OAS Secretary General Participates in LIII Annual Meeting of Governors of the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB)
March 16-19, 2012
OAS Headquarters, Washington, DC

The Secretary General of the OAS, José Miguel Insulza attended the LIII Annual Meeting of the Boards of Governors of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC) held in Montevideo, Uruguay on March 16-19. On March 16th, Secretary General Insulza participated in the Forum of Top Economic Authorities, organized jointly by the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI), the CAF Development Bank of the Americas (CAF), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the Iberoamerican General Secretariat (SEGIB).

Carlos Alvarez, Secretary General of the ALADI, described the forum as “a space to contribute to the search for complementarity between the distinct visions and different social and economic projects that take precedence today in the Latin America reality”. Secretary General Insulza gave brief remarks alongside the Iberoamerican Secretary General, Enrique V. Iglesias, as well as Finance Ministers from Uruguay, Bolivia, Paraguay and Peru, high-level trade officials from Mexico and Colombia, and central bank authorities from Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela.

On March 19th, Secretary General Insulza spoke at the Second Plenary Session of the Annual Meeting of the Boards of Governors of the IDB/IIC. In his address, he proudly proclaimed that the OAS and the IDB “are main partners in the Inter-American System, determined to strengthen it, and that’s why we have been working together, building alliances between our organizations”.

Insulza further stated that “we are in a moment of great promise for our region, where we have been able to cement democratic progress in the region while simultaneously achieving important economic growth - even in the face of the “great recession” that has struck the most of the World economy. A clear manifestation of this success has been the constant and recurring reduction of poverty in our hemisphere. The challenge now is to give the qualitative leap that all citizens of the Continent have the right to aspire to and to demand for themselves”.

As far as the road ahead, the Secretary General assured the audience that security and inequality are the challenges that worry our region’s citizens the most and pointed out that the rooted disparities deeply polarize our societies and heighten conflict. He concluded his intervention by praising the close cooperation between the OAS and the IDB in matters of security and congratulated the Bank on its Regional Citizen Security Initiative, which will allow for stronger information systems and the exchange of best practices.

Secretary General Insulza concluded his participation in this event by participating in the high-level diplomatic seminar “Globalization, Citizenship and Diplomacy”, where he spoke about the Summit process and governance of the international system.

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OAS celebrates the International Day of La Francophonie
March 7, 2012
OAS Headquarters, Washington, DC

The International Organization of La Francophonie represents one of the biggest linguistic zones in the world. Its mission is to embody the active solidarity between its 75 member states and governments -among them OAS Member States Canada, Dominica, Haiti, Saint Lucia, and Dominican Republic as Observer- which together account for a population of over 220 million French speakers. Its actions advance cultural and linguistic diversity and serve to promote the French language, peace and sustainable development.

The OAS celebrated the International Day of La Francophonie by hosting M. Bernard Geenen, President of the Cultural Festival of the Month of La Francophonie 2012 in Washington, D.C. Mr. Geenen spoke before the OAS Permanent Council providing an overview of the history and importance of the Francophonie Festival and later joined the Permanent Representatives of OAS Member States, OAS officials, Permanent Observer representatives and invited guests gathered at the Hall of the Heroes, where as a sign of friendship and in recognition of the diversity and cultural heritage of French- speaking nations, OAS Member States and Permanent Observers made a generous donation of books in French to the Columbus Memorial Library.

Mr. Geenen's address to the OAS Permanent Council
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Dialogue with Ms. Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe 

March 1, 2012
OAS Headquarters, Washington, DC

A dialogue between Ms. Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe (CoE) and OAS Member States, sub regional groups and General Secretariat technical areas took place on March 1, 2012 at OAS headquarters in Washington, D.C. The Dialogue provided an excellent opportunity to strengthen the institutional and cooperation relations between the OAS and the CoE within the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding that both Organizations signed in September 2011, by sharing experiences on programs of cooperation, exchanging information and best practices and identifying possible synergies. The Dialogue including the welcoming by Ambassador Hugo de Zela, Chief of Staff of the OAS Secretary General, enabled the CoE and the OAS to identify those practices and initiatives that are most suitable for cooperation in the future, especially on human rights, terrorism, corruption, violence against women and gender equality, data protection and citizenship education, among others.

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The President of the European Court of Human Rights visits OAS Headquarters

February 29, 2012
OAS Headquarters, Washington, DC

A delegation from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) headed by its President, Sir Nicolas Bratza, met with the Chair of the Permanent Council as well as the President and the Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), high-level officials from the OAS and representatives from the Permanent Observer Missions of France, Italy and Spain. The purpose of the meeting was to explore areas for cooperation between the ECHR, the OAS, the IACHR and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

Judge Nicolas Bratza stated that no court or commission is as important for the ECHR as the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. He recognized the importance of undertaking Joint work between the Inter-American Human Rights entities - the IACHR and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights- and the European Court of Human Rights and highlighted the need to engage in knowledge-sharing as well as promoting accession to international instruments for the protection and defense of human rights within their respective regions.

The President of the IACHR, Commissioner Dinah Shelton and its Executive Secretary, Mr. Santiago Cantón pointed out a few similarities between the Inter-American and the European Human Rights Systems, and indentifying key areas for cooperation, such as capacity-building seminars for jurists and sharing databases containing cases and other important sources of jurisprudence.

Following the meeting, Judge Bratza addressed the Permanent Council of the OAS and met with officials from the IACHR.

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Address of H.E. Nicolas Bratza to the OAS Permanent Council
 

PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY, COUNCIL OF EUROPE (WINTER SESSION) 

January 23-27, 2012

The Council of Europe brings together 47 democracies with 636 members from their national parliaments. Throughout the year members of parliament hold seven meetings, starting with the Parliamentary Assembly.

The winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly was held on January 23-27, 2012 in Strasbourg, France, at the headquarters of the Council of Europe. The session heard addresses from different European leaders including Grigol Vashadze, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, Tarja Halonen, President of Finland and David Cameron, Primer Minister of the United Kingdom.

During the Assembly a debate was carried out focusing on women’s rights worldwide, citing the failure to decrease inequality despite the numerous commitments that have been made in the past. This debate was followed by a statement from Michelle Bachelet, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Director of UN Women.
 

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