THE SECRETARY GENERAL,

    In exercise of the powers conferred upon him under Articles 108 and 112 of the Charter and Articles 4, 8 and 12 of the General Standards to Govern the Operation of the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States, and

CONSIDERING,

    That external relations are critical to the well being of any institution.

    That the General Secretariat needs to increase awareness among public and private institutions about the Organization's goals and activities and needs to promote the more systematic exchange of experiences and information relative to those goals and activities;

    That the active support and deeper appreciation of other institutions for the mission of the Organization and its organs will facilitate its work;

    That greater coordination of the external activities of the various substantive areas of the General Secretariat serves the interest of the Organization; and,

    That a central office within the General Secretariat is needed to help coordinate, support, and provide technical services for the external relations of the Organization.

RESOLVES:

I. CREATION OF THE OFFICE OF EXTERNAL RELATIONS

1. The Office of External Relations is hereby created as a dependency of the Office of the Secretary General and as the principal advisory entity within the General Secretariat for advising the Secretary General, the Assistant Secretary General, the Executive Secretariat of CIDI and the governing bodies of the Organization, on all matters pertaining to external relations.

2. The primary mission of the Office of External Relations will be to promote and maintain relations with the host government, non-governmental agencies, academia, the private sector, and relevant non profit agencies; to generate active support for the Organization, its goals and its activities; and to provide technical advice to the Office of the Assistant Secretary General in matters relating to relations with the institutions of the Inter-American System and multilateral organizations as assigned to that Office under Executive Order 97-2.

II. RESPONSIBILITIES AND FUNCTIONS OF THE OFFICE OF EXTERNAL RELATIONS

    The Office of External Relations shall:

1. Provide advice, expertise, and information to the Office of the Secretary General regarding matters related to the external relations of the Organization;

2. Develop and implement projects and programs to intensify contacts between the General Secretariat and other public and private institutions;

3. Administer a speakers' bureau program to increase the visibility and participation of the Organization's officials in the activities and programs of other public and private entities;

4. Develop and administer special projects to encourage and broaden the participation of officials from other institutions in the activities of the Organization;

5. Assist the various areas of the Organization in their respective efforts to maintain effective substantive contacts with other public and private institutions;

6. Provide technical advice to the Office of the Assistant Secretary General in relation to the publications program of the Organization;

7. Coordinate and assist in developing relations between the Organization and the missions of its Observer states;

8. Monitor developments affecting the Organization with the governmental institutions of the Headquarters country and promote relations between the Organization and those institutions;

9. Coordinate relations with non-governmental organizations and harmonize and provide technical services to those non-governmental organizations sponsored by the General Secretariat for fund raising and related activities.

III. BASIC STRUCTURE OF THE OFFICE

1. The Office is a dependency of the Office of the Secretary General. The Chief of the Office, its Director, is directly responsible to the Chief of Staff. The Director administers, coordinates, and has technical responsibility for the work product and personnel of the Office.

2. The Director, in accordance with the applicable norms regarding personnel, the program-budget, and related matters, is responsible for establishing an internal structure for the Office which will enable the Office to function responsively and properly in accordance with its responsibilities and mandates.

IV. AMENDMENTS AND REPEALS

    This Executive Order supersedes all present norms, regulations and practices of the General Secretariat to the contrary.

V. EFFECT

    This Executive Order shall take effect on the date on which it is signed.

Date: July 23, 1997
Original:  English