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OAS Secretary General Presents 2013 Budget Proposal

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, today presented to the Permanent Council the Proposed Program Budget for 2013, which must be approved no later than November 15 , by a Special Assembly of the hemispheric organization.

In his presentation, Secretary General Insulza said that “our central line of work seeks to consolidate the strategy of alignment of the resources from the regular fund in the four pillars upon which the activities of the OAS are based: defense and building of democracy, human rights, multidimensional security, and integral development.”

The budget proposal is 140 pages long and, as the OAS Secretary General pointed out, “also reflects the demand from Member States to focus resources, facilitate transparency, improve efficiency, and move forward in the management by results.”

“At the General Assembly (in Cochabamba), the budget ceiling of 2013 was set,” said Secretary Insulza, adding "that ceiling is a reduction, compared to last year, of about $ 3.3 million."

The program budget includes “a series of measures” to improve the efficiency of the regional body, “among them is the reorganization of the scholarship offers,” added Secretary General Insulza.

Moreover, in the afternoon session, the Permanent Council appointed by acclamation the Ambassador of Canada, Allan Culham, as Chairman of the Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Affairs, and the Ambassador of Guyana, Bayney Karran, as Chair of the Commission on Hemispheric Security. The Council also confirmed the Ambassador of Colombia, Andrés González Díaz, as Chair of the Committee on Inter-American Summits Management and Civil Society Participation in OAS Activities (CISC). The Council also decided to postpone the election of the Chairman of the Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs until the meeting on September 5.

On another point on the agenda, the Ambassador of Guyana, Bayney Karran, reported to the Council on the recent street unrest that occurred in his country that led to the death of three people in the city of Linden, as a result of increased electricity rates. The Guyanese diplomat said that the protests have “put at risk the stability of the country,” and said his government is “deeply concerned about this new political environment.” In this regard, he requested the OAS to be attentive to the delicate situation in his country.

On this issue, Secretary General Insulza said that “dialogue is the best way to deal with this matter as in most conflicts that come up in our society.”

At the end of the session the Council paid tribute to the Ambassador of The Bahamas Cornelius Smith, who finished his duties as a representative of his country after several years of service. The Council also presented a gavel to the Ambassador of Honduras, Leonidas Rosa Bautista, in recognition of his work as Chair of the Permanent Council in the past period.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

The video 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-288/12