Cooperation for Hemispheric Security

In Article 2 of the Charter of the Organization of American States the member states proclaim that one of the essential purposes of the Organization is "to strengthen the peace and security of the continent."

Since 1991, the General Assembly has adopted a series of resolutions on cooperation for hemispheric security, covering its various aspects. In resolution AG/RES. 1123 of that year, the General Assembly established the framework for cooperation in the Hemisphere, in stating that "the … international situation would seem to dictate the adoption of measures to ensure hemispheric security, strengthen democratic processes in all of the member states and devote maximum resources in those countries to economic and social development" and that "such measures call for mechanisms for mutual consultation and an exchange of regional information to promote a climate of institutional international stability, progress, and confidence …"

The Organization has recognized that "peace is not merely the absence of war but also includes interdependence and cooperation in promoting economic and social development. Moreover, disarmament, arms control and limitation, human rights, the strengthening of democratic institutions, environmental protection, and improvement of the quality of life for all are indispensable elements for the establishment of democratic, peaceful, and more secure societies."

In this framework, the Organization has emphasized regional contributions to global security and the need for enhanced dialogue on cooperation in peace, confidence, and security issues among the nations of the Hemisphere, and has recommended that a consultation process be initiated at the earliest possible date as a step towards the limitation and control of conventional weapons.

The General Assembly has considered the Treaty of Tlatelolco to be a cooperation security measure, as it represents one of the most momentous contributions to international law and to the ceaseless efforts to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons and guarantee international peace and security. This Treaty has become the model for the establishment of other nuclear-weapon-free zones in various regions of the world, such as the South Pacific (Treaty of Rarotonga), Southeast Asia (Treaty of Bangkok), and Africa (Treaty of Pelindaba), which, when they enter into force, will cover more than half the countries of the world and all of the Southern Hemisphere.

Thus, through resolution AG/RES. 1500 (XXVII-O/97), "Mutual Confidence in the Americas," the General Assembly instructed the Permanent Council to consider the desirability of approving a legal framework on the issue of advance notification of major arms acquisitions covered by the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms. As a consequence, in 1999, the General Assembly adopted the Inter-American Convention on Transparency in Conventional Weapons Acquisitions.

Conventions

Inter-American Convention Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials 

Inter-American Convention on Transparency in Conventional Weapons Acquisitions

Reports and documents

Report On Signatures And Ratifications Of The Inter-American Convention On Transparency In Conventional Weapons Acquisitions CP/CSH-517/02 rev.2

Health and Hemispheric Security (Presentation by the Pan American Health) CP/CSH/INF.17/02 

2003-2004 work plan schedule of meetings from February to May 2004 and recommendations of the Special Conference on Security CP/doc.-596/03 rev. 1 add. 1

Declaration on Security in the Americas: Excerpts relating to cooperation and coordination (Presented by the Chair for the Committee's consideration) CP/CSH-596/03 rev. 1 add. 2

Draft resolution Inter-American contribution to disarmament and non-proliferation education (Presented by the delegation of Mexico) CP/CSH-639/04

Summary report on the recommendations of the Committee on Hemispheric Security concerning the mandates it received (2003-2004 term) CP/CSH-644/04

Draft resolution:  The Americas as a biological- and chemical- weapons-free region CP/CSH-689/05 rev. 1

Draft resolution:  Cooperation for security in the hemisphere CP/CSH-753/06 rev. 5

Draft resolution:  Addressing extreme poverty, inequality, and social exclusion as a means of strengthening hemispheric security CP/CSH-756/06 rev. 2

General Assembly resolutions