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OAS Permanent Council Approves Registration of 15 New Civil Society Organizations

The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) today held a regular meeting during which it approved the addition of 15 new civil society organizations to the OAS registry and discussed issues relating to the work of the Consumer Safety and Health Network, the support and solidarity of the countries of the region with Haiti and with the strengthening of its democratic institutions, the Second Virtual Educa Caribbean Symposium and the pension and retirement fund of the Organization, among other issues.

The meeting began with a minute of silence in homage to the Colombian writer and Nobel Prize winner in Literature, Gabriel García Márquez, who died recently.

The Alternate Representative of Panama, José de Jesús Martínez, on behalf of the Chair of the Committee on Inter-American Summits Management and Civil Society Participation in OAS Activities (CISC), presented the proposal of the Committee after which the incorporation of the following organizations was approved: Fundación Pro Humanae Vitae (FPHV) (Argentina), Fundación Construir (Bolivia), Oficina Jurídica para la Mujer (Bolivia), Igarapé Institute (IGAINS) (Brazil), Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil (OAB) (Brasil), Corporación la Esperanza (CLE) (Chile), Fundación Consejo de Defensa del Niño (CODENI) (Chile), Asociación Colombiana de Padres con Hijos Especiales (ACPHE) (Colombia), Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) (United States), Harm Reduction Coalition (HRC) (United States), Instituto de Enseñanza para el Desarrollo Sostenible (IEPADES) (Guatemala), Red Hemisférica de Parlamentario y Exparlamentarios por la Primera Infancia (RHPEPI) (México), Ciudadanos en Apoyo a los Derechos Humanos (CADHAC) (México), Centro de Investigación Drogas y Derechos Humanos (CIDDH), (Perú) y el Centro de Promoción y Defensa de los Derechos Sexuales y Reproductivos (PROMSEX) (Perú).

The Council also discussed the proposal by Peru and Brazil, in relation to the structure for conducting the work of the Consumer Safety and Health Network, an interdisciplinary Inter-American forum specialized in promoting consumer protection, through the exchange of information on consumer product safety and the dissemination of best practices on public policy on consumer products and their regulation. The initiative will be considered by the General Committee appointed to consider the best way to insert the initiative in the work of the Organization.

At the same meeting, the Permanent Mission of Trinidad and Tobago to the OAS, led by Ambassador Neil Parsan, presented to the Council the details of and invitation to the Second Virtual Educa Caribbean Symposium to be held in Port of Spain, on May 19 and 20, 2014. The event, explained Ambassador Parsan, "will be a unique opportunity for educators and students to witness how technology can make a contribution to bridging the digital divide in education systems and allow students to thrive in a global highly competitive world." The OAS Secretary General, José Miguel Insulza, highlighted the positive experience of previous Virtual Educa events, as a forum for interaction between students, experts and policy makers. "It is an enriching experience in which the potential of the technology is shown in a relevant area in which we have been working based on the importance of education in the region," he said.

The agenda for today's meeting also included the opening of a debate on the Draft Declaration "The Electoral Process in Haiti," referring to the legislative and local elections to be held in the Caribbean country in the coming months. The Permanent Council decided to start making the necessary consultations to further work on the document.

Other topics considered in the Council included the XXI Pan American Child Congress to be held in Brasilia, Brazil on December 10 – 12, 2014, and the presentation of mechanisms for Member States to request reports of the OAS General Secretariat Inspector General.

At today’s meeting the delegations of Canada, the United States, Mexico, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Guatemala, Haiti, Bolivia, Dominica, Ecuador and Paraguay took the floor, as well as the Observer Mission of Spain.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

The video of the event is available here.

The audio of the event will be available here.

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

Reference: E-156/14