), Fundación Arco Iris Siglo XXI (FUNDARIS) (Colombia), Fundación Capacitación y Asesorías Integrales (FUNCAI) (Colombia), Instituto de Protección Social (IPS) (Guatemala), Asociación para una Sociedad más Justa (ASJ) (Honduras), Instituto de Defensa Legal (Peru), and the International Road Transport Union (IRU) (Switzerland). The Council also approved the removal of seven non-governmental organizations that have ceased to operate.

During the session, a draft schedule of meetings was presented for the third and fourth stages of the work plan that the Council will follow to continue in the dialogue on the strengthening and "follow-up on the recommendations of the Report of the Special Working Group for Reflection on the Functioning of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).” The calendar proposed by the Chair of the Council considers the steps to be taken during the next trimester in terms of work methodology, documents to serve as a basis for discussion, procedures to address the reforms proposed by the IACHR and the decision to extend the participation of civil society in the process.

The first point on the calendar is an informal meeting to be held on Friday, January 18, in which Member States will seek to decide the above-mentioned issues, as well as setting a date for the Special Meeting of the General Assembly that will consider the recommendations. The proposed calendar will also be discussed at that meeting.

Council members, gathered at the OAS headquarters, also approved the election of Dr. Carlos Polit Faggioni, of Ecuador, as a member of the Board of External Auditors. Dr. Polit Faggioni, who was chosen to complete the term of Dr. Wilson Vallejo Bazante, also a citizen of Ecuador, will participate in the Board until December 31, 2015.

On another point on the agenda, at the request of the Permanent Mission of the Dominican Republic, the Council commemorated the bicentenary of the birth of Juan Pablo Duarte, one of the founding fathers of the country. In this regard, the Ambassador of the Dominican Republic, Robert Saladin, highlighted the work and legacy of Duarte and recalled that his government decreed that in 2013 it will celebrate the bicentenary of the birth of the hero of independence of the Dominican Republic.

In addition, the Permanent Council offered a farewell to Dr. Mirta Roses upon her departure as Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), after completing her second term as head of the institution of the Inter-American System. In her farewell, Dr. Roses reviewed the progress made by the Pan American arm of the World Health Organization and noted in particular the " very fruitful work and constant collaboration with the OAS," while she was in the office. For his part, the Secretary General of the OAS, José Miguel Insulza, praised the successes of the PAHO, and noted that "the 10 years of Mirta Roses are a clear testimony of her vocation for teamwork." The Permanent Representatives of Argentina, Honduras, Bolivia, the United States, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Canada, Peru, Dominica, Uruguay, Barbados, Nicaragua, Colombia, Paraguay, Panama and the Permanent Observer of Spain (on behalf of France and Italy), congratulated Dr. Roses for her work at the organization and wished her success in the future.

At the end of the meeting, on other business, the Permanent Representative of Panama, Ambassador Guillermo Cochez, requested the floor to present his point of view on the current situation in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. His approach was answered by the Permanent Representative of Venezuela, Ambassador Roy Chaderton, who rejected the expressions of the Panamanian diplomat saying that they constitute an intervention in the internal affairs of Venezuela. On this point in the agenda, the Permanent Representatives of Guatemala, the United States, Canada, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina took the floor and agreed that the Venezuelan situation must be resolved internally by Venezuelans.

Today’s regular meeting was the first one in which the permanent representative of Nicaragua occupied the rotating chairmanship of the Council. Ambassador Denis Moncada received the gavel this week from Ambassador Joel Hernández, Permanent Representative of Mexico.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

The video of the event is available here.

The B-roll of the event will be available here.

The audio of the event is available here.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-012/13