May 1, 2013

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, and the Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Victor Villalobos, a cooperation agreement between the two organizations.

Following the initialing of the agreement, Secretary General Insulza said the document "will allow us to move towards a more fluid dialogue, a more coordinated exchange of experiences and information and the development of the synergies necessary to achieve our goals."

"Many times when we speak of agriculture, we speak of commodities," said Secretary General Insulza. "I would say that agricultural products require much greater economic development, much greater competitiveness, greater production with higher quality, and continuous improvement in nutritional status, and therefore we have a tremendous task ahead of us," added the leader of the hemispheric organization.

The future of agriculture in the region, said the Secretary General, depends in large part on improving conditions "in technology, irrigation, information, marketing, increasing our productivity and competitiveness and improving living conditions in rural areas." "Those are the challenges," concluded Secretary General Insulza," and I am very pleased with this agreement."

For his part, Director General Villalobos said that the agreement "strengthens this already close and complementary relationship with our mother organization.” He highlighted the commitment of IICA "to continue working in our trench, which is agriculture, the basis of nutrition." He indicated that agriculture "is part of the most important activity undertaken by human beings."

"I would like to thank the OAS, on behalf of all farmers and the staff of IICA and myself, for this relationship, and for this welcome which has made IICA what it is today, after 70 years," concluded Director General Villalobos.

April 19, 2013
Washington, DC

The Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Irina Bokova joined the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza for a discussion on education policy in the Americas at the 51st OAS Lecture Series. , today called for a "new effort" to improve the quality of education in the Americas entitled "Promoting Human Development and Quality Education in the Americas".

In his opening remarks at the event, the Secretary General Insulza said, regarding the issues of education and human development, "we have worked intensely on them, but we must be able to evaluate our results and prepare for the next push, the next effort to substantially improve the quality of education at all levels" in the region.

Secretary General Insulza recalled that the OAS has a long history of working together with UNESCO on various issues, "including the Educational Portal of the Americas, the scientific developments in our programs of Water Resources; the use of mobile technologies, and issues related to the Haitian diaspora, among others." He acknowledged that major challenges remain to quality education in the region, but said that "this is a priority for our organization."

For her part, the Director-General of UNESCO stressed that “education today remains our foremost priority. It is the center of our fight for human rights, human dignity and human security. Education drives development and prosperity. So rights, security and prosperity, these are the overarching goals of the OAS and are also in UNESCO´s DNA.”

“The world is changing,” said the senior UN official, “the 21st century will be built on knowledge societies, that are inclusive and that harness the full power of science technology and innovation. Not investing in education jeopardizes the future of people and of nations,” she said.

Before the event, Secretary General Insulza met privately with the UNESCO Director-General at the headquarters of the OAS General Secretariat in Washington, DC. They discussed the challenges to improving the quality of education in the region, and the roles of their organizations in achieving that goal.

April 17, 2013
Washington, DC

The Secretary General of the OAS met with the Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibé to discuss the state of cooperation between both organizations, the state of democracy in the Americas and discuss possible activities that the OAS and UNAIDS may undertake in the near future to support international efforts to fight the spread of HIV and promote affordable access to treatment.

During the meeting, Executive Director Sidibé updated Secretary General Insulza on the work of UNAIDS, the main advocate for accelerated, comprehensive and coordinated global action on the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza gave an overview of the efforts that OAS has undertaken through the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM) and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) regarding HIV-AIDS education.

Both leaders agreed on the need to strengthen ties and identify specific areas for cooperation and develop a plan of action within the next few months, incorporating a gender perspective as a cross-cutting issue.

April 12, 2013
New York, NY

The Organization of American States (OAS) participated in the twenty-third session of the Working Group VI (Security Interests) of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) held at the New York headquarters from 8 to 12 April 2013.

As part of the OAS/CIDA Cooperation Plan for 2012-2015, the Department of International Law is in charge of the OAS Secured Transactions Project aimed at implementing secured transactions reform, based on the Model Inter-American Law on Secured Transactions, its Model Registry Regulations and other international instruments on the topic.

The participation of the OAS in these meetings built on increased awareness of the crucial role played by secured transactions reform in the promotion of equitable access to credit in Latin American and Caribbean countries and to address the need for building capacity in OAS Member States to adopt and implement international instruments on the topic.

April 10, 2013
Washington, DC

The Permanent Representative of the Organisation Internationale de La Francophonie to the United Nations, Ambassador Filippe Savadogo addressed the Permanent Council of the OAS as part of the day-long celebration of French language and culture.

In his address, Ambassador Savadogo reflected on the importance of the cooperation between both organizations, and how joint work will create better opportunities for the progress in the region. The Ambassador expressed his gratitude on behalf of the OIF to the OAS for promoted the International month of the Francophonie.

“The IOF and the OAS shared many common goals; both organisms signed on September 27, 2012 in New York a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen their relations. The areas of cooperation identified in the framework agreement highlight the Francophonie’s role in service of peace, democracy, strengthening the rule of law, respect for human rights and conflict prevention and human security” said Ambassador Savadogo.

The OIF Representative also emphasized in the significance of diversity and culture as key factors for development, highlighting cultural values as a vehicle to promote peace, development, promotion of democracy and human rights.

Ambassador Savadogo’s presentation was followed by a reception hosted by the Permanent Missions of Canada, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, St. Lucia and the Permanent Observer Mission of France to the OAS.

March 25, 2013
Washington, DC

The OAS, represented by the Director of the Department of International Affairs, Mr. Jorge Sanín, participated in the Consultation/Workshop on the African Union Diaspora Flagship Legacy Projects co-organized by the African Union Commission and the World Bank.

The Workshop is one of many follow-up activities to the first African Global Diaspora Summit held in Sandton, South Africa on 25 May 2012, which ended with the adoption of a Declaration that would serve as the fundamental law of the African Union Diaspora Program.

Mr. Sanin spoke about the experience of the OAS working with the Haitian diaspora in the aftermath of the massive earthquake that shook Haiti on January 12, 2010, mobilizing the Haitian Diaspora. He recalled that the OAS convened the Haitian Diaspora Forum at the Headquarters of the Organization on March 22-23, 2010 in an effort to support the Diaspora as it strove to coordinate and channel its capacities and resources for the rebuilding of their homeland.

Talking about lessons learned from the Haitian Diaspora Forum, he stressed the need for re-directing remittances into investment for development, allowing Diaspora to retain their citizenship, and creating the mechanisms that allow for the validation of foreign credentials, thus allowing for an easier flow of skilled professionals who may wish to return to their home country to use their skills.

The OAS General Assembly adopted Resolution AG/RES. 2419 on June 3, 2008, calling for deeper cooperation between the African Union and the OAS, in particular on areas of common interest to “include inter alia democracy promotion”. This framework document became the Memorandum of Understanding between the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States and the Commission of the African Union signed on October 1, 2009.