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OAS Secretary General: “The citizens of the region believe in democracy more and more, but they expect tangible results in their daily lives”

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, participated today in the inaugural session of the Course on Social Protection for the Americas, organized by the Pontificia Universidad Católica of Chile and the OAS, and he emphasized the economic, social and democratic challenges faced by the region.

In this speech, Secretary General Insulza said the subject of social protection “today occupies a key position in the public policies of our countries,” and he alluded to the commitment made in the Fifth Summit of the Americas 2009 in Trinidad and Tobago to increase efforts to reduce inequality and social disparities, and to halve extreme poverty by 2015, a commitment from which arose the Inter-American Social Protection Network (IASPN).

On economic matters, Secretary General Insulza quoted ECLAC numbers indicating that between 1990 and 2012, the rate of poverty in Latin America was reduced by 17 percentage points and that the indigence rate was reduced by 10.3 points. Nevertheless, he warned that “this is great progress in a negative situation,” since the region still has 174 million people living in poverty, 73 million of them in conditions of extreme poverty or indigence.

“We have seen progress, but the levels of poverty and inequality are still unacceptable in societies that are considered democratic and respectful of economic and social rights,” warned the head of the hemispheric organization. He also explained that in the understanding of democracy found in the Inter-American Democratic Charter, that which is identified as social citizenship “plays a role that is increasingly important; that means that democracy not only involves the political rights or individual liberties but also of trying to give all citizens greater economic and social participation.”

In this sense, the Secretary General asserted that “the citizens of our region believe more and more in democracy, but they understand that it also must be expressed in tangible results in their daily lives,” and he noted that if the State does not deliver the benefits of progress equally, “that can cause resentment and instability, elements that usually nourish populist and authoritarian proposals.”

Secretary General Insulza highlighted the “key role” played in this fight by the Ministries of Social Development, and he recalled that the IASPN “has focused an important part of its activities on supporting the strengthening of its institutions.” He welcomed thus the creation in the last decade of ministries of this type in practically all countries, recently in Chile and in the near future in Guatemala.

The session, held in the Hall of Honor of the Pontificia Universidad Católica of Chile (PUC), included the presence of the Rector of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Ignacio Sánchez; the Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Planning of Chile, Soledad Arellano; the Director of the Center for Public Policies of the PUC, Ignacio Irarrázaval; the Director of the Office for Promotion and Strengthening of Social Protection of the Secretariat for Integral Development of the OAS, Francisco Pilotti; and a Professor at the Institute for Economics of the PUC, Francisco Gallego.

In his remarks, the Rector of the Pontificia Universidad Católica highlighted the commitment of the institution he heads of contributing to overcoming poverty through higher academic learning of quality for professionals in the Ministries of Social Development of the region. For his part, Deputy Secretary Arellano highlighted the relevante of the focus of the Course regarding overcoming poverty and indicated that, “though people must overcome poverty on their own, the State must make a commitment to support them and give them the necessary tools” to reach their objective.

The Course will also address issues such as: tools for designing, formulation, evaluation and monitoring of programs and projects of social protection. It counts 20 students from 12 countries of the region.

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

Reference: E-003/12