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FACT SHEET: Basic information on the 48th OAS General Assembly in Washington, DC

  June 1, 2018

  • The 48th General Assembly of the OAS will be held on June 4 and 5 at the headquarters of the regional organization in Washington, DC.
  • This will be the eleventh time that the General Assembly of the OAS has taken place at the Organization's headquarters in Washington, DC.
  • The General Assembly is the principal organ of the OAS and is composed of the delegations of all the member states, usually headed by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs.
  • Each member state has the right to cast a vote. The decisions of the Assembly are usually adopted by majority, but in certain cases the rules require a two-thirds vote. The tradition of the OAS is to adopt resolutions by consensus.
  • The Assembly is in charge of defining the policies and mandates of the OAS, as well as the structure and functions of its organs.
  • It is responsible for the election of members of the decentralized and autonomous organizations of the OAS, such as the IACHR, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the Inter-American Juridical Committee, and the Justice Center of the Americas, among others.
  • The 48th Assembly will be the fourth of the mandate of Secretary General Luis Almagro.
  • The General Assembly of the OAS has met annually since 1971. Previously meetings of this nature had varied intervals and were called International American Conferences.
  • Since 1971, 22 countries have hosted the General Assembly. Outside the OAS headquarters, the countries where the Assembly has held the most meetings are Chile and Guatemala: three times in each case.
  • The schedule of the General Assembly has 4 plenary sessions between Monday June 4 and Tuesday June 5.
  • Parallel activities will also be carried out (all will be held at the OAS headquarters, except those indicated):
    • Sunday June 3:
      • Dialogue of representatives of civil society organizations and other actors with Heads of Delegation, the Secretary General and the Assistant Secretary General
      • "Leading environmental justice" event at the Museum of the Americas (AMA)
    • Monday June 4:
      • Dedication ceremony for the Juan Pablo Duarte Room in room 804 of the OAS building located at 1889 F Street. NW. Washington, DC
      • "Cybersecurity and its importance to the consolidation of democracy in the Americas" in the AMA.
    • Tuesday June 5:
      • Meeting of the Summit Implementation Review Group;
      • Lunch dialogue of the Heads of Delegation, the Secretary General and the Assistant Secretary General with the heads of delegation of the permanent observers.
  • For more information visit the Assembly page http://www.oas.org/en/48ga/

Reference: S-026/18