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Peru Assumes Chair of the OAS Permanent Council

The Permanent Representative of Peru to the Organization of American States (OAS), Walter Albán, today assumed the Chair of the Permanent Council of the hemispheric organization, which was occupied during the last three months by the Permanent Representative of Paraguay, Martín Sannemann.

Upon receiving the gavel representing the authority of the Council, Ambassador Albán said it is “urgent that we address the discussion on the OAS strategic vision," a debate initiated by the OAS Secretary General, José Miguel Insulza, in February 2012 and renewed in April this year. In this regard, the Peruvian representative highlighted the fact that the Permanent Council has already installed a working group, chaired by the Mission of Mexico and co-chaired by the Mission of Barbados, to start discussions. “From this chairmanship, I pledge to try and ensure that all efforts and tasks we undertake in our various committees may, indeed, contribute to reaching substantive results and progress towards that discussion," he said.

The diplomat also said he will seek “to advance the development of the Plan of Action of the Social Charter" of the Americas, which emanates from the mandate of the General Assembly of Cochabamba in 2012. Ambassador Albán said he hopes to present next June at the OAS annual meeting, to be held in Asunción, Paraguay, the final document, "which is the most significant supplement to the Democratic Charter."

The new Chair listed other issues that the hemispheric organization will face during the upcoming quarter, such as "preparing for the Special General Assembly, which must approve the Organization's budget for 2014," and conducting special sessions to address issues such as "climate change and the commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the Declaration on Security in the Americas, as well as matters related to youth, inclusion and governance in our countries."

Acting on behalf of Ambassador Sannemann, the outgoing Chair and Permanent Representative of Paraguay, Nilda Garré, the outgoing Vice Chair and Permanent Representative of Argentina, was confident that the new Chair of the Council "will show the same ability, commitment and efficiency as other representatives of Peru did when carrying out their responsibilities in this hemispheric organization."

The handover event, held at OAS headquarters in Washington, D.C., was also attended by Secretary General Insulza; the OAS Assistant Secretary General, Ambassador Albert Ramdin; and permanent representatives from several member states.

The Permanent Council’s statutes establish that the chairmanship be exercised by each of the Permanent Representatives in turn, following the alphabetic order in Spanish of the names of their respective countries, and the office of Vice Chair, by identical standards, following reverse alphabetical order. The Vice Chair of the Council will be the Permanent Representative of Antigua and Barbuda, Ambassador Deborah-Mae Lovell.

After the ceremony, the Permanent Mission of Peru, with the support of the Art Museum of the Americas of the OAS, inaugurated the photo exhibit "Cusco: A Timeless Land," by photographer Martín Chambi and his followers, which displays a series of pictures of the Peruvian city.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

The B-roll of the event is available here.

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

Reference: E-360/13