AG/RES. 1627 (XXIX-O/99)

APPOINTMENT OF WOMEN TO SENIOR MANAGEMENT POSITIONS AT THE OAS

(Resolution adopted at the first plenary session, held on June 7, 1999)

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

CONSIDERING that resolution AG/RES. 1303 (XXIV-O/94) requested the Secretary General of the OAS to increase the number of women in senior-level positions in the General Secretariat;

RECALLING that resolution AG/RES. 1588 (XXVIII-O/98) regarding the sixth biennial report of the Secretary General of the OAS on compliance with resolution AG/RES. 829 (XVI-O/86), "Full and Equal Participation of Women by the Year 2000," urged that equal opportunity be guaranteed for all persons being considered for appointment to high-level positions within the Organization;

BEARING IN MIND Article 120 of the Charter of the Organization of American States, and Article 37 of the General Standards, which stipulates that first consideration shall be given to efficiency, competence, and integrity in the recruitment of General Secretariat personnel, but that importance shall also be attached to the criterion of the widest possible geographic distribution in hiring personnel at all levels; and Article 137 of the Charter of the Organization, which states that the Organization of American States does not allow any restriction based on race, creed, or sex with respect to eligibility to hold positions in the Organization and to participate in its activities;

BEARING IN MIND that the question of personnel policy reform is being considered by the Special Joint Working Group on the Strengthening and Modernization of the OAS;

RECALLING that the CIM Plan of Action on Women’s Participation in Power and Decision-Making Structures, adopted by the Twenty-ninth Assembly of Delegates of the CIM, urges that areas for priority action include the promotion of equal opportunities in the classification of posts and procedures, the encouragement of upward mobility in the civil service, and the fostering of similar principles in various organizations and public institutions, such as the OAS;

BEARING IN MIND that, at its fifty-second regular session, the General Assembly of the United Nations, by resolution 52/96, "Improvement of the Status of Women in the Secretariat," reaffirmed the goal that women occupy 50% of all categories of posts by the year 2000, and called upon the Secretary-General of the United Nations to achieve the goal of 50/50 gender distribution by the year 2000, especially at the D-1 level and above; and

RECOGNIZING that at the OAS, as of December 1990, the percentage of women at high-level executive posts was 19% at the D-2 level, 20% at the D-1 level, 11% at the P-5 level and 23% at P-4 level and, and as of December of 1998 the proportion was 9% at the D-2 level, 17% at the D-1 level, 20% at the P-5 level and 51% at the P-4 level,

RESOLVES:

1. To urge the Secretary General to establish as an objective that, by the year 2005, women should occupy 50% of posts in all categories of the OAS system, particularly at the P-4 grade and above.

2. To exhort the Secretary General of the OAS to undertake to achieve this objective and offer assurances that gender equality will be one of the priorities in his continuing efforts to establish a new management culture in the Organization and to present a proposal on the best way to achieve this to the Special Joint Working Group of the Permanent Council and the Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CIDI) on Strengthening and Modernization of the OAS, which would be discussed under the item on personnel policy reform, with a request to the Chair of the Working Group that he report to the President of the CIM on the outcome of this proposal.

3. To urge the Secretary General to appoint qualified women as representatives and special envoys so that they may use their good offices in representing the Secretary General in matters relating to all areas and sectors.

4. To request the Secretary General to establish policies of gender equality in the workplace and make each manager accountable for the application of these policies.

5. To urge the principal CIM delegates to lend their support to the measures taken by the Secretary General of the OAS and the President of the CIM to identify, through the permanent missions of the OAS, the most highly-qualified candidates to occupy positions of trust within the OAS and to encourage more women to apply for vacant positions within the General Secretariat, specialized agencies, and inter-American committees, for which the widest possible means of dissemination will be used.

6. To request the Secretary General of the OAS to report to the President and Executive Committee of the CIM every year on the implementation of this resolution, and to provide them with relevant Department of Human Resources statistics.