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OAS AND BUENOS AIRES LEGISLATURE SIGN MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING TO EXPAND COOPERATION

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, and the head of the Legislature of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (LCABA), Diego Santilli, signed Tuesday a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to expand the ongoing cooperation between both organizations.

The OAS General Secretariat, through its Department of State Modernization and Governance (DMEG), has already cooperated with LCABA in designing a project to modernize the legislature and to strengthen the institution, and provided technical know-how to develop and institutionalize the Forum of Presidents of Legislatures in the Republic of Argentina (FOPRELPROV).

The signing of the MOU, held at the OAS Headquarters in Washington, DC, represents a step forward in the cooperation between the two bodies, with various tasks ahead: to design a project with specific activities in the short and medium term within efforts to modernize LCABA; to follow up on the implementation of the System of Presence and Electronic Vote; to cooperate in the organization of the Second Meeting of FOPRELPROV; and to begin expanding the experience to other provincial legislatures in Argentina.

“This kind of cooperation is very significant for the General Secretariat for two reasons: it contributes to the strengthening of the institution and, at the same time, it strengthens the ability of the legislative power to increase democratic governance,” said Secretary General Insulza.

“The future of democracy is not only linked to transparency in establishing authority, something we have achieved in many countries. The future of democracy is also linked to guarantees of civil and human rights, and it is connected as well to the ability of a democracy to institutionalize itself and to provide its citizens with those services they feel entitled to according to the country’s level of development”, he added.

The head of LCABA thanked the OAS for “having provided political, technical and executive support to achieve a transformation inside our legislature towards greater democracy, more institutionalization and better technological mechanisms that allow us to have absolute certainty regarding the presence of members of parliament and votes.”

“We have been able to launch a new technology thanks to the OAS. The OAS has helped the City of Buenos Aires to install a new system of transparency, citizens’ access to information and accountability with full participation and openness,” he said.

The signing ceremony was attended, among others, by the Chair of the OAS Permanent Council and Permanent Representative of Colombia to the Organization, Luis Alfonso Hoyos, and the Permanent Representative of Argentina, Rodolfo Hugo Gil.

Reference: E-334/09