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OAS General Assembly in the Dominican Republic Enters Final Phase

  February 19, 2016

The 46th General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS), to be held in the Dominican Republic in June, today formally entered the final stretch of its preparations with the signing of the headquarters agreement.

The OAS Secretary General, Luis Almagro, and the Foreign Minister of the Dominican Republic, Andrés Navarro, signed the document in Washington, DC that officially establishes that the most important annual meeting of the multilateral institution will be held in Santo Domingo.

Secretary General Almagro stressed that the General Assembly "presents a unique opportunity for member states to address regional challenges in depth in the strategic pillars of the OAS: democracy, human rights, multidimensional security and integral development." The OAS Secretary General also emphasized that the General Assembly is "an opportunity also to condemn the validation that the OAS made of the invasion of Dominican Republic in 1965. It is probably one of the most abject roles played by a multilateral organization on any issue in our hemisphere," he said.

For his part, Foreign Minister Navarro promised member states that "the Dominican Republic wants to do an extraordinary job, not only in terms of logistics and organization, but also in substantive terms."

Subsequently, the Minister Navarro presented to the Permanent Council of the institution the theme for the General Assembly chosen by his country: "Institutional Strengthening for Sustainable Development."

Reference: E-021/16