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OEA/Ser.P
AG/RES. 1760 (XXX-O/00)
6 June 2000
Original: English 

RESOLUTION

SUPPORT TO THE MANDATES OF THE SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS ON "STRENGTHENING MUNICIPAL AND REGIONAL ADMINISTRATIONS" AND "CIVIL SOCIETY"

(Resolution adopted at the fourth plenary session, held on June 6, 2000)

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

CONSIDERING the role of the Organization of American States in the promotion and consolidation of democracy in the Hemisphere, as well as its emerging role as a forum for Inter-American dialogue among ministers and authorities at the highest level with responsibility for the policies to be implemented in the various sectoral areas of the Inter-American Summits;

RECALLING:

That the Summit of the Americas (1994) stated in its Declaration of Principles that democracy is strengthened by the modernization of the state and that the corresponding Plan of Action highlighted the need to achieve such strengthening by more vigorous promotion of civil society and citizen participation;

That the Summit of Santiago (1998) resolved in its Plan of Action to support strengthening of municipal and regional administrations through mechanisms for the participation of civil society organizations in the process of local and other sub-national decision-making; and

That in this Plan of Action the leaders of the hemisphere resolved to share their experiences and information from programs currently being supported by multilateral and bilateral cooperation institutions such as the Organization of American States (OAS), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the World Bank, to facilitate implementation of this initiative;

That resolution AG/RES. 1668 (XXIX-O/99) urges member states to establish or continue strengthening cooperation mechanisms between governments and civil society organizations at the state, provincial and municipal levels;

BEARING IN MIND:

That, despite obvious advantages, the complexities of processes of decentralization and strengthening municipal and regional administrations and other subnational and community sectors bring a series of challenges for which the Organization of American States could serve as a hemispheric forum to promote dialogue and consensus on policies; and

That the experiences and technical information compiled through the Program of Cooperation in Decentralization, Local Government and Citizen Participation implemented by the Unit for the Promotion of Democracy provide valuable background material which could be used for analysis and evaluation of these issues,

RESOLVES:

  1. To instruct the Permanent Council to prepare and initiate the necessary studies for holding a meeting of ministers or authorities at the highest level responsible for policies on decentralization, local government and citizen participation in municipal government in the Hemisphere, to facilitate exchange of experiences and the development of a common frame of reference on public policy for strengthening the process of decentralization and consolidation of local governance and citizen participation at the municipal and community levels.
  2. To request that the Permanent Council, on the basis of the above-mentioned studies, carry out the preparations for this meeting with the technical support of the General Secretariat, and in particular of the Unit for the Promotion of Democracy.
  3. To entrust the Permanent Council with taking the final decision on convening and determining the date and place for the meeting, taking into account the resources assigned in the program-budget, as well as other resources.
  4. To request that the Permanent Council report to the thirty-first regular session of the General Assembly on the implementation of this resolution.
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