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Candidate for Secretary General and Foreign Minister of Uruguay Holds Dialogue with Civil Society at the OAS

The Minister of Foreign Relations of Uruguay, Luis Almagro, currently the only candidate for Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), spoke today with representative of civil society of the Americas about his campaign proposals, in a dialogue that took place at the headquarters of the OAS in Washington DC.

Foreign Minister Almagro explained that, from his point of view “it is very important to have a direct connection and a well-structured interaction with civil society because this extends the reach of the OAS.” He added that “civil society organizations have probably the most efficient early warning systems; they provide ideas that, because of their open and activist way of thinking, can serve refresh the Organization itself.”

“Why is the work of civil society so important? Because one of the things we definitely want is to work to reestablish, increase, deepen, and broaden the trust and the credibility of the Organization of American States. Because we must find common agendas, agendas that reach the people,” said the head of Uruguayan diplomacy. In addition, he said the OAS should facilitate solutions. “The OAS should facilitate solutions. The purpose of the OAS is not to radicalize conflicts or to create problems; it is to build positive agendas that offer different solutions to the challenges that can arise in the Hemisphere,” he said.

In that context, Ambassador Almagro referred to his proposal to create an Inter-American System for the Prevention of Social Conflicts set forth yesterday, as well as his belief that the OAS should be “an instrument of development for Central America and the Caribbean,” which led to his proposal to create a Contingency Fund for Natural Disasters.

The candidate for the position of Secretary General explained that he proposes, if elected, to organize periodic meetings with civil society. “They will be meetings organized around issues, four or five priority issues that we will define to work on. These regular meetings will serve to address concerns. My idea is to seek support from civil society for the work of the Organization, to channel the needs of civil society from an institutional point of view, and to look for the dynamics of dialogue that will allow us a fluid give and take,” said Foreign Minister Almagro.

Following his initial presentation, the candidate for Secretary General took part in a question and answer session with the representatives of various civil society groups, moderated by the Director of the OAS Department of International Affairs, Jane Thery. The discussion focused on several issues, among them the support of the Organization for micro and small businesses; the role of civil society in integral development; the fight against racism and structural racism; the role of the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights and the Inter-American Court for Human Rights; the strengthening and systematization of the dialogue between the OAS and civil society; the rights of afro-descendents; the universalization of the Inter-American Human Rights System; the participation of minorities in various social and political environments; the promotion of diversity in democratic processes; the vulnerable situation of women and their reproductive rights; citizen security; early childhood education; and the rights to free speech, among others.

Among those who participated in the dialogue were representatives of the Unidad Industrial Iztapalapa, the Afrocolombian Global Initiative, the Due Process of Law Foundation, the Center for Justice and International Law, Freedom House, the Alliance Defending Freedom, the Centro Internacional para la Ley sin Fines de Lucro, the Pan-American Development Fund, la Organización Mundial de Educación Preescolar, the Hemispheric Network of Legislators and Former Legislators for Early Childhood, and the Washington Office on Latin America.

The election of the Secretary General will take place on March 18. According to the rules of the OAS, candidates can be presented until the day of the election.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

The video news of the event is available here.

The full video of the event is available here.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-049/15