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El Salvador Reports to the OAS Permanent Council on its Progress in Violence Reduction

The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) today welcomed the Minister of Justice and Public Security of El Salvador, David Munguía Payés, who reported on the achievements of his country as part of the process of reducing violence, discussed the positive impact of the reduction for the security and welfare of Salvadorans and thanked the OAS for its support during the process, in particular the support of Secretary General José Miguel Insulza

In his presentation, Minister Munguía recalled that at the worst point of the violence, San Salvador was the second most violent city in the world, with an average of 70 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, "but now the situation has changed, we carried out an unprecedented and probably unorthodox process that has produced very good results in terms of violence reduction," he said, and added that institutional strengthening and the truce among gangs were the factors that contributed to a significant decline in homicides in the country.

The Salvadoran Minister of Justice and Public Security informed the Council that, as gangs were the main groups responsible for homicides, a space was created for the Catholic Church and civil society to work on a truce process that has resulted in the reduction of homicides that today reaches an average of 5.6 per day. "We have been thirteen months in this process which would not have been possible without the support we have received from the OAS," he said, and expressed gratitude for the support given by Secretary General Insulza, "who believed in us and was present when the gangs began to surrender their weapons."

"We have recovered more than 450 guns that have come out of the streets and we have gone from being the second most violent country in the world to being number 46," noted Minister Munguía, who also mentioned the social and economic benefits resulting from the reduction of violence: "under this new environment it has been possible to extend the coverage of social programs created by the Salvadoran government."

"This is a process that is not over, we have a big challenge ahead," he said, and called on the international community to provide political and economic support to sustain the peace initiative in that country. "It is important to have international collaboration in order to create jobs and opportunities for young people so they can find decent work in their municipalities," the Minister stressed.

For his part, OAS Secretary General, José Miguel Insulza took the floor and noted that the organization has been closely linked to the truce process in El Salvador. "This is a very important issue for the organization and is an action with specific results," he said, and commented that given the specific results in violence reduction "we were motivated to act and provide support to serve as guarantor of this truce and last year, we received from the gang members a symbolic handover of weapons." In his address, Insulza highlighted as positive that increasingly more and more people from civil society are being incorporated into the process.

Secretary General Insulza referred to the initiatives the OAS has developed in the context of the promotion of peace in El Salvador, such as the creation of a youth orchestra in the women’s prison of San Salvador and other cultural activities that create opportunities for dialogue. "This has had a great effect with very few resources," he stressed and reiterated the need for support from the international community. "We talk a lot about peace, but we do not put the resources where we can make peace," he said.

The Representative of El Salvador, Ambassador Joaquín Maza thanked Secretary General Insulza "for the effort that he has been making" in support of the country, and highlighted the significant accomplishments and concrete results achieved in the past year.

During the meeting, Council members welcomed International Francophonie Day with a presentation by the Permanent Observer of the International Organization of the Francophonie (IOF) to the United Nations, Filippe Savadogo, in which he discussed the commitments shared by both institutions: "The OAS and the International Organization of the Francophonie give equal importance to multilingualism and emphasize the richness of the many histories and traditions that shape our Member States," he said, recalling that both "share common values ​​and similar objectives of solidarity, promotion of peace, democracy and human rights and the peaceful resolution of crises and conflicts."

In his statement, the representative of the IOF said that in promoting "the dialogue of cultures, we are affirming that culture can and should play a role as a stabilizer and facilitator of peace and development. Our diplomacy works for the strengthening of peace, the promotion of democracy and human rights."

To join the celebration, the Secretary General Insulza said that on this day, "we hope to share the experience of the Francophonie in promoting policies and instruments for the protection of human rights, with special attention to vulnerable groups." and recognized the work of the organization in the promotion of the French language, peace and sustainable development as well as strengthening the rule of law, improving the capacity of judicial systems and promoting human rights in its member countries. "All these activities allow us to create synergies based on the work of the OAS and the precepts of the Inter-American Democratic Charter," he said.

The Permanent Representatives of Haiti, Ambassador Duly Brutus, and Canada, Ambassador Allan Culham and the French Permanent Observer to the OAS, Ambassador Pierre-Henri Guignard, took the floor to highlight the importance of preserving cultural diversity and recognizing the values that bind members of the Francophonie within the OAS.

As part of the meeting, the Chair of the Council and Permanent Representative of Panama, Ambassador Arturo Ulysses Vallarino and Secretary General Insulza also expressed, on behalf of the organization, "our deepest condolences" to the government of the United States, to the State Department, and to the family of young diplomat Anne Smedinghoff, who was killed in Afghanistan last Saturday.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

The video of the event is available here.

The B-roll of the event is available here.

The audio of the event is available here.

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

Reference: E-134/13