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Secretary General Insulza: Strengthening Democracy for Citizens´ Welfare is Most Important Task of the OAS

The Secretary General of the Organization of the American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, said that the main objective of the hemispheric organization is the strengthening of democracy in the region, in his inaugural words at the international seminar, “Innovative Experiences in Effective Public Management and Regional Cooperation Strategies”.

“The main task of the OAS is the development of a region where democracy is the generalized form of government, and that it is not only an electoral democracy, but also that the governments govern democratically for the well-being of their citizens,” said Insulza during the event taking place today, Friday, September 21, the Rubén Darío Hall in the headquarters of the OAS in Washington, D.C.

The chief representative of the OAS said that in the region, “we have had democracies for several decades and the question from citizens is: to what extent are these democracies able to solve problems?” In this sense, Insulza added that “it is remarkable that in the surveys that are carried out in the hemisphere the growing demand of citizens of democracies is that they solve their problems, and at the same time be transparent, participatory, and effective democracies.”

Insulza highlighted that the OAS “has been working with its Member States to strengthen the institutional capacities of the public sector in the region on issues that directly impact democratic governance, such as transparency and public integrity, planning, public policy evaluation, electronic government, cadastre, and civil registration, among other issues”.

Among the speakers at the Seminar inaugurated by the OAS Secretary General are representatives of the government of Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia, Canada, Jamaica, and Chile; and specialists from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF), and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

The OAS Secretary of Political Affairs, Kevin Casas-Zamora, said the objective of the seminar is “to strengthen the quality of public sector performance to underpin democratic governance”. Casas-Zamora, who was charged with presenting the first round of panelists who participated in the Seminar, highlighted the experiences of Mexico, Ecuador and Colombia “on the road to reforming management of the public sector to greater levels of effectiveness and democracy.” He added that “the experiences of these three countries” in the reform of public management “are emblematic.”

Uriel Márquez Carrasco, Deputy Secretary of the Secretariat for Public Service of Mexico, spoke about the “Administrative Project Model for the Innovation of Public Service in Mexico.” He said that during the government of President Felipe Calderón a series of reforms was launched for the “good use of public resources” and to “promote transparency and access to information” for the public.

Deputy Secretary Márquez referred to the application of a “technological system in Mexican public administration that allowed citizens to carry out more than 1000 tasks on the internet, and highlighted that the official website of the government of Mexico, www.gob.mx, has more than “200 thousand hits daily.” “Democracy is consolidated when government is openly accountable to its citizens,” said Márquez.

Pablo Muñoz, Deputy Secretary of State Democratization in the Planning and Development Ministry of Ecuador, based his presentation on the "Transformation of the State: Assessing and Deepening Change." He said the first thing the current government of Ecuador had to do was to counteract the effect of the neoliberal reforms of the 80s and 90s, which had "dismantled public companies." "Between 2007 and 2011 we have recovered the state," said Muñoz, adding that the government of Quito "is not statist,” but seeks a "balanced relationship" between the state and the private sector.

For his part, Juan Ricardo Ortega, Director General of the Directorate of National Taxes and Customs of Colombia (DIAN), referred in his speech to the tax reform undertaken by the current government of Colombia. Ortega explained that, because President Juan Manuel Santos is "committed to not raising taxes," his task is "to increase tax collection" under the current tax system in his country. Ortega said that in 2011 there was an collection increase of "some 50 percent" and added that one of the keys to ensuring that many groups, especially the most powerful, stop avoiding taxes, is to have "the support" of public opinion.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

The video of the event will be available here.

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

Reference: E-325/12