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OAS Secretary General Holds Dialogue with Civil Society of the Americas

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, today held a dialogue with representatives of civil society organizations of the Americas in the framework of the 40th OAS General Assembly, to be held June 6 to 8 in Lima.

Dozens of civil society organizations of the countries of the hemisphere were represented at the event, in which Secretary General Insulza answered numerous questions on subjects chosen by participants, such as democracy, human rights, public security, discrimination in its various forms, violence against women, the subject of the General Assembly—“Peace, Security and Cooperation”—poverty and organized crime, and the homosexual and transsexual communities, among other subjects.

The OAS dialogue with civil society “has been gaining more and more prominence in our daily work,” the leader of the hemispheric organization said, as well as the activities of the Organization that take into account the point of view and contributions of civil society. For example, among other recent ones, the Forum of the Haitian Diaspora with more than 400 representatives of Haitian civil society; the Hemispheric Forum of Civil Society with nearly one hundred representatives of civil society organizations from more than 20 countries of the region; and a dialogue between civil society and the candidates for OAS Secretary General and Assistant Secretary General held before their election.

“We also just presented a strategy before the Permanent Council that places strong emphasis on access to information, the promotion of clear and transparent procedures for civil society and the broadening of opportunities to facilitate your participation in the activities of the OAS,” he said.

In answer to participants’ questions, Secretary General Insulza touched on various subjects on the inter-American agenda. “We are working hard to substantially expand the work conducted by the Organization in the Inter-American Commission of Women. Good work has been done on the issues related to violence against women. Also in the subjects of women and jobs, women and poverty, equality of rights, the participation of women in politics, and we are determined to make progress on them as much as possible,” he said on the subject of violence against women.

On the need to confront poverty and discrimination and the links between the two, the topmost OAS official said that “in Latin America there are too many poor, and we have important levels of inequality; but most Afro-descendants are poor, most indigenous citizens are poor, an important number of households headed by women are poor, and 80 percent of the disabled are poor. Therefore poverty and inequality in our region have color, gender and condition. It’s a reality. That is why we place such strong emphasis on the relationship between discrimination and human rights and also between discrimination and socioeconomic problems.”

The head of the OAS instituted this dialogue with civil society during his first mandate, a dialogue that has become a “tradition” prior to the General Assembly, according to the Director of the OAS Department for International Affairs, Irene Klinger, who accompanied the Secretary General during the event.

Currently, 326 civil society organizations have become registered with the Organization, of which some 60 became registered during the last year.

A photo gallery of the event will be available here.

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

Reference: E-222/10