Each year the OAS Secretary General publishes a proposed Program-Budget for the coming calendar year. The OAS General Assembly meets in a Special Session to approve the Program-Budget. Find these documents from 1998-2013 here.
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Approximately six weeks after the end of each semester, the OAS publishes a Semiannual Management and Performance Report, which since 2013 includes reporting on programmatic results. The full texts may be found here.
Here you will find data on the Human Resources of the OAS, including its organizational structure, each organizational unit’s staffing, vacant posts, and performance contracts.
The OAS executes a variety of projects funded by donors. Evaluation reports are commissioned by donors. Reports of these evaluations may be found here.
The Inspector General provides the Secretary General with reports on the audits, investigations, and inspections conducted. These reports are made available to the Permanent Council. More information may be found here.
The OAS has discussed for several years the real estate issue, the funding required for maintenance and repairs, as well as the deferred maintenance of its historic buildings. The General Secretariat has provided a series of options for funding it. The most recent document, reflecting the current status of the Strategy, is CP/CAAP-3211/13 rev. 4.
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Every year the GS/OAS publishes the annual operating plans for all areas of the Organization, used to aid in the formulation of the annual budget and as a way to provide follow-up on institutional mandates.
Here you will find information related to the OAS Strategic Plan 2016-2020, including its design, preparation and approval.
THE OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR FOR FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION OF THE IACHR EXPRESSES ITS SATISFACTION WITH DECISIONS IN GUATEMALA AND HONDURAS DECLARING DESACATO LAWS UNCONSTITUTIONAL
July 5, 2005
Washington, D.C., July 1, 2005. The Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) expresses satisfaction with judicial decisions in Guatemala and Honduras that found “desacato” laws (contempt) to be unconstitutional. The Rapporteurship considers these measures to be important steps in strengthening freedom of expression in the hemisphere.
On May 19, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Honduras arrived at its decision of the unconstitutionality of desacato laws, which were penalized with two to four years imprisonment. The decision originated in a petition of unconstitutionality filed by the General Prosecutor of the Republic in 2003.
In its ruling, Honduras’s highest court took into account the recommendations of the Rapporteurship and the IACHR, who both urged that the desacato laws be abolished. Desacato laws, which make criticism of public officials a crime, confer a greater level of protection on public officials than on private persons. These laws are widely considered to be counter to democratic principles. They also violate the full exercise of freedom of expression guaranteed by the American Convention, since they inhibit criticism and diminish public debate.
On June 14, the Constitutional Court of Guatemala suspended desacato laws, which called for imprisonment of six months to six years. The ruling came as a result of a petition of unconstitutionality filed by Mario Fuentes Destarac, president of the Guatemalan Chamber of Journalism.
The desacato, recognized in several criminal codes in the hemisphere, criminalizes offensive expressions directed at public officials. Since its inception, the Office of the Special Rapporteur has examined the problem of desacato laws due to the danger that they could become a mechanism to stifle pluralistic and democratic debate on affairs of government. As Principle 11 of the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression of the IACHR states, “public officials are subject to greater scrutiny by society”. Desacato laws, therefore, restrict freedom of expression and the right to information.
In two visits made to Honduras and Guatemala, the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, Eduardo Bertoni, had recommended the abolition of these desacato laws (see Guatemala OEA/Ser.L/V/II.118 - 2004.esp and Press Release 91/03). The Rapporteurship expresses approval of the decisions, which represent an advancement for the protection of freedom of expression, and it urges the governments of both countries to adopt the appropriate measures to effectively eliminate the crime of desacato.
For more information about the Rapporteurhip: http://www.cidh.org/relatoria/