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THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,
HAVING SEEN resolutions CIDI/RES. 113 (VII-O/02), CIDI/RES. 130
(VIII-O/03), CIDI/RES. 145 (IX-O/03), AG/RES. 1854 (XXXII-O/02), and
AG/RES. 1962 (XXXIII-O/03), “Poverty, Equity, and Social Inclusion,” and
CEPCIDI/RES. 90 (LXXXIX-O/03), “High-Level Meeting on Poverty, Equity,
and Social Inclusion”;
TAKING INTO ACCOUNT:
That the High-Level Meeting on Poverty, Equity, and Social Inclusion
took place on Isla de Margarita, Venezuela, from October 8 to 10, 2003;
and
That the aforementioned meeting adopted the Declaration of Margarita,
document RANPEIS/DEC. 1/03; and
CONSIDERING:
That Article 2.g of the Charter of the Organization of American States
establishes that one of the essential purposes of the Organization is to
eradicate extreme poverty, which constitutes an obstacle to the full
democratic development of the peoples of the Hemisphere;
That the Declaration of Quebec City, adopted at the Third Summit of
the Americas, states that no effort should be spared to free the citizens
of the Americas from the dehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty;
That the Declaration of Nuevo León, adopted at the Special Summit of
the Americas, recognizes that overcoming poverty, hunger, and social
inequality are major challenges facing many countries of the Hemisphere
in the 21st century;
That in the same declaration the Heads of State and Government urge
the OAS to carefully consider the recommendations approved at the
High-Level Meeting on Poverty, Equity, and Social Inclusion, held on Isla
de Margarita, Venezuela, to strengthen the hemispheric social agenda;
That the Inter-American Democratic Charter reaffirms that “the fight
against poverty, and especially the elimination of extreme poverty, is
essential to the promotion and consolidation of democracy and constitutes
a common and shared responsibility of the American states”;
The proposal for follow-up to the High-Level Meeting on Poverty,
Equity, and Social Inclusion, document CEPCIDI/doc.594/03, and the method
for its implementation, document CEPCIDI/doc.611/04 corr.1;
That, to a large extent, the follow-up to the High-Level Meeting on
Poverty, Equity, and Social Inclusion will take place in the context of
the Inter-American Committee on Social Development; but that the
Declaration of Margarita specifically proposes that the Permanent Council
and CIDI consider the need to deepen the commitments undertaken in the
OAS Charter, the Inter-American Democratic Charter, and other
international instruments on social matters in relation to the
advancement and observance of economic, social, and cultural rights, and
explore the possibility of having an instrument and mechanisms that
respond to this aim;
That resolution AG/RES. 1854 (XXXII-O/02) instructs the Permanent
Council and CIDI, in light of the results of the meeting on Isla de
Margarita, to define jointly new actions to strengthen existing
mechanisms for cooperation to support the OAS member states in combating
poverty; and
That CIDI has taken note of the final report of the High-Level Meeting
on Poverty, Equity, and Social Inclusion, contained in document
RANPEIS/doc.6/03,
RESOLVES:
1. To instruct the Permanent Council and the Inter-American Council
for Integral Development (CIDI) to consider carefully the recommendations
issued at the High-Level Meeting on Poverty, Equity, and Social
Inclusion.
2. To congratulate and thank the Government of Venezuela for its
efforts in organizing and holding the High-Level Meeting on Poverty,
Equity, and Social Inclusion.
3. To endorse the Declaration of Margarita, adopted at the High-Level
Meeting on Poverty, Equity, and Social Inclusion and attached hereto.
4. To take note of the proposal for follow-up to the High-Level
Meeting on Poverty, Equity, and Social Inclusion, document
CEPCIDI/doc.594/03, and the method for its implementation, document
CEPCIDI/doc.611/04 Corr. 1.
5. To endorse the proposal, made by the High-Level Meeting on Poverty,
Equity, and Social Inclusion, to consider the need to deepen the
commitments undertaken in the OAS Charter, the Inter-American Democratic
Charter, and other international instruments on social matters in
relation to the advancement and observance of economic, social, and
cultural rights, and explore the possibility of having an instrument and
mechanisms that respond to this aim; and to instruct the Permanent
Council and CIDI to proceed accordingly.
6. To request the Permanent Council and CIDI to report to the General
Assembly at its thirty-fifth regular session on the implementation of
this resolution.
DECLARATION OF MARGARITA
Recommendations of the High level Meeting on Poverty, Equity and
Social Inclusion
We, the high level authorities of the Member States of the
Organization of American States, those responsible for social development
policies and programs, meeting on Isla Margarita, Venezuela, on the 8th,
9th, 10th of October 2003
CONSIDERING:
That The Charter of the Organization of American States establishes as
one of it central purposes the eradication of critical poverty, which
represents an obstacle to the full democratic development of the peoples
of the hemisphere the commitment ratified by the Resolutions AG/RES. 1854
(XXXII-O/02) AG/RES. 1962 (XXXIII-O/03), priority that it is inspired in
the principles of inter-American solidarity and cooperation in the search
for equity and social justice and the integral development of its
peoples.
That The Inter-American Democratic Charter reaffirms “that the fight
against poverty, and especially the elimination of extreme poverty, is
essential to the promotion and consolidation of democracy and constitutes
a common and shared responsibility of the American states;”
That The Declaration of Santiago on Democracy and Public Trust: A New
commitment to good governance for the Americas states that Strengthening
democratic governance calls for the elimination of poverty and social
exclusion and the promotion of equitable economic growth by means of
sound public polices and practices that promote equal opportunity,
education health and full employment;
The Millennium Declaration, in which Heads of State and Government of
the world declared that they would “spare no efforts to liberate men,
women, and children from the abject, dehumanizing conditions of extreme
poverty”, the Monterrey Consensus on financing for development, as well
as the commitments on sustainable development and other international
agreements on social development issues agreed upon at the hemispheric
level, the United Nations and other multilateral forums.
The importance and interest in advancing the regional and sub-regional
integration processes in the Hemisphere.
That The Special Summit of the Americas to be held in Mexico will
address the issues of economic growth with equity, social development y
democratic governance.
WE DECLARE:
1. Our determination and our commitment to urgently combat the serious
problems of poverty, social exclusion and inequity that affect, in
varying degrees, the countries of the hemisphere; and to face the causes
that generate them and its consequences, and create favorable conditions
for socio-economic development with equity to promote more just
societies.
2. Our commitment to strengthen the policies and programs intended to
facilitate processes of social inclusion that allow the creation of
integrated societies; as well as our special obligation towards people,
families - as the nucleus of society –, communities, groups that live in
poverty and those that are in a situation of vulnerability, disadvantage
and marginalization.
3. Our commitment to promote greater cooperation and coordination
between or among national sectors which have a role in determining
economic and social policies, which must be mutually complementary.
4. Our interest in advancing the development of an open and
transparent international trade system through bilateral, regional and
global negotiations, that promotes economic and social development that,
contributes to the fight against poverty, improved living standards and
enhanced trade opportunities for all. Accordingly, we call for a
constructive dialogue within the appropriate fora on topics such as
access to markets, subsidies and protectionism.[1]/
5. That among other factors mentioned in the Monterrey Consensus,
official development assistance and external debt relief as appropriate
may help to improve the capacities of some countries to promote social
and economic development, and that this should be accompanied by sound
domestic macro-economic policies. Therefore, it is necessary to keep
working towards new financial and economic domestic and international
policies, taking into account the social dimension and the principle of
shared responsibility.
6. Our commitment to strengthen our efforts at the national level, to
work in conjunction with municipal and regional administrations, private
sector and other actors of civil society, to achieve a more equitable
distribution of income and increase economic opportunities of our people.
Accordingly, we acknowledge the potential of local and regional economies
as engines for growth.
7. Our readiness to promote and strengthen cooperation initiatives in
areas relating to poverty, social exclusion, and inequity, in support of
national efforts based on the principle of partnership for development.
In this connection, we reiterate the importance of promoting the sharing
of expertise and best practices that help to eliminate poverty and narrow
social gaps in our countries, and improving the coordination of
multilateral action, especially among organizations of the inter-American
system, as well as with international and regional development agencies.
8. That official development assistance plays an essential role as a
complement to other sources of financing for development, especially in
those low and middle income countries with the least capacity to attract
private direct investment.
9. That good governance, transparency and accountability are some of
the essential elements to make an efficient use of official development
assistance and other available resources.
10. The importance of providing the necessary resources to existing
mechanisms within the inter-American system to enable effective action in
the fight against poverty and the need to assess any new initiatives,
which may be complementary to our efforts .[2]/
11. That, in fighting poverty, inequity, and social exclusion, we will
place priority on eradicating hunger, accessing adequate food and potable
water, and ensuring access for all to basic social services, with special
attention to quality education and the health care safety net.
12. We declare that access and the practical application of the
different advances in science and technology and innovation are keys to
the reduction of poverty and the improvement in standard of living.
13. Our commitment to the promotion of dignified, productive and
decent labour, and the improvement of labour conditions, the creation of
job opportunities, and the elevation of the qualifications of workers.
14. The importance of the Inter-American Committee on Social
Development for the formulation of policies related to social matters and
the strengthening of existing instruments and cooperation initiatives to
fight poverty, social exclusion and inequity, as well as the
strengthening of the Inter-American Program to Combat Poverty and
Discrimination. We encourage the Committee to celebrate a meeting on
2004; and we entrust the Unit of Social Development and Education to
support the activities of the Committee.
15. Our interest in having the Inter-American Council for Integral
Development evaluate the advisability of periodic meetings of the
ministers and high government authorities responsible for social
development policies and plans with the objective of outlining concrete
joint actions, assess funding needs, and share expertise.
16. The need to deepen the commitments undertaken in the OAS Charter,
the Inter-American Democratic Charter and other international commitments
on social matters in relation to the advancement and observance of
economic, social, and cultural rights. Accordingly, we propose that the
Permanent Council and the Inter-American Council for Integral Development
take up this matter, and explore the possibility of having and instrument
and mechanisms that respond to this end.
17. We express our commitment to seeing that CIDI, as the hemispheric
political forum for dialogue in combating poverty, contribute to
following up on, evaluating, and supervising the Eight Development
Objectives established in the Millennium Declaration for the year 2015.
18. We urge this declaration to be examined by the Inter-American
Committee on Integral Development and the Permanent Council for the
actions that these bodies may determine.
_________________________________________________________
*(1) For some of the Member States the subregional trade negotiations
should be considered included in this paragraph.
*(2) The Venezuelan Delegation presented a proposal for the creation
of a Humanitarian International Fund, to finance social development
programs.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. For some of the Member States the subregional trade negotiations
should be considered included in this paragraph.
2. The Venezuelan Delegation presented a proposal for the creation of
a Humanitarian International Fund, to finance social development
programs.
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