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Background


What is the Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Public Security in the Americas (MISPA)?

  November 17, 2015

• It is the highest hemispheric political forum for addressing public security issues.
• It is held every two years.
• At MISPA, Ministers:

o Address the main challenges and developments related to security in the Americas;
o Identify emerging threats;
o Strengthen bilateral and regional cooperation;
o Encourage knowledge and experience sharing.


Which security issues are a priority in the framework of the OAS?

• Strengthening of police institutions.
• Prevention and reduction of violence and crime, including homicide reduction.
• Prison reform and prison management that prioritizes inmates’ rehabilitation and reintegration.
• Strategic and coordinated fight against transnational organized crime.
• Sound, reliable, and comparable information as a fundamental input for decision-making in public safety policies.

Which have been the main achievements of the MISPA process?

• In 2008, during the First Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Public Security in the Americas (MISPA I), the Commitment to Public Security in the Americas was adopted.

• The Inter-American Network for Police Development and Professionalization, which seeks to promote continuous improvement of police institutions and develop a police management system based on training, was created in the framework of MISPA.

• The Inter-American Network for the Prevention of Violence and Crime was created as a permanent mechanism for dialogue and consultation among a multiplicity of actors involved in design, implementation and evaluation of public policies on crime and violence prevention.

Why is MISPA V important?

• The main focus of MISPA V, in Lima, Peru, is crime prevention, violence and insecurity.
• It is expected that recommendations for the development of concrete actions will be made in the following areas:
o Coordination and cooperation to prevent crime, violence and insecurity. In this regard, homicide prevention and reduction, social programs to reduce risk factors and to promote greater social inclusion will be discussed.
o Data and information for the design and implementation of public policies on crime prevention, violence and insecurity.


• MISPA V will focus on fighting crime, not only by taking into account responses from the interdiction or criminal law perspective, but also from the prevention standpoint with educational, social and health programs.
• The Ministers will address the OAS initiative to develop a Plan against Transnational Organized Crime aimed at enabling member states to join efforts in order to confront criminal organizations in areas such as drug trafficking, terrorism, human and arms trafficking, cybercrime, among others.

• At the meeting, the Inter-American Network for Prevention of Violence and Crime, which is a dialogue and consultation mechanism that seeks to encourage experience sharing, and the Inter-American Network on Information and Knowledge on Public Security, which is a platform for the collection, processing, analysis, standardization and dissemination of data, will be presented.

Background

• The First Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Public Security in the Americas (2008) was held in Mexico City and adopted the Commitment to Public Security in the Americas

• MISPA II, which took place in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (2009), adopted the Consensus of Santo Domingo on Public Security, which institutionalized the MISPA process with a Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Public Security in the Americas every two years.

• In 2011, in Trinidad and Tobago, MISPA III took as reference one of the pillars of the Commitment to Public Security in the Americas and adopted the document Port-of-Spain Recommendations for Police Management

• MISPA IV, held in Medellín, Colombia (2013), emphasized international cooperation. The meeting concluded with the adoption of the document Recommendations of Medellín for Strengthening International Cooperation in the Area of Public Security.

Reference: S-040/15