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OAS to Increase Support for the Poorest and Most Vulnerable

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, pledged to increase support for the poorest and most vulnerable as he presented his candidacy for a second term as the head of the Hemispheric Organization Wednesday in Washington, DC.

The complete text of his prepared remarks is available here.

In his speech before a Special Session of the OAS Permanent Council, Mr. Insulza highlighted that the OAS has so far developed “a broad agenda for tackling these challenges with actions such as the creation of the Inter-American Social Protection Network which provides expertise on systems of micro-credit and ways to improve health, education and housing standards and services”.

“We have said that democracy and integral development are inextricably linked and we must demonstrate this reality on a daily basis,” he said.

Mr. Insulza pointed out that a coherent agenda must be developed “in areas such as poverty alleviation, decent work, energy, environmental preservation, climate change, science and technology and education.”

He added: “I imagine an OAS that deals in a competitive manner with specific subjects of importance to our member States, such as tourism, trade promotion, early childhood education, youth employment and those subjects related to energy, especially renewable energy. We must also ensure that our actions are focused on supporting the poorest and most vulnerable of our members in the areas of institutional strengthening and capacity building and human development. In this sense, I declare once again, my full support for the Scholarship Programs of the OAS, which has provided and will continue to provide invaluable training of the human resources in our countries.”

In his presentation, Secretary General Insulza also mentioned the ability of the Organization to assist and support countries affected by natural disasters. “I must make a special mention of something that has been highlighted by the recent tragedies in some of our countries: the coordination of our efforts in the prevention and response to natural disasters. Our hemisphere, like almost no other, has had to confront in this recent period, the very worst that nature has to offer. Obviously we don’t have, nor do we pretend to have, the resources to face this immense challenge by ourselves. But we need to focus our efforts on the coordination and political guidance that only a modern multilateral organization can deliver, our actions are focused on supporting or our members.”

The election for the Secretary General and Assistant Secretary General will take place on March 24th at a special session of the OAS General Assembly at the organization’s headquarters in Washington, DC.

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

Reference: E-064/10