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New Chair of the OAS Permanent Council Assumes Position

The Permanent Representative of Peru, Juan Federico Jiménez Mayor, today assumed as Chair of the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) to complete the term begun by his predecessor as Peruvian ambassador, Walter Albán, who was named Minister of the Interior by President Ollanta Humala.

In his address to the Council, Ambassador Jiménez Mayor said the main strength of the Organization lies in the fact that it is “the only forum for the political discussion of the issues on the hemispheric agenda,” and that it represents “a privileged atmosphere for the treatment of issues that affect our nations in terms of what they most demand: social inclusion, economic opportunities, democracy and political participation and to be at the center of security concerns.”

In particular the Chair of the Permanent Council reaffirmed his “absolute commitment to the defense and protection of human rights, as well as the full backing for the strengthening of the Inter-American System of Human Rights.”

During the meeting, the representatives of Mexico, Haiti, Panama, the United States, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Canada, Jamaica, Bolivia, Peru, Argentina, Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua and Barbuda, Venezuela, Chile, El Salvador, Brazil, Belize and Nicaragua took the floor.

Several Permanent Representatives and the OAS Secretary General, José Miguel Insulza, congratulated the people of Chile on the successful completion of the second round of presidential elections on Sunday, December 15, and wished “the greatest success” to the President-elect, Michelle Bachelet, whom he personally greeted following her victory.

Protocol of San Salvador

On another point on the agenda, the Council adopted the second and final grouping of progress indicators for the presentation of periodic reports on the rights contained in the Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights in the Area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights “Protocol of San Salvador,” the first legal instrument that deals in a specific manner with the economic, social and cultural rights in the Americas. It entered into force in November 1999 and to date includes 16 OAS member states.

Presentation of the PAHO on Vaccines

The Council also heard a presentation by the Deputy Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Jon Andrus, on recent developments with the Revolving Fund for vaccine procurement. The Fund, recalled Deputy Director Andrus, manages the purchase of vaccines and equipment for their administration for all the member states that need them, which results in a lower purchase price. The Fund, established in 1997, is guided by the principle of equal access among countries to the vaccines.

Inspector General, Scholarship Fund and other business

The regular meeting also received the Work Plan of the Office of the Inspector General for 2014 and 2015; agreed to convene the Eighth Meeting of the REMJA Working Group on Cyber-Crime, for February 27 and 28, 2014 at the headquarters of the OAS; and heard the report of the Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Affairs (CAAP) on the repayment of the loan from the Capital Fund for OAS Scholarships for 2013, which was repaid on November 13.

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-488/13