AG/RES. 1576 (XXVIII-O/98)

CREATION OF THE INTER-AMERICAN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE

(Resolution adopted at the third plenary session, held on June 2, 1998)

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

HAVING SEEN Articles 93 and 77 of the Charter of the Organization and resolution CIDI/RES. 41 (III-O/98); and

CONSIDERING:

That the Common Market of Scientific and Technological Knowledge (MERCOCYT) program was established by the Inter-American Council for Education, Science, and Culture (CIECC) through its resolution CIECC/RES. 844/93, with the support of the General Assembly, as a program of the OAS member states to promote cooperation and the exchange of information on science and technology, as well as on human resource training in those areas;

That the Hemispheric Meeting of Ministers responsible for Science and Technology, convened by the Summit of the Americas in Miami and held in Cartagena, Colombia, in March 1996, adopted a Declaration and a Plan of Action and instructed the MERCOCYT program committee to follow up on those initiatives and organize a specialized forum within the framework of the Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CIDI);

That, in the Declaration of Cartagena, it was agreed that actions would be pursued to promote greater research capabilities in areas of national and regional interest, strengthen systems of innovation to further technological development, and apply knowledge to achieve sustainable and equitable development;

That the Strategic Plan for Partnership for Development 1997-2001 establishes as one of its priorities scientific development and the exchange and transfer of technology; indicates that CIDI will coordinate with the MERCOCYT program committee the follow-up to the recommendations of the Plan of Action of Cartagena; and states that emphasis will be placed on implementing MERCOCYT; and

That the General Assembly has urged the member states to promote the use of CIDI mechanisms to follow up on the decisions of the Summits of the Americas, as well as to formulate and develop initiatives by which to implement those decisions,

RESOLVES:

To approve the establishment of the Inter-American Science and Technology Committee, as a subsidiary body of the Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CIDI), with the nature, purpose, structure, and functions that CIDI defined through resolution CIDI/RES. 41 (III-O/98).