G E N E R A L S E C R E T A R I A T |
AG/RES. 57 (I-O/71) |
STANDARDS
ON COOPERATIVE RELATIONS BETWEEN THE ORGANIZATION (Resolution
approved at the tenth plenary session, held on April 23, 1971) THE GENERAL Assembly HAVING SEEN the draft standards on cooperative relations
between the Organization of American States and the United Nations, its
Specialized Agencies, and other national and international organizations,
(AG/doc.109 rev. 1), RESOLVES: To approve the aforementioned standards. FIRST
REGULAR SESSION
OEA/Ser.P April
14, 1971
AG/doc.109 rev. 1 San Jos�, Costa Rica
22 April 1971 Original:
Spanish DRAFT
STANDARDS ON COOPERATIVE RELATIONS (Approved by Committee I - Juridical and Political Affairs, on April 21, 1971) DRAFT
STANDARDS ON COOPERATIVE RELATIONS CHAPTER
I PURPOSE Article 1. The purpose
of these standards is to regulate the estab�lishment of cooperative
relations between the Organization of American States (hereinafter called
the Organization) or its organs, on the one hand, and, on the other hand,
the United Nations or its organs and its specialized agencies, or other
national and international organizations foreseen or implied in Articles
52.c and d, 91.d, 95.d, 101.k, 109, and 118.h of the Charter of the
Organization, as well as in the statutes of the three Councils, through
determination of criteria that shall be observed and procedures that shall
be followed in order that such relations may be carried out in a
coordinated and coherent manner, making it possible for the Organization
to provide more useful services to the member states. CHAPTER
II DEFINITIONS Article 2. For the
purpose of these standard, the entities with which the Organization or its
organs may establish cooperative relations are classified in three
categories: (a) Intergovernmental and semiofficial
organization. An inter�governmental
organization is any organization established by virtue of an agreement
between the governments of two or more states and composed of them
exclusively; a semiofficial orga�nization is any organization whose
members include not only states, but also private persons or entities. (b) Governmental agencies.
A governmental agency is any agency directly or indirectly
dependent on a government. (c) Nongovernmental organizations. A nongovernmental organization is any national or
international organization made up of natural or juridical persons of a
private nature. CHAPTER
III RELATIONS
WITH INTERGOVERNMENTAL AND SEMIOFFICIAL ORGANIZATIONS Section
A. Agreements Article 3. Cooperative
relations with intergovernmental or semi-�official organizations that
pursue goals related to those of the Organi�zation may be established
through agreements. For the
purposes of these standards, such agreements shall be of two types: (a) Agreements that involve the
Organization as such, or that con�cern more than one of its organs, and (b) Agreements concluded by the Inter-American
Economic and Social Council, the Inter‑American Council for
Education, Science, and Culture, the Inter-American Juridical Committee,
the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, or the General Secretariat,
within their respective spheres of competence. Article 4. The
agreements referred to in this Chapter III shall be prepared in accordance
with the following procedure: (a) The General Secretariat shall transmit
to the corresponding organ or organs the communications that it receives
from intergovern�mental or semiofficial agencies, in which they express
an interest in establishing cooperative relations; (b) The General Assembly, the Permanent
Council, the Inter-American Economic and Social Council, the
Inter-American Council for Education, Science, and Culture, the
Inter-American Juridical Committee, or the Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights may entrust the General Secretariat in each case with
preparing a study on the advisability of concluding an agreement that is
under consideration and, when it deems this advisable, to pre�pare a
preliminary draft agreement, in consultation with the governmental or
semiofficial agency concerned; (c) The study, together with the
preliminary draft agreement, if any, shall be presented to: (i) The Permanent
Council, when it is a question of an agree�ment of the type referred to
in Article 3.a of these standards, in order that the said Council, if it
considers it advisable, may prepare the corresponding draft agree�ment,
with the cooperation of the appropriate organs of the Organization, in
order to submit it to the General Assembly for approval; (ii) the appropriate
organ of the Organization, when it is question of an agreement of the type
referred to in Article 3.b of these standards, in order that that organ,
if it considers it advisable, may prepare and approve the corresponding
draft agreement, and (d) Once the General Assembly, or the
corresponding organ, and the organization concerned have approved the
draft agreement, it shall be signed by the Secretary General of the
Organization on behalf of and as a representative of the Organization or
of the corresponding organ, as the case may be. Article 5. Without
prejudice to any other provisions that the parties may deem advisable in
order to facilitate effective cooperation between them, all agreements
concluded with intergovernmental and semiofficial organizations shall
contain provisions on the following points: (a) Definition of the fields in which the
parties have a common interest; (b) Reciprocal consultation on matters of
common interest and the exchange of documents, publications, and
statistics; (c) The procedure for consultation that
shall be followed in the programming process before the directing bodies
of each party begin the stage of approval of their respective program-budgets; (d) The right of each party to propose,
after such consultations as may be deemed necessary, topics to be included
on the agenda of a meeting of the other party; (e) Reciprocal invitation to send observers
to participate in the meetings of the various organs of the other party,
in accordance with the standards in effect for each body when these
meetings are to consider matters of common interest, and (f)
Standards for terminating agreements. Article 6. The
Secretary General shall establish the machinery neces�sary to carry out
the following functions in connection with the application of agreements
concluded with intergovernmental and semiofficial organizations: (a) To receive all communications that such
organizations may address to the Organization and refer them to those
organs of the Orga�nization that may have an interest in them, in order
to assure coordination of activities; (b) Continually to analyze the activities
undertaken or planned by such organizations, in order to keep the
corresponding organs of the Organization informed so that they may take
them into consideration when formulating their programs; (c) To inform the said organizations as to
the activities undertaken or planned by the Organization that may be of
interest to them; (d) In agreement with the corresponding
organs, to name the observers who should attend meetings of those
organizations, and (e) Within the framework of the agreements
in force, to make the arrangements that it deems necessary with the
secretariats, or their equivalents, of such organizations, in order to
ensure smooth operation and optimum results in the programs approved by
the General Assembly. Section
B. Relations in the
absence of a formal agreement Article 7. The organs
of the Organization, in accordance with their respective regulations and
spheres of competence, may cooperate with intergovernmental and
semiofficial organizations that pursue goals related to those of the
Organization and with which agreements do not exist, and may invite them
to participate in their meetings when this is considered advisable. Article 8. The
Secretary General may make arrangements at the Secretariat level with the
organizations referred to in the preceding paragraph, for con�sultations
on matters of common interest and for the exchange of documents and
information. CHAPTER
IV RELATIONS
WITH GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS Section
A. Governmental
organizations of the member states Article 9. Cooperative
relations with governmental organizations of the member states shall be
maintained through the representatives of the respective governments on
the organs of the Organization. Article 10. However,
direct cooperative relations may be estab�lished with governmental
organizations in the member states, with the prior consent of the
respective governments, expressly manifested through the delegations
accredited to the Organization of American States. Section
B. Governmental
organizations of nonmember states Article 11. Relations
with governmental organizations of nonmember states shall be established
and maintained through the General Secretariat of the Organization. Article 12. These
relations shall be established with the prior consent of the respective
governments. CHAPTER
V RELATIONS
WITH NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS Article 13. Cooperative
relations with nongovernmental organizations whose objectives and
activities are compatible with the principles and purposes of the
Organization and that, under the terms set forth in this chapter, may
assist in formulating, carrying out, evaluating, and publi�cizing the
programs of the Organization, shall be of two kinds: general and special. Section
A. General relations Article 14. General
cooperative relations shall be established with those nongovernmental
organizations that are willing to provide advisory services to the organs
of the Organization and to disseminate information on its programs. Article 15. Such
relations with nongovernmental organizations shall be established through
the following procedure: (a) At the initiative of any of the organs
of the Organization or of the interested nongovernmental organization, or
of the Secretary General, general cooperative relations may be estab�lished,
in accordance with Article 118.h of the Charter. The interested
nongovernmental organization shall make known its compliance with the
provisions of Article 16 of these standards and indicate the field or
fields in which it proposes to cooper�ate with the corresponding organ of
the Organization. With regard
to national or regional organizations affiliated with international
organizations, these relations shall normally be established with the
international organization concerned, thus attending to the interests of
the affiliates of the international organization; (b) To ensure the proper coordination of
their handling, all commu�nications from nongovernmental organizations
shall be addressed to the Secretary General, who shall refer them to those
organs of the Organization that may have an interest in them, and (c) In consultation with the corresponding
organ of the Organization, the Secretary General may terminate the
cooperative relations with any nongovernmental organization when the
action of that organization is not in line with the provisions of Article
16 of these standards, or when the organization has made no effective
contribution to the work of the Organization during two consecu�tive
years. Article 16. The
nongovernmental organizations with which general co�operative relations
have been established shall: (a) Answer inquiries from the organs of the
Organization and provide advisory services to these organs on matters
within their spheres of competence; (b) Disseminate among their members
information on the objectives and activities of the Organization, based on
that which the Organiza�tion provides to them; (c) Send copies of their charters and of
any other pertinent documents and publications, to the General
Secretariat; and (d) Present to the General Secretariat,
before January 31 of each year, a brief report on their collaboration with
the Organiza�tion during the previous year and on the activities planned
in that field for the current year, as well as a current list of their
executive officers and, when appropriate, of their af�filiated
organizations in the member states of the Organization. Article 17. With regard
to the nongovernmental organizations con�cerned, the General Secretariat
of the Organization shall: (a) Send them the documents and
publications of the Organization that may be of interest to them; (b) Consider the points of view that they
submit in writing on matters of common interest, and (c) Invite them, in accordance with the
provisions of the regulations of the respective organs of the
Organization, to send observers to the public meetings of such organs in
which matters related to the fields of activity of those organizations are
to be considered. Section
B. Special relations Article 18. Special
cooperative relations shall be established with those nongovernmental
organizations that are willing to carry out programs on behalf of the
Organization, to participate in carrying out joint projects, or to
contribute technical, administrative, or financial resources for the
programs of the Organization. Article 19. It shall not
be necessary for the nongovernmental orga�nization with which special
cooperative relations are to be established to have established previously
general relations with the Organization or with any of its organs. Article 20. The
Secretary General may establish special cooperative relations with a
nongovernmental organization at the request of that organization or of any
of the organs of the Organization, or in accordance with Article 118.h of
the Charter. Article 21. In each
case, the nature of the special contribution to be made by the
organization in question and the cooperation to be provided by the
Organization shall be specified in detail.
The cooperation shall be carried out in accordance with the
program‑budget and the regulations in force.
In any case, the organization concerned shall send the General
Secretariat the documents referred to in Article 16.c of the standards. Article 22. Special
relations may be terminated by any of the parties. CHAPTER
VI RELATIONS
OF THE INTER-AMERICAN SPECIALIZED ORGANIZATIONS Article 23. The
cooperative relations of the Inter-American Special�ized Organizations
with world organizations of the same character provided for in Article 135
of the Charter shall be coordinated with the activities of the other
organs of the Organization, in accordance with the applicable standards
prescribed by the General Assembly. CHANTER
VII OTHER
FUNCTIONS OF THE GENERAL SECRETARIAT Article 24. The
Secretary General may initiate conversation or negotiations with the
organizations referred to in Article 118.h of the Charter that are
interested in establishing cooperative relations with the General
Secretariat and, on his own, may conclude agreements to that end, provided
that in doing so he does not obligate any other organ of the Organization
without its consent, or the Organization as a whole, and provided that
such relations will contribute to the coordination of administrative
activities or to avoiding duplication of efforts and expenses. Article 25. The General
Secretariat shall include in its annual reports to the General Assembly
matters relating to the progress achieved in the cooperative relations of
the Organization and its organs.
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