THE SECRETARY GENERAL,

    Under the authority granted him by articles 108 and 112 of the Charter and articles 4, 8, and 12 of the General Standards to Govern the Operations of the General Secretariat; and

CONSIDERING:

    That in the Santiago Commitment the member states declared their determination to intensify the common struggle and cooperative action against poverty;

    That in the protocol of amendments to the OAS Charter known as the Protocol of Washington the member states proclaimed as one of the essential purposes of the Organization "to eradicate extreme poverty, which constitutes an obstacle to the full democratic development of the peoples of the Hemisphere";

    That with the entry into force of the Protocol of Managua, on January 29, 1996, the member states established the Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CIDI) to promote cooperation among themselves to achieve their integral development and, in particular, help to eliminate extreme poverty; and

    That at its twenty-sixth regular session, held in Panama, the General Assembly accepted the Secretary General's proposal to establish a Social Development and Education Unit and approved funds for that unit for the second year of the 1996-97 program-budget,

RESOLVES:

I. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION UNIT, AND
ELIMINATION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL AFFAIRS AND
THE DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS

1. The Social Development and Education Unit (the Unit) is established as a section of the Office of the Secretary General and as the General Secretariat body having primary responsibility in matters of social development and education.

2. The Department of Educational Affairs, currently a section of the Executive Secretariat of CIDI, is hereby eliminated.

3. The Department of Economic and Social Affairs, currently a section of the Executive Secretariat of CIDI, is hereby eliminated.

II. FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION UNIT

    The Social Development and Education Unit shall have the following functions and responsibilities:

1. Support the member states in formulating, drafting, and evaluating policies, programs, and courses of action geared toward eradication of poverty and promotion of social and educational development, especially in connection with the strengthening of education systems and the promotion of employment;

2. Foster regional and hemispheric dialogue on the most significant and pressing problems related to social development, education, and the eradication of poverty;

3. Assist with the identification of successful policies and programs in the area of social and educational development, and with the systematization, publication, and exchange of such findings;

4. Provide specific technical support for demonstration and pilot projects involving application of social and educational development policies;

5. Conduct baseline studies and research to examine the status and course of social development and education in the countries of the Hemisphere and to identify and systematize effective policies, programs, and courses of action for fostering social and educational development and alleviating poverty;

6. Help to strengthen information systems in the social and educational sectors in the member states, which effort shall include, but not be limited to, support in standardizing both the definitions of social and educational indicators and the methods used to arrive at such figures, so as to ensure their comparability in the various member states;

7. Identify, publish, and help to develop methods to ensure effective and efficient policies, programs, and projects in the social development and education area, drawing on the expertise of governmental, nongovernmental, and private-sector institutions;

8. Promote and participate, in organizing and conducting instruction and training for officials of governmental and nongovernmental institutions responsible for social and educational development programs, with special emphasis on those acting under a decentralized structure at the municipal, state, and regional levels;

9. Advise CIDI on matters of its competence when so requested by CIDI or so instructed by the Secretary General;

10. Support the Executive Secretariat for Integral Development in pursuing initiatives, programs, and projects based on horizontal cooperation among the member states, so as to promote collective action and thus strengthen their efforts to advance social and educational development and fight poverty;

11. Support the Executive Secretariat for Integral Development in organizing and following up on ministerial forums held in the social and educational development fields under the CIDI framework, rendering special support in providing the technical secretariat services these forums require, as well as those necessary for the operation of the nonpermanent specialized committees CIDI establishes in connection with the social and educational sectors, in particular the Social Development Committee of CIDI;

12. Support the Executive Secretariat for Integral Development both in identifying, formulating, and drafting inter-American partnership programs in the social and educational development area and in evaluating specific projects and activities under those programs;

13. Perform specific tasks assigned it by the Secretary General to assist the Organization in fulfilling the responsibilities entrusted to it in the areas of social development and education by the member states; and

14. Coordinate the awarding of the Andr�s Bello Inter-American Education Prize.

III. BASIC STRUCTURE OF THE UNIT

1. The Unit is a section of the Office of the Secretary General and is headed by a director who is directly responsible to the chief of staff.

2. The director manages, coordinates, and has technical responsibility for the Unit's work output and its staff. On the basis of applicable rules governing staff, program-budget, and related matters, the director is responsible for establishing an internal structure enabling the Unit to operate responsibly and properly in keeping with its functions and mandates.

IV. TRANSITION

1. The staff members of the former Department of Educational Affairs not transferred to other areas are hereby transferred to the Social Development and Education Unit.

2. Staff members of the former Department of Economic and Social Affairs and of the former Executive Secretariat of CIES not transferred to other areas are hereby transferred to the Social Development and Education Unit.

3. The Unit is responsible for current programs and projects that were previously administered by the Department of Educational Affairs; the Unit is also responsible for current programs and projects that were previously administered by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs and have not been transferred to other areas.

4. The funds allocated to the former Department of Educational Affairs under the 1996 program-budget are hereby transferred to the Social Development and Education Unit; also funds allocated to the former Department of Economic and Social Affairs and to the former Executive Secretariat of CIES under the 1996 program-budget, except funds for staff transferred to other areas, are hereby transferred to the Social Development and Education Unit.

5. Any disagreement between the Unit and other sections of the General Secretariat pertaining to areas of competence shall be resolved by the Secretary General, whose decision shall be final.

V. ANNULMENT

    This Executive Order annuls and replaces any provision, regulation, or practice of the General Secretariat to the contrary.

VI. ENTRY INTO FORCE

    This Executive Order shall enter into force on the date of its signature.

Date: June 28, 1996
Original: Spanish