1. General Information

1.1. Official program

The forty‐seventh regular session of the General Assembly will be held from June 19 to 21, 2017, in Cancun, Mexico.

The Official Program of activities of the General Assembly is available on the OAS Web page: www.oas.org (click on "General Assembly") or directly at www.oas.org/en/47ga.

1.2 Central Theme of the General Assembly

The theme proposed by the Mission of Mexico to the OAS, and to be discussed by the Foreign Ministers of the Americas will be: "Strengthening Dialogue and Concertation for Prosperity."

1.3. Languages and work documents

The official languages for the work of the General Assembly are: Spanish, French, English and Portuguese.

The work sessions of the General Assembly will offer interpreting services in these languages.

Furthermore, sound distribution of the inaugural and plenary sessions of the General Assembly will be made in the above‐mentioned languages.

Official documents in the four official languages of the General Assembly will be available on the OAS General Assembly webpage, and hardcopies will be made available in the International Media Center upon request.

Journalists are advised to bring laptops and earphones should they wish to hear audio of General Assembly meetings in one of the other official languages of the OAS by accessing the live Webcast.

1.4. Headquarters of the General Assembly

The 47th General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) will take place from June 19 to 21, 2017, at the headquarters of the Convention Center, Moon Palace Cancun, Carretera Cancun-Chetumal km 340, C.P. 77500, Cancun.

1.5. OAS Member States

Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Barbados Belize Bolivia Brazil Canada Chile Colombia Costa Rica Cuba* Dominica Dominican Republic

Ecuador El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Panama Paraguay Peru

Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Suriname The Bahamas (Commonwealth of) Trinidad and Tobago United States of America Uruguay Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)

* On June 3, 2009, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Americas adopted resolution GA/RES. 2438 (XXXIX‐O/09), which resolves that the Resolution from 1962 through which the Government of Cuba was excluded from participating in the inter‐American system is without effect in the Organization of American States (OAS). The 2009 resolution declares that the participation of the Republic of Cuba in the OAS will be the result of a process of dialogue to begin at the request of the Government of the Republic of Cuba and in conformity with the practices, goals, and principles of the OAS.

2. Press accreditation and information prior to the event

2.1. Accreditation

Requests for accreditation will be accepted from May 12 until June 9. To receive accreditation; the applicant must fill out a form found on the OAS webpage at http://www.cvent.com/d/h5qq8m/4W?lang=en.

Once the required information is received and processed, the applicant will receive an email concerning acceptance and approval of accreditation.

2.2. Requirements

Requests for accreditation must be made individually, only online and must be made through the OAS General Secretariat.

Each request must include a digitalized note no larger than 1Mb from the director of the media company requesting accreditation that must indicate the name of the press official to be accredited.

Furthermore, the applicant must include a recent passport-sized color photograph in JPEG format.

All media representatives are requested to provide all the information indicated on the form in order to obtain their credentials. At the time of registration the applicant must enter a personal e-mail.

2.3. Picking up your credentials

The delivery of press credentials will take place at the Hotel Krystal Urban, Holbox Room - Second Floor, located at Avenida Sayil Mz 1 Lote 4C-07, Supermanzana 4-A, Malecón Cancún, 77500 Cancún, Q.R., as follows;

• Friday, June 16 to Sunday, June 18 from 10:00 to 13:00 and 14:00 to 17:00 (local time)
• Monday, June 19 and Tuesday, June 20 from 08:00 to 13:00 and 14:00 to 17:00 (local time)
• Wednesday, June 21 from 8:00 to 12:00 (local time)

For reasons of security and access, members of the press MUST present this letter to enter the Accreditation Center.

During the General Assembly, in addition to the OAS‐issued press credentials, members of the press must present their own identification card issued by the media organization they represent. They must visibly display these two documents (OAS credential and media identification) on their persons in order to obtain access to the meetings and events to which they have been invited.

2.4. Requirements for entering and leaving the country

In the web page https://47agoea.sre.gob.mx/index.php/visas you will be able to find information on requirements for the processing of visas and entry to Mexico.

2.5. Bringing equipment into the country

...

2.6. Security and technical inspection

For security reasons, press equipment will be inspected before coverage of the various meetings, which is why we request that you arrive at least one hour in advance.

Journalists must restrict their movement to press‐authorized areas, except when appropriate times are set up for photographs and video with the assistance of personnel from the OAS Press Department.

2.7. Press conferences

• All press conferences held during the General Assembly will take place in a room designated for the purpose.
• Press conferences will have interpretation in Spanish and English.
• At the end of the press conference, video, audio, photographs and press releases will be made available.

2.8. Advisories and Press Communications

All official documents, advisories, press releases, photo galleries and announcements will be published on the official website of the General Assembly www.oas.org/en/47ga and sent to the media representatives to the email address given on the press credential application.  If you would like to receive the communications at some other email address, please write to [email protected].

To receive updates on events, announcements, photographs and press releases from the General Assembly, follow @OASofficial on Twitter and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/OASofficial.

3. Agenda

3.1 Activities prior to the start of the Forty-seventh Regular Session of the General Assembly

Monday, June 19
8:30 - 9:00 a.m.	Press conference hosted by the Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Mexico, Luis Videgaray; Secretary General Luis Almagro; and Assistant Secretary General Nestor Mendez Venue: Moon Palace Arena Convention Center. Sections 38-40. Universal Ballroom, Ground Floor.
9:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.	Dialogue with civil society representatives and other actors    Venue: Moon Palace Arena Convention Center. Universal Ballroom, Top Floor. Participants: Heads of delegation, Secretary General, and Assistant Secretary General
3:00 - 5:30 p.m.	Dialogue with the Permanent Observers Venue: Moon Palace Arena Convention Center. Universal Ballroom, Top Floor. Participants: Heads of delegation, Secretary General, and Assistant Secretary General

3.2 Agenda: Start of the General Assembly

Monday, June 19
6:45 - 7:00 p.m.	Official photograph of Heads of Delegation Venue: Moon Palace Arena Convention Center
7:00 - 7:30 p.m.	INAUGURAL SESSION Venue: Moon Palace Arena Convention Center
7:30 - 8:00 p.m.	Cultural event Venue: Moon Palace Arena Convention Center
8:00 - 9:00 p.m.	Cocktail reception hosted by the Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Mexico, Luis Videgaray Venue:  Moon Palace Arena Convention Center

Tuesday, June 20
8:30 - 9:00 a.m.	Meeting of the Summit Implementation Review Group (SIRG) Venue: Moon Palace Arena Convention Center. Showrooms A and B. Moon Palace Arena Room
9:00 - 9:30 a.m.	First PLENARY SESSION Venue: Moon Palace Arena Convention Center. Showrooms A and B. Moon Palace Arena Room Election of the President of the General Assembly Adoption of the draft agenda Adoption of the draft schedule Adoption of the agreements reached by the Preparatory Committee Report of the Chair Report of the Secretary General on Credentials Annual Report of the Permanent Council to the General Assembly (2016–2017) Adoption of draft declarations and draft resolutions agreed upon by the Permanent Council Annual Report of the Inter-American Council for integral Development (2016-2017) Installation of the General Committee Assignment of topics and election of the Chair of the General Committee
9:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.	Continuation of the first plenary session: Dialogue of Heads of Delegation Venue: Moon Palace Arena Convention Center. Showrooms A and B. Moon Palace Arena Room
10:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.	First meeting of the GENERAL COMMITTEE Venue: Moon Palace Arena Convention Center. Foyer on the right and Sections 14 and 15. Universal Ballroom. Ground floor
1:00 - 3:00 p.m.	Private Dialogue of the Heads of Delegation Venue: Moon Palace Arena Convention Center Format: Working lunch Participants: Heads of delegation, Secretary General, and Assistant Secretary General
3:00 - 6:00 p.m.	Second meeting of the GENERAL COMMITTEE Venue: Moon Palace Arena Convention Center. Foyer on the right and Sections 14 and 15. Universal Ballroom. Ground floor
3:00 - 6:00 p.m.	PANEL DISCUSSION ON INTEGRAL DEVELOPMENT AND PROSPERITY IN THE HEMISPHERE Venue: Moon Palace Arena Convention Center. Showrooms A and B. Moon Palace Arena Room
6:00 - 7:30 p.m.	PANEL DISCUSSION ON OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES FOR WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP IN THE AMERICAS Venue: Moon Palace Arena Convention Center. Showrooms A and B. Moon Palace Arena Room

Wednesday, June 21
9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.	Third meeting of the GENERAL COMMITTEE Venue: Moon Palace Arena Convention Center. Foyer on the right and Sections 14 and 15. Universal Ballroom. Ground floor
9:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m	Second PLENARY SESSION Venue: Moon Palace Arena Convention Center. Showrooms A and B. Moon Palace Arena Room The Question of the Malvinas Islands
9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.	PANEL DISCUSSION ON THE RULE OF LAW, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND DEMOCRACY Venue: Moon Palace Arena Convention Center. Showrooms A and B. Moon Palace Arena Room
12:30 - 2:00 p.m.	Lunch (own arrangements)
2:00 - 5:00 p.m.	PANEL DISCUSSION ON MULTIDIMENSIONAL SECURITY Venue: Moon Palace Arena Convention Center. Showrooms A and B. Moon Palace Arena Room
5:00 - 7:00 p.m.	Third PLENARY SESSION Venue: Moon Palace Arena Convention Center. Showrooms A and B. Moon Palace Arena Room Report of the President of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Report of the President of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights Report of the President of the Inter-American Commission of Women Report of the Chair of the Inter-American Juridical Committee Election of officers of organs, agencies, and entities of the Organization: Three members of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Three members of the Inter-American Juridical Committee Three members of the Justice Studies Center of the Americas One member of the Board of External Auditors One member of the Administrative Tribunal of the OAS Report of the General Committee Adoption of draft declarations and resolutions Determination of the place and date of the forty-eighth regular session of the General Assembly
7:00 - 7:30 p.m.	CLOSING SESSION Venue: Moon Palace Arena Convention Center. Showrooms A and B. Moon Palace Arena Room Closing message from the President of the General Assembly
7:30 - 8:00 p.m.	Press conference hosted by the Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Mexico, the Secretary General, and the Assistant Secretary General Venue: Moon Palace Arena Convention Center. Sections 38-40. Universal Ballroom. Ground floor.

 

3.3 Parallel activities of the General Assembly

Sunday, June 18
8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.	YABT meeting. TIC Americas and ECO-Challenge 8.0 2017 Venue: Moon Palace Arena Convention Center. Main Foyer. Universal Ballroom. Ground floor
7:00 p.m.	Inaugural ceremony TIC Americas Venue: Moon Palace Arena Convention Center. Main Foyer. Universal Ballroom. Ground floor Participants: Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico and Secretary General of the OAS

Monday, June 19
8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.	YABT meeting. TIC Americas and ECO-Challenge 8.0 2017 (continued) Venue: Moon Palace Arena Convention Center. Main Foyer. Universal Ballroom. Ground floor
9:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.	Private Sector Forum (Business Forum) Venue: Moon Palace Arena Convention Center. Sections 16-18. Universal Ballroom. Ground floor
3:00 - 4:00 p.m.	Dialogue on the rule of law and environmental justice. (Event organized by the Government of Mexico) Venue: Universal Ballroom. Ground floor. Sections 16-18.
5:00 - 5:45 p.m.	Award of the 2015 and 2016 Inter-American Prizes for Innovation in Public Management Venue: Moon Palace Arena Convention Center. Sections 16-18. Universal Ballroom. Ground floor.

Tuesday, June 20
7:30 - 8:30 a.m.	Breakfast of the Secretary General and Assistant Secretary General with SICA Venue: Hotel Moon Palace Room. Sunrise Section
10:30 - 12:30 p.m.	The multidimensional poverty index as a policy tool for ensuring no one is left behind. (Event organized by the Government of Mexico) Venue: Universal Ballroom. Ground floor. Sections 16-18
4:00 - 5:00 p.m.	Illicit arms trafficking: Challenges and opportunities in the implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Illicit Trafficking in Firearms. (Event organized by the Government of Mexico) Venue: Universal Ballroom. Ground floor. Sections 16-18
5:15 - 6:40 p.m	Cybersecurity: confidence-building for a secure and transparent digital community. (Event organized by the Government of Mexico) Venue: Universal Ballroom. Ground floor. Sections 16-18

Wednesday, June 21
7:30 - 9:00 a.m.	Breakfast of the Secretary General and Assistant Secretary General with CARICOM Venue: Hotel Moon Palace Room. Sunrise Section
12:00 - 1:00 p.m.	Comprehensive disaster risk management (Event organized by the Government of Mexico) Venue: Universal Ballroom. Ground floor. Sections 16-18
1:00 - 2:00 p.m.	Measures to prevent banking risk (“de-risking”). (Event organized by the Government of Mexico) Venue: Universal Ballroom. Ground floor. Sections 16-18

 

 

4. Areas and services for the media

4.1. International Media Center

Media representatives with General Assembly credentials will have access to the International Media Center. It will be located at the Convention Center, Moon Palace Cancun; will be open beginning on Sunday, June 18 from 09:00 (local time) until the end of the day, on Monday, June 19 from 07:00 (local time), on Tuesday, June 20 from 07:00 (local time), and on Wednesday, June 21 until the end of the day.
This center will offer the following services:

• Wireless Internet (Wi-Fi).
• Closed circuit television to monitor the transmission. The inaugural meeting and the plenaries will be broadcast live in the International Media Center. Sound will be original language from the plenary hall. To hear interpretation you will need to connect via webcast http://www.oas.org/en/media_center/webcast_schedule.asp
• The electrical current in Mexico is 110 volts and the type A and type B plugs are used.
• The radio and television transmission center will have a video signal on the screen and original audio. There will be an audio box with 20 outputs in the original language.

To request high-definition video, contact Mr. Ernesto Cossich at [email protected]

4.2. Internet

The OAS, through its webpage (www.oas.org) and the official webpage of the General Assembly
www.oas.org/en/47ga, will provide live webcast services of the meetings of the Foreign Ministers, the Opening Ceremony, the Plenary Sessions and the Press Conferences in the four official languages of the OAS. The videos will be available on the webpage http://www.oas.org/en/media_center/videos.asp.

4.3. Plenary Sessions and Press Conferences

If you wish to link the webcast to your website, please send an email to: [email protected] and/or contact Ernesto Cossich ([email protected]). Radio and television stations that wish to air the webcast signal are authorized to do so.

The OAS, at http://www.flickr.com/photos/oasoea/, will have galleries of high resolution photographs from the General Assembly that you may publish with due credit. Similarly, official documents, draft resolutions, reports, speeches, press releases and other documents will become immediately available on the Assembly’s Web page.

4.4. Photographers and cameramen/women

Photographers and cameramen/women will be allowed to take images of particular events to be announced in due time. Among them are the following:

• Inaugural ceremony

  For security reasons implemented by the Estado Mayor Presidencial of Mexico, one photographer or videographer and one other journalist per media outlet will be allowed access to the plenary session. Both must be accredited to cover the General Assembly.

  All accredited journalists for the General Assembly will be able to follow and record the public events of the General Assembly in the International Media Center. Photographs (http://www.flickr.com/photos/oasoea) and official video (http://www.oas.org/es/centro_noticias/videos.asp) of the ceremony will be available on the OAS webpage.

• First plenary session on each of the two days of the General Assembly
• Closing ceremony
• Closing ceremony press conference

4.5. Press “pools”

If necessary, press "pools" are groups of limited size of media representatives (photographers and camera operators) who will be granted access to those events in which space is limited in order to capture images. The makeup of these “pools” will be announced in due time.

4.6. Official photograph

The official photograph will be taken on Monday, June 19 at 18:45 (local time) at the Moon Palace Arena Convention Center.

4.7 Official radio and TV signal

Canal Once will operate as the host channel for the Assembly, distributing the signal to all other channels.

CONTACT for the official signal: Tere Costa, [email protected] +5729 4372.

In the Press Room the audio and video signal of the plenary sessions will be made available. Journalists are responsible for bringing the necessary equipment to make connections.

4.8 Satellite signal

Technical Data	Values
Satellite	Intelsat 34
Transponder	09C
Bandwidth	9 MHz
Encoding	DVB-S2
Modulation	8PSK
FEC	3/4
Download Frequency	3938.5 MHz
Data Rate	15.6781 Mbps
Symbol Rate	7.200 Msps
Roll Off	0.20
Pilot	ON
Polarity	Vertical
Format	1080i60, MPEG4

Mexico City time

Monday June 19, 8:00 - 9:30
Monday June 19, 18:30 - 20:00

Tuesday June 20, 8:00 - 13:30

Wednesday June 21, 8:30 - 10:00
Wednesday June 21, 16:30 - 20:00

5. Hotels and Interesting Tips

5.1. Recommended Hotels for the press

List of Hotels »

Hotel	Room types (rates in US$ and mexican pesos $)	Contact information and reservation deadlines
Hotel Moon Palace Cancún Carretera Cancún-Chetumal km. 340, Cancún, Quintana Roo, C.P. 77500 Lobby Sunrise	Superior de lujo vista al jardín US$358 con impuestos en habitación sencilla US$199 con impuestos por persona en habitación doble Tarifas todo incluido	(01800) 839 4249 Sra. Jessica Huerta Supervisora de reservaciones [email protected] Sra. Virginia Avendaño [email protected]   Sujeto a disponibilidad
Bel Air Collection Resort & Spa Cancun Blvd. Kukulcán Km. 20.5, Zona Hotelera, Cancún, Quintana Roo, C.P. 77500.	Tarifa por noche: $1,950 Impuestos incluidos. Incluye desayuno. Código de grupo: EVENTO OEA	Reservaciones: [email protected] Srita. Coral de la O 9981931770 ext. 1200   Vigencia de tarifa 8 de junio/Sujeto a disponibilidad
Emporio Hotel & Suites Cancún Blvd. Kukulcán Km. 17, Segunda Etapa Zona Hotelera, Cancún, Quintana Roo, C.P. 77500.	Tarifa por noche: Superior vista al mar $2,050 habitación sencilla Tarifa por noche: Jr. Suite $3,150 habitación sencilla o doble No incluye impuestos ni propinas. Incluye desayuno. Código de grupo: ASAMBLE GENERAL OEA 2017.	[email protected] [email protected] (01 998) 2833800 Ext. 2110 Sujeto a disponibilidad
The Westin Resort & Spa, Cancun Boulevard Kukulcán Km 20, Cancun, Quintana Roo, C.P. 77500.	Tarifa por noche: USD 179. No incluye impuestos. No incluye desayuno. Código de grupo: Secretaria De Relaciones Exteriores	(01 998) 8 48 74 00 [email protected]   Vigencia de tarifa: 5 de junio/Sujeto a disponibilidad
Krystal Urban Cancún Centro Avenida Sayil, Manzana 1, Lote 4C-07, Súper Manzana 4-A, Malecón, Cancún, Cancún, Quintana Roo, C.P. 77500.	Tarifas por noche: $1,500 habitación sencilla, $ 1,700 habitación doble. Impuestos incluidos. Desayuno Buffet incluido Código de grupo: OEA2017	[email protected] Reservaciones: 01-998-8488000 01-800-5797825   Vigencia de tarifa: 5 de junio/Sujeto a disponibilidad
Hampton Inn by Hilton Cancun Cumbres Blvd. Luis Donaldo Colosio, Manzana 1, Súper Manzana 310, Cancún, Quintana Roo, C.P. 77500.	Tarifas por noche: $1,691 habitación sencilla o doble, $250 persona adicional. No incluye impuestos. Incluye desayuno. Código de grupo: Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores	Said Jimenez, [email protected] (01 998) 2 34 05 00   Sujeto a disponibilidad
City Express Cancún Av. Nichupté, Manzana 1, Súper Manzana 8, Lote 4, Col. Centro, Cancún, Quintana Roo, C.P. 77500.	Tarifa por noche: $1,270 habitación sencilla. Incluye impuestos. Incluye desayuno. Código de grupo: GROUP OEA – EXTERNAL RELATIONSHIP	Reservaciones: Gabriela Juárez [email protected] 01 55 52 49 80 50 ext. 1425 01 800 248 93 97   Sujeto a disponibilidad
City Express Junior Cancún Av. Nichupté Poniente, Col. Centro, Cancún, Quintana Roo, C.P. 77500.	Tarifa por noche: $1,100 habitación sencilla. Incluye impuestos. Incluye desayuno. Código de grupo: GROUP OEA – EXTERNAL RELATIONSHIPS	Reservaciones: Gabriela Juárez [email protected] 01 55 52 49 80 50 ext. 1425 01 800 248 93 97   Sujeto a disponibilidad

 

6. Useful information

6.1. Time Zone and Telephone Area Codes

The time zone in the City of Cancun is UTC/GTM—5 hours (Central time)

The international telephone code of the country is 52, and the telephone code of the City of Cancun is 998. To call Mexican landline telephones from foreign landline telephones, dial +52 + 2 digits of the city code + 8 digits of the telephone number. In the case of cell phones dial +52 + 1 +10 digits of the telephone number telephone number.

In the City of Cancun, calls between local landline telephone numbers only require that you dial 7 digits of the number. To call a local landline number from a landline number in another region in Mexico, use 01 + 10 digits of the telephone number. To dial from a local landline telephone to a local cell phone number, use 044+ 10 telephone number digits. To call from a landline telephone to a cellphone in another region of the country, use 045+10 digits of the telephone number. 

6.2 Taxes

All purchases in Mexico are taxed with an Impuesto al Valor Agregado (IVA)/Value Added Tax (VAT) of 16%, except food and medicine.

6.3 Electrical Current

The electrical current in Mexico is 110 volts and it uses Type A and Type B sockets.

6.4 Vaccines

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6.5. Maps