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INSULZA: “DEMOCRACY SHOULD DELIVER MORE BENEFITS TO THE PEOPLE”

The challenges to stable democracies in the Americas continue to be those of economic development, the elimination of violent crime, and overcoming poverty, among others, the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, said at the ceremony to launch the Partnership for Democratic Governance. Insulza praised the goals of the body recently created by countries and international organizations, explaining that its purpose is to generate multilateral responses to the demands of developing countries that consider their progress to be difficult due to the lack of management capacity of their governments in confronting those challenges.

The meeting, held at the headquarters of the United Nations, was convened by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Among the participants were the leaders of these organizations, Kemal Dervis and Angel Gurría, as well as Chile’s Foreign Minister Alejandro Foxley, and US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice.

Insulza highlighted the unprecedented moment that democracy is living in the region, and talked about the electoral processes that have taken place transparently in the last few years, but warned that the true challenge lies in governments not only being democratic in their genesis but also in their development. In this context, the OAS Secretary General mentioned the problems that threaten democratic stability and interfere in governmental policies that seek development. He referred to transnational crime, race and gender discrimination, unequal income distribution, lack of education and other deficiencies. “Democracy should deliver more benefits to the people,” for the people to continue believing in it and for democracy to strengthen the place it has won in the region during the last few years, he said.

He noted that international cooperation from the developed world to the less developed nations is crucial to combat poverty, but highlighted the importance to give governments the appropriate tools so that they can administer and channel this support. He said that many times the countries lack the resources to strengthen institutions, create public policies and manage international support, and that in most cases the obstacles arise from the difficulty of modernizing the State apparatus and providing professional training.

All of this, Insulza stated, creates instability and this is where cooperation from the developed world and the programs that will be analyzed by this Partnership for Democratic Governance should focus.

Among founding members of the Partnership for Democratic Governance are Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Poland, Turkey, United States, the OECD, the UNDP, the OAS, and the Inter-American Dialogue.


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Reference: E-248/07