AG/RES. 1412 (XXVI-O/96)

REGIONAL CONFERENCE TO FOLLOW UP ON THE SANTIAGO REGIONAL CONFERENCE ON CONFIDENCE- AND SECURITY-BUILDING MEASURES

(Resolution adopted at the eighth plenary session, held on June 7, 1996)

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

RECALLING that the Declaration of Santiago on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures states that "the strengthening of bilateral and multilateral dialogue facilitates mutual understanding and increased collaboration in the face of the challenges of the next century. Confidence- and security-building measures in the Americas are especially significant for building ties of friendship and cooperation";

CONSIDERING:

That the strengthening of peace and security in the Hemisphere is one of the essential purposes of the Organization of American States (OAS) and that economic and social development and cooperation among the states are vital to achieving it;

That the representatives of the OAS member states at the Santiago Regional Conference on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures requested the Committee on Hemispheric Security to prepare a report for consideration by the General Assembly, which would decide, inter alia, whether to hold a regional follow-up conference on the conference held in Santiago, Chile;

That it is necessary and timely to carry on and intensify the dialogue for building peace, confidence, and security in the region; and

That very valuable work was done at the Santiago Regional Conference on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures in November 1995 and the Buenos Aires Meeting of Experts on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures in March 1994;

NOTING its resolutions AG/RES. 1237 (XXIII-O/93), "Meeting of Experts on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures in the Region," AG/RES. 1284 (XXIV-O/94), "Information on Military Expenditures and Register of Conventional Arms," and AG/RES. 1288 (XXIV-O/94), "Confidence- and Security-Building Measures in the Region;" and

NOTING ALSO the report of the Permanent Council's Committee on Hemispheric Security and the final documents of the Santiago Conference, including the Declaration of Santiago on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures, and the decision to consider holding a follow-up conference on confidence- and security-building measures,

RESOLVES:

1. To convene a regional conference to follow up on the Santiago Regional Conference on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures.

2. To instruct the Permanent Council to undertake, through its Committee on Hemispheric Security, preparatory work for that conference with a view to holding it, preferably, during the second half of 1997.

3. To instruct the General Secretariat to provide support, within available resources, for holding the Conference.