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OAS Permanent Council Approved Location and Date of the XLVIII General Assembly to Consider 2015-2016 Program Budget

The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) decided to convene a special meeting of the General Assembly to consider and approve the 2015-2016 Program-Budget on October 29 at the headquarters of the Organization in Washington DC.

During today’s regular meeting the Permanent Representative of Chile to the OAS and Chair of the Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Affairs (CAAP), Juan Pablo Lira, introducing the draft resolution establishing the logistics of the Assembly, recalled the importance of complying with the mandate to call the meeting in accordance with the provisions of the highest authorities of the region in the framework of the General Assembly.

Advisory Opinion of the Inter-American Court on the rights and guarantees of migrant children

The Council reviewed the document "Advisory opinion OC-21/14 of The Inter-American Court of Human Rights, on rights and guarantees of children in the context of migration and/or in need of international protection," issued on 19 August, 2014 by the Court, at the request of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. The Permanent Representative of Argentina, Nilda Garre, introduced the document and recalled its “political, humanitarian and social relevance.” The aim of the document, said Ambassador Garre, "is for the Court to determine more precisely what are the obligations that the States have regarding the possible measures to be taken in respect to children associated with their immigration status or that of their parents."

The Argentinian diplomat explained that the study was commissioned on July 7, 2011 and "was an unprecedented initiative in the Inter-American system, where, for the first time a regional bloc acted together as a promoter of international debates as a sign of concern about the vulnerabilities of the human rights of a population that migrates due to economic, social, cultural or political reasons." "This advisory opinion provides a specific response to a regional reality of migrant children, from the interpretation of the relevant norms," said the Ambassador.

In response to the presentation of Ambassador Garre, the representatives of the OAS member countries welcomed the initiative of the MERCOSUR countries and described the document issued by the Court as "appropriate" given the challenges currently faced in this area. They reiterated the relevance, applicability and "vision" contained in the document. They also noted the importance of taking into account the contents of the Advisory Opinion for countries in the region to adopt their legislation in accordance with its terms.

International Seminar on Consumer Safety and Health

The regular meeting also included a presentation of the Third International Seminar on Consumer Safety and Health and the First Regular Meeting of the Consumer Safety and Health Network, held in Brasilia, from September 3 to 5, 2014 presented by the Interim Representative of Brazil to the OAS, Breno de Souza Dias Da Costa, who explained that the event was part of the activities of the Second Week of Consumer Safety and Health, organized by the Network for Consumer Safety and Health of Brazil, "which seeks to promote actions to protect the health and safety of the consumer."

In his statement, the representative of Brazil announced that the content of the seminar was divided into three parts: the functioning of networks for the protection of consumer health and safety; justice and redress for damages in consumer accidents, and the role of health workers in the identification of consumer accidents. "The seminar sought to facilitate the exchange of information on defective or dangerous products with a view to establishing a single database on the issue of access for all countries of the region," he said, and cited some examples of the usefulness of the tool at the regional level. He also presented for consideration by the members of the Council a draft resolution entitled "Operational Rules of the Consumer Safety and Health Fund," which seeks to approve the guidelines for the operation of the Consumer Safety and Health Fund, and invites member states, permanent observers and other donors to contribute to this initiative.

Other Business

In other business, representatives of member countries took the floor to express their indignation and extend words of condolences for the assassination of Venezuelan Congressman Robert Serra and his partner, Maria Herrera. They also expressed deep concern over the disappearance of 43 Mexican students in the state of Guerrero, Mexico.

During the meeting the representatives of Brazil, Jamaica, Colombia, Chile, El Salvador, Uruguay, Belize, the United States, Bolivia, Venezuela, Canada, Antigua and Barbuda, Costa Rica, Peru, Mexico, Ecuador, Panama, Haiti, Saint Lucia, Guatemala, Paraguay, Honduras, Argentina, Nicaragua, and the Permanent Observers of Spain and France took the floor.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

The video of the event is available here.

The audio of the event is available here.

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

Reference: E-427/14