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“Citizen Security in the Americas,” the Theme of the OAS General Assembly in El Salvador

“Citizen Security in the Americas” will be the central theme of the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) to be held in San Salvador from June 5 to 7, 2011, according to an announcement made today by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of El Salvador, Hugo Martínez.

Minister Martínez spoke before the Organization’s Permanent Council in Washington, DC, and said the theme’s selection “seeks to increase the attention of the Member States on a problem that is being confronted throughout the hemisphere.” “As Governments, we have a commitment with citizen security. We have been working on this in the Central American region, and now we wish to extend it to the entire hemisphere with your collaboration.”

The head of Salvadoran diplomacy made special emphasis on the need for international collaboration in the fight against citizen insecurity. “We need to further elaborate joint measures and plans to guarantee greater security to our peoples.” Towards that goal, he said, his Government intends “for the Member States to discuss and move forward on the adoption of strategic plans, policies and measures that strengthen international cooperation in the fight against this scourge,” from the harmonization of laws to bringing attention to victims.

The Salvadoran Minister announced he would push a “multidimensional” focus for discussions on the issue, “because the causes of insecurity in the hemisphere also are manifold.”

In his speech before the Permanent Council, Minister Martínez said the presentation of the theme “is a proposal of a general character that we hope may be enriched through the collaboration of each and every one of you, participation by experts from every country and experts from the OAS.”

The Salvadoran Minister also presented before the Permanent Council the logotype for the General Assembly. He explained that it represents two people on either side of a map of the American continent.

OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza expressed “deep acknowledgement” to the Government of El Salvador for “the generous initiative to host our General Assembly,” recalling that in 1988, the last time that the annual meeting of the OAS was held in that Central American country, the Protocol of San Salvador on Human Rights was signed, among other important resolutions.

“We are certain that the General Assembly will be just as successful, and being aware now of the theme of the Assembly, we are certain it will have great impact on our organization,” the head of the OAS affirmed.

Country representatives who spoke during the especial session of the Permanent Council expressed satisfaction with the choice of theme and agreed on the supreme importance of citizen security for their governments. They also offered their support to the Salvadoran Minister to work together in preparation for the General Assembly.

During the session, the following country representatives took the floor: Mexico, Guatemala, Uruguay, the United States, Grenada (on behalf of CARICOM), Costa Rica, Colombia, Canada, Peru, Chile, Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia y the Dominican Republic.

El Salvador was elected by acclamation to host the XLI regular session of the OAS General Assembly during the Assembly in Lima in June.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-483/10