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With a Vision, a Plan and a Defined Method, the OAS is Building toward the Future

  • The Strategic Vision approved by the member states sets the guiding principles for the OAS.

  • The Strategic Plan serves as a roadmap to put the Vision into operation.

  • Integrated-Programs are the means to implement the plan.

The Organization of American States (OAS) is building a strong foundation for the future, combining a Strategic Vision that refocuses its work with a Strategic Plan to achieve that vision, and the tool to implement that plan in “Integrated-Programs.”

 

Strategic Vision

For years, the OAS moved driven by inertia. Resources determined priorities, mandates grew out of control, and budgets responded more to internal structure than to the policy directives of the member states.

Between 2013 y 2014, the member states decided to refocus the work of the OAS following three principles.

  1. The OAS must be a force for cohesion in the region both today and in future International relations.
  2. The OAS must have a clear and achievable agenda that revitalizes its political-institutional weight and at the same time promotes dialogue institutional strengthening for the exercise of democracy and cooperation for development in its priority areas: democracy, human rights, multidimensional Security and integral development, and
  3. The OAS agenda must follow an inclusive model that generates synergies and alliances.

In June 2014, the General Assembly approved the Vision of the Organization, establishing that: “The OAS is the hemispheric political forum inclusive of all the countries of the Americas that, in an equal and interdependent way, strengthens democracy, promotes and protects human rights, advances integral development, and fosters multidimensional security with justice and social security inclusion for the benefit of the peoples of the Americas.

This Vision is the guiding principle that directs all the efforts of the Organization, moving toward the equality and interdependence of its pillars.

“The countries have made a great effort to come to agreement on the Strategic Vision and to take the path of transformation that generates greater legitimacy, trust and the security that the OAS is a shared place of equality where voices are heard and taken into account. That effort inspires my work.”

Luis Almagro
OAS Secretary General

 

Strategic Plan

The Strategic Vision of the member states needed a plan to operationalize it and implent it.

That´s why, in 2015 the General Secretariat prepared a prospective diagnosis of the situation in the hemisphere from the perspective of the four pillars – human rights, democracy, integral development, and multidimensional security – and an internal diagnostic study of the Organization.

This strategic analysis served as an input for member countries to approve the basis of the Strategic Plan in October 2016.

The basis of the Plan contains multiple interdependent strategic lines and objectives for the four pillars and the areas of institutional strengthening and administrative management.

Finally, the General Secretariat has already begun to work on the strategy for implementation and the programs in the context of the Plan approved by the member countries.

This Strategy seeks to achieve 4 key transitions:

  • First, from working in a compartmentalized way to a vision-driven, trust-based collaboration.
  • Second, from programs and projects formulated and delivered in isolation to integrated-programs build from the four pillars perspective, resulting in their equality as well as interdependence.
  • Third, from inertial budgets to policy-driven budgets that respond to member states’ directives.
  • Fourth, all this will be complemented by goals, indicators, deadlines and responsible parties, as required by results-based management.

If the Vision is our North Star, the Strategic Plan is our roadmap and the strategy of implementation is the means to achieve it.

 

Integrated-Programs

The main goal of the OAS is to respond to the needs and challenges of its member states, and to better do so, the Organization shifts to the “Integrated Programs.”.

Traditionally, those working in the four pillars of the Organization have tended to work separately, each seeking the answers to the problems facing the region through their own lens, with minimal coordination.

In contrast, an integrated Program approach incorporates the perspectives of all four OAS pillars, in both the analysis of challenges and the proposals to address them in a holistic way.

From diagnosis to design to execution, the approach creates synergies of efforts and resources, using the accumulated knowledge within the organization, producing a comprehensive response with the potential for a greater impact in the Americas.

Reference: E-044/18