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OAS Permanent Council Moves Forward in Ordering of Debate on Prioritization of the Mandates of the Organization

The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) today made progress in the organization of the debate on the prioritization of the mandates of the hemispheric institution, in a regular meeting in which the Permanent Representative of Canada, Allan Culham, was re-elected as Chair of the Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Affairs.

Following a proposal from Mexico, the Council approved that while discussion on the methodology for settling the prioritization of the mandates of the OAS takes place, the committees of the Permanent Council and the Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CIDI) should carry out in a timely manner the updating of the inventory of mandates. To this end, the mandates adopted by the General Assembly of Antigua Guatemala, held in June, should be added, as well as those that emerged from the Special General Assembly in March on the strengthening of the Inter-American Human Rights System; and any expired or duplicate mandates should be eliminated.

The Permanent Council also agreed to postpone until the end of July the appointment of Chairs of the Committees on Juridical and Political Affairs, and Hemispheric Security.

At the same meeting, the Council welcomed the new Permanent Representative of Mexico, Emilio Rabasa Gamboa. In his speech, the President of the Council and Permanent Representative of Paraguay, Martin Sannemann, highlighted the solid academic background of the Mexican diplomat, who has a degree in legal and social sciences, and holds a Master’s degree in philosophy, and emphasized his experience in government.

In his presentation, Ambassador Rabasa Gamboa reaffirmed the commitment of Mexico to the OAS and the four pillars that support it: democracy, human rights, multidimensional security and integral development. He noted that "it is essential to sort, classify and prioritize the mandates of the Organization and redouble efforts throughout the OAS to start the political debate on the reorientation of the activities to which it should be dedicated." He also expressed his satisfaction with working with the Secretary General of the OAS, José Miguel Insulza, whom he called a "friend of Mexico."

The Secretary General welcomed Ambassador Rabasa Gamboa, and stated that his presentation was very "clear and transparent." "I hope that when we face the debate on the strategic vision, we hear such complete presentations, which will allow us to make great progress in the dialogue," he said.

Ambassador Sanneman, who today chaired his first regular meeting of the Council, paid tribute to the outgoing Chair and Permanent Representative of Panama, Arturo Vallarino, with the symbolic delivery of the gavel of the Council.

During the meeting the Assistant Secretary General, Albert Ramdin, and representatives from Mexico, Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago (on behalf of CARICOM), Peru (on behalf of ALADI), Canada, Honduras, Paraguay, El Salvador, Haiti, the United States, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Panama (on behalf of SICA), Colombia, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Ecuador all took the floor.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

The video of the event is available here.

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

Reference: E-268/13