THE SECRETARY GENERAL,
Under the authority
granted him by articles 108 and 112 of the Charter and articles 4, 8, and 12 of the
General Standards to Govern the Operations of the General Secretariat; and
CONSIDERING:
That in the Santiago
Commitment the member states declared their determination to intensify the common struggle
and cooperative action against poverty;
That in the protocol
of amendments to the OAS Charter known as the Protocol of Washington the member states
proclaimed as one of the essential purposes of the Organization "to eradicate extreme
poverty, which constitutes an obstacle to the full democratic development of the peoples
of the Hemisphere";
That with the entry
into force of the Protocol of Managua, on January 29, 1996, the member states established
the Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CIDI) to promote cooperation among
themselves to achieve their integral development and, in particular, help to eliminate
extreme poverty; and
That at its
twenty-sixth regular session, held in Panama, the General Assembly accepted the Secretary
General's proposal to establish a Social Development and Education Unit and approved funds
for that unit for the second year of the 1996-97 program-budget,
RESOLVES:
I. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
AND EDUCATION UNIT, AND
ELIMINATION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL AFFAIRS AND
THE DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS
1. The Social Development and Education
Unit (the Unit) is established as a section of the Office of the Secretary General and as
the General Secretariat body having primary responsibility in matters of social
development and education.
2. The Department of Educational Affairs,
currently a section of the Executive Secretariat of CIDI, is hereby eliminated.
3. The Department of Economic and Social
Affairs, currently a section of the Executive Secretariat of CIDI, is hereby eliminated.
II. FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION UNIT
The Social Development
and Education Unit shall have the following functions and responsibilities:
1. Support the member states in
formulating, drafting, and evaluating policies, programs, and courses of action geared
toward eradication of poverty and promotion of social and educational development,
especially in connection with the strengthening of education systems and the promotion of
employment;
2. Foster regional and hemispheric
dialogue on the most significant and pressing problems related to social development,
education, and the eradication of poverty;
3. Assist with the identification of
successful policies and programs in the area of social and educational development, and
with the systematization, publication, and exchange of such findings;
4. Provide specific technical support for
demonstration and pilot projects involving application of social and educational
development policies;
5. Conduct baseline studies and research
to examine the status and course of social development and education in the countries of
the Hemisphere and to identify and systematize effective policies, programs, and courses
of action for fostering social and educational development and alleviating poverty;
6. Help to strengthen information systems
in the social and educational sectors in the member states, which effort shall include,
but not be limited to, support in standardizing both the definitions of social and
educational indicators and the methods used to arrive at such figures, so as to ensure
their comparability in the various member states;
7. Identify, publish, and help to develop
methods to ensure effective and efficient policies, programs, and projects in the social
development and education area, drawing on the expertise of governmental, nongovernmental,
and private-sector institutions;
8. Promote and participate, in organizing
and conducting instruction and training for officials of governmental and nongovernmental
institutions responsible for social and educational development programs, with special
emphasis on those acting under a decentralized structure at the municipal, state, and
regional levels;
9. Advise CIDI on matters of its
competence when so requested by CIDI or so instructed by the Secretary General;
10. Support the Executive Secretariat for
Integral Development in pursuing initiatives, programs, and projects based on horizontal
cooperation among the member states, so as to promote collective action and thus
strengthen their efforts to advance social and educational development and fight poverty;
11. Support the Executive Secretariat for
Integral Development in organizing and following up on ministerial forums held in the
social and educational development fields under the CIDI framework, rendering special
support in providing the technical secretariat services these forums require, as well as
those necessary for the operation of the nonpermanent specialized committees CIDI
establishes in connection with the social and educational sectors, in particular the
Social Development Committee of CIDI;
12. Support the Executive Secretariat for
Integral Development both in identifying, formulating, and drafting inter-American
partnership programs in the social and educational development area and in evaluating
specific projects and activities under those programs;
13. Perform specific tasks assigned it by
the Secretary General to assist the Organization in fulfilling the responsibilities
entrusted to it in the areas of social development and education by the member states; and
14. Coordinate the awarding of the
Andr�s Bello Inter-American Education Prize.
III. BASIC STRUCTURE OF THE UNIT
1. The Unit is a section of the Office of
the Secretary General and is headed by a director who is directly responsible to the chief
of staff.
2. The director manages, coordinates, and
has technical responsibility for the Unit's work output and its staff. On the basis of
applicable rules governing staff, program-budget, and related matters, the director is
responsible for establishing an internal structure enabling the Unit to operate
responsibly and properly in keeping with its functions and mandates.
IV. TRANSITION
1. The staff members of the former
Department of Educational Affairs not transferred to other areas are hereby transferred to
the Social Development and Education Unit.
2. Staff members of the former Department
of Economic and Social Affairs and of the former Executive Secretariat of CIES not
transferred to other areas are hereby transferred to the Social Development and Education
Unit.
3. The Unit is responsible for current
programs and projects that were previously administered by the Department of Educational
Affairs; the Unit is also responsible for current programs and projects that were
previously administered by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs and have not been
transferred to other areas.
4. The funds allocated to the former
Department of Educational Affairs under the 1996 program-budget are hereby transferred to
the Social Development and Education Unit; also funds allocated to the former Department
of Economic and Social Affairs and to the former Executive Secretariat of CIES under the
1996 program-budget, except funds for staff transferred to other areas, are hereby
transferred to the Social Development and Education Unit.
5. Any disagreement between the Unit and
other sections of the General Secretariat pertaining to areas of competence shall be
resolved by the Secretary General, whose decision shall be final.
V. ANNULMENT
This Executive Order
annuls and replaces any provision, regulation, or practice of the General Secretariat to
the contrary.
VI. ENTRY INTO FORCE
This
Executive Order shall enter into force on the date of its signature.
Date: June 28, 1996
Original: Spanish
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