AG/RES. 1869 (XXXII-O/02)

PROMOTION OF DEMOCRATIC CULTURE

(Adopted at the fourth plenary session held on June 4, 2002) 

            THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, 

            BEARING IN MIND the commitment of member states to upholding the system of democratic and representative government in the Hemisphere; and that one of the essential purposes of the OAS is to promote and consolidate representative democracy, as established in the OAS Charter; 

            ALSO BEARING IN MIND that the Declaration of Quebec City, adopted at the Third Summit of the Americas, recognized the fundamental importance of the values and practices of democracy; and that the Plan of Action of that Summit recognized that education is key to strengthening democratic institutions; 

            BEARING IN MIND ALSO that the ministers of foreign affairs of the Americas adopted the Inter-American Democratic Charter for the promotion, defense, and consolidation of democracy in the Hemisphere, which states that “the peoples of the Americas have a right to democracy and their governments have an obligation to promote and defend it” and that “democracy is essential for the social, political, and economic development of the peoples of the Americas”;

            CONVINCED that strengthening of democracy requires building a citizenry committed to the principles and values of democracy; 

            NOTING WITH SATISFACTION the report of the Secretary General on the strategy for disseminating the Inter-American Democratic Charter; 

            AFFIRMING that the promotion of a democratic culture is of vital importance in strengthening democratic institutions and guaranteeing the effective exercise of democracy, in accordance with Chapter VI of the Inter-American Democratic Charter; and 

            TAKING NOTE OF the interest in using the promotion and strengthening of democratic practices and culture to contribute to economic and social development and to the process of economic integration in the Hemisphere, 

RESOLVES: 

            1.            To promote a democratic culture throughout the Americas based on the principles and values incorporated in the Inter-American Democratic Charter and on the goals included in the Declaration and the Plan of Action of the Third Summit of the Americas. 

            2.            To encourage member states to develop strategies for promoting democratic principles and practices and for strengthening democratic culture in the Hemisphere, including public information campaigns on the essential elements and basic components of representative democracy, together with the relationship between democracy and social and economic development. 

            3.            To encourage member states to consider the proposals made in the report of the Secretary General on the strategy for disseminating the Inter-American Democratic Charter (CP/doc.3550/02). 

            4.            To instruct the Permanent Council: 

a. To convene, within the resources allocated in the program-budget and other resources, a meeting of experts to identify concrete measures for promoting a democratic culture and the practice of democratic values in the member states; and 

b. To that end, to invite civil society organizations, academic institutions, and other institutions or agencies in the member states to make valuable contributions to enrich the content and improve execution of the initiatives. 

            5.            To request the General Secretariat of the Organization to support this initiative, most particularly through the work of the Unit for the Promotion of Democracy (UPD), the Unit for Social Development and Education (USDE), and other entities that might be deemed appropriate, specifically as regards a study to determine how member states include instruction on democratic values and principles in their educational curricula. 

            6.            To instruct the Permanent Council to report to the General Assembly at its thirty-third regular session on the implementation of this resolution.