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OAS Permanent Council Resumes Debate of Ideas on How to Strengthen the Inter-American Democratic Charter

The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) today held its third session of dialogue on how to strengthen the Inter-American Democratic Charter, in a regular session focused on chapters 1 and 2 of the document.

Chapter 2, titled “Democracy and Human Rights,” expresses there is an “indispensable” link between the two concepts and reaffirms the commitment of Member States to protect and promote them. Chapter 3, titled “Democracy, Integral Development, and Combating Poverty,” reflects the need for Member States to adopt measures to fight inequality, illiteracy and generally low levels of development.

OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza praised the debate held by Member States’ representatives and highlighted the need for “all of us to make decisions, draw conclusions, set dates and move these issues forward.”

The head of the Hemispheric Organization recalled that the OAS Charter already extensively mentions integral development, stressed the importance of fulfilling the Protocol of San Salvador on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, and called upon representatives to finalize negotiations on the Social Charter of the Americas.

The dialogue on the Inter-American Democratic Charter being held by the Permanent Council during several sessions responds to a mandate issued in resolution 2555 of the 40th OAS General Assembly, in 2010, in Lima. In resolutive 14, the text instructs the Council to “organize and carry out a dialogue on the effectiveness of the implementation of the Inter-American Democratic Charter and to submit the results and/or progress of the same during 2011, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of its adoption.”

During today’s debate the Permanent Representatives of the following Member States took the floor: Honduras, United States, Brazil, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Peru, Canada, Chile, Venezuela, Dominica (on behalf of CARICOM) and Colombia.

These are some of the proposals mentioned to strengthen the Charter: democracy is indispensable for liberty and Human Rights, and both are essential elements of representative democracy; poverty, inequality and discrimination are the toughest challenges ahead regarding democracy consolidation in the region; democracy and integral development are inextricably linked to secure a fulfilling and dignified existence, peace and wellbeing for the people of the Americas; Member States’ actions aimed at integral development should be periodically examined, as expressed in Article 14 of the Inter-American Democratic Charter; and a Social Charter of the Americas that includes mechanisms to implement it should be approved.

The first session of Dialogue within the Permanent Council took place May 4, and the second took place June 29. The next session is scheduled for August 31 to debate Chapter 4.

During the regular session, the Permanent Council bid farewell to the Permanent Representative of Uruguay to the Organization, Ambassador María del Luján Flores.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

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

Reference: E-785/11