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THE SCHOOL OF ELECTORAL OBSERVATION, FIRST OF ITS KIND, BECOMES A REALITY
DECO and the University of Salamanca co-organized the first School of Electoral Observation to train potential observers. It brought together more than 70 students and 21 academics from several countries in Salamanca Read more...
SPA/OAS Secretary Conference   Inauguration   DECO/OAS Conference
SPA/OAS hosted Policy Roundtable: "Power Shifts in Latin America: Current Trends" OAS establishes a New Mechanism of Cooperation in Public Management (MECIGEP) Senators from Chile and Mexico visit the OAS to discuss the Open Parliament initiative
Mexico’s former Ambassador to the US Arturo Sarukhan, former Advisor for Latin America at the US Security Council Dan Restrepo, and Oxford Professor Laurence Whitehead provided their perspectives on the hemisphere’s future.  Read more... Photos The XLIII OAS General Assembly approved the creation of the hemispheric Cooperation Mechanism for Effective Public Management to strengthen public administrations in OAS member States.
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About MECIGEP 		OAS’ Secretary General discussed with parliamentarians from Chile and Mexico about the Open Parliament Initiative, a project within the Open Government Partnership to promote transparency amongst legislative institutions in the region. Read more...
DEPM call for nominations: The Inter-American Prize for Innovation in Effective Public Management 2013 DECO/OAS will observe general elections in Honduras SPA's Secretary participates in High-Level Conference of Middle-Income Countries (MICs)
The prize seeks to identify, reward, recognize, systematize, encourage and promote innovations in public management that public administrations in the region make in order to strengthen democratic governance.
Deadline: July 31st.. 
Read more... 		The OAS has accepted an invitation from the government of Honduras and will deploy an Electoral Observation Mission for the general elections that will be held on November 24. Former Chilean Minister Enrique Correa will be the chief of mission.   Dr. Kevin Casas-Zamora highlighted the importance of understanding discussions about development as a respectful, plural and democratic conversation; as well as the need for the MIC's full incorporation into the knowledge economy. Read more...
DEPM/OAS participated in the XIX Inter-American Conference of Mayors and Local Authorities SPA Secretary participates in Presidential Panel at the Latin American Studies Association (LASA) Congress OAS and Mexico's Electoral Federal Institute strengthen their cooperation
DEPM/OAS participated in the panel “Local Democracy and Municipal Governments: towards an effective public service provision”, highlighting the importance of the municipality in democratic governance.
Read more...		 Dr. Kevin Casas-Zamora highlighted the importance of overcoming existing prejudices about the relations between USA and Latin America in order to move forward and make hemispheric relations the main foreign policy focus on every country in the region.
Read more...		 The OAS and Mexico’s Electoral Federal Institute (IFE) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen their cooperation, focusing on the promotion of the capabilities of electoral Authorities in the Americas.
DEPM Seminar on Modernization of Municipal Management concludes successfully in Guadalajara, Mexico DEPM successfully completes Civil Registry project in St. Lucia OAS Observation Mission to Grenada Presents Report to Permanent Council
As a result, the Program of Modernization of Municipal Management was launched to develop a network of local governments and a database of best practices in public management. Read more... During the 6-month long project, the DEPM/OAS purchased equipment, developed software, and trained officials to scan and enter information from 11,050 registry books containing 258,833 pages of birth, death, marriage and baptism certificates. Read more... On June 12, the OAS Observation Mission to Grenada presented its Report to the OAS Permanent Council. The report emphasized the high voter turnout and included recommendations to improve Grenada's electoral process.
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DEPM and Civil Registrars of Ecuador and Colombia analyze civil registry in border zones. DSDSM signs Memorandum of Understanding with ITAM DECO/OAS shared its experience in LASA2013
The revision of current mechanisms to achieve full identification and civil registry of migrants in the border zone served as stepping stone for signing an inter-institutional agreement.
Read more... 		DSDSM signed a memorandum of understanding with Instituto Autónomo de México (ITAM), with the objective of providing parliaments with the necessary technical tools and areas of cooperation to strengthen representative institutions in the region. DECO presented the research paper titled: "The Responsibility to Observe: Rethinking OAS Electoral Observation" as part of the panel on Elections in Latin America during the XXXI International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association.
Projects with the Congress of Colombia move forward OAS subscribed MOU with Document Sciences Foundation DEPM/OAS began technical assistance to the Institute of Access to Public Information of El Salvador
A Memorandum of Understanding between the OAS and the Congress of Colombia was signed to promote cooperation initiatives. In addition, an international event on Corporate Social Responsibility and Parliaments is currently being organized. The OAS and the Document Sciences Foundation (FCD) of Spain signed a Memorandum of Understanding on June 17. The objective of this agreement is to promote the agenda of Open Parliaments in the OAS member States. To address the challenges of the newly created Institute, DEPM/OAS organized a workshop to elaborate a Strategic Operations Plan for 2013-2018.
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Unless otherwise indicated, the materials published on this newsletter, including opinions expressed therein, are the responsibility of the individual authors/compilers and not those of the Organization of American States (OAS), or its Member States.