V Summit of Port Spain, 2009
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IV Summit of Mar del Plata, 2005

The theme of the IV Summit of the Americas was “Creating Jobs to Fight Poverty and Strengthen Democratic Governance”, thus placing job creation at the center of the political priorities of the region.

The Declaration and Plan of Action of Mar del Plata , adopted by the Heads of State and Government in the IV Summit, address the following topics: growth with employment, jobs to fight poverty, training the labor force, micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises as an engine of job growth, framework for creating decent work, and strengthening democratic governance. Therefore, the IV Summit provides multiple mandates related to labor and employment. Regarding the IACML it is worthy to highlight the commitment to strengthen the Ministries of Labor (art. 56 of the Declaration) and the recognition of their vital contributions to the achievement of the objectives of the IV Summit.

The Plan of Action of Mar del Plata makes an explicit commitment to “continue strengthening the capacity of the Ministries of Labor to effectively enforce our national labor laws and regulations. We will continue to promote cooperation among the Ministries of Labor, within the context of the Inter-American Conference of Ministers of Labor (IACML).”