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MODEL OAS STUDENT PROJECT TO BE HELD AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SAN MARTIN DE PORRES IN PERU

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, and the Rector of the University of San Martín de Porres (USMP), Raúl Bao García, today signed an agreement for the implementation of the XXVIII Model OAS General Assembly (MOAS) for Universities in the Hemisphere.

The Model OAS General Assembly (MOAS) is a program of the Department of International Affairs (DAI) of the OAS, designed to promote democracy among the youth of the Hemisphere by familiarizing students, faculty and academic institutions of the Americas with the work of the OAS and its Member States, as well as with the Organization’s role as the premier political forum in the Hemisphere, by engaging students in an active learning exercise where through role-playing they represent the diplomats and political officials of the 34 Member States of the OAS.

The agreement was signed during a ceremony in the Office of the OAS General Secretariat presided by Secretary Insulza, Pedro Oyarce, Ambassador of Chile and President of the OAS Permanent Council, Rector Bao García and Dr. Rubén Sanabria, Dean of the Law School of the USMP.

“To partner with this prestigious university and especially its law school is for us a cause of great joy and enthusiasm,” said Insulza after thanking those present. “We began this program many years ago in 1980 but it was carried out basically in the United States. It was expanded in 2000 outside Washington and we have since executed a hemispheric model in numerous countries in the region. We are very happy to be able to implement it with you, and above all with the University of San Martín de Porres, which in fact is a fundamental partner of this organization and in the expansion of this work.”

Rector Bao García thanked the OAS for this collaboration. “It is for the University of San Martín de Porres cause of great satisfaction and full commitment to have signed today this agreement to implement the MOAS in 2010,” he said. “We are certain that we undertake it with great responsibility and commitment, and that we will exhaust all the multidisciplinary resources of this university to carry out this important model.”

The XXVIII MOAS will take place in May 2010 in the headquarters of the Law School of the USMP in Lima, Peru, in advance of the Fortieth Regular Session of the OAS General Assembly, to be held in the same city from June 6 to 8, 2010.

Students of American as well as Peruvian universities will be able to participate in MOAS in Lima, and take advantage of a unique opportunity for learning and debating issues of hemispheric interest. Information about this program and the Lima Model may be found on the web page of the MOAS at www.moas.oas.org.

Reference: E-274/09