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FACT SHEET: Basic information on the 53rd OAS General Assembly in Washington, DC

  June 13, 2023

The 53rd General Assembly of the OAS will be held on June 21 and 23 at the headquarters of the regional organization in Washington, DC.

This will be the twelfth time that the General Assembly of the OAS has taken place at the Organization's headquarters in Washington, DC.

All public meetings will be broadcast live via the OAS website, with interpretation available in the 4 official languages: Spanish, English, French, and Portuguese.

The General Assembly is the principal organ of the OAS and is composed of the delegations of all the member states, usually headed by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs.

Each member state has the right to cast a vote. The decisions of the Assembly are usually adopted by majority, but in certain cases the rules require a two-thirds vote.

The Assembly is in charge of defining the policies and mandates of the OAS, as well as the structure and functions of its organs.

It is responsible for the election of members of the decentralized and autonomous organizations of the OAS, such as the IACHR, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the Inter-American Juridical Committee, and the Justice Center of the Americas, among others.

The 53rd Assembly will be the ninth of the mandate of Secretary General Luis Almagro and the fourth since his reelection.

The General Assembly of the OAS has met annually since 1971. Previously meetings of this nature had varied intervals and were called International American Conferences. Since 1971, 23 countries have hosted the General Assembly.

The schedule of the General Assembly has 4 plenary sessions between Wednesday June 21 and Friday June 23.

Parallel activities will also be carried out as well as events prior to the Assembly

Tuesday June 20:

Inaugural press conference with the Secretary General and the Assistant Secretary General

Wednesday June 21:

Dialogue of representatives of civil society organizations and other actors with Heads of Delegation, the Secretary General and the Assistant Secretary General

Dialogue of the heads of delegation, the Secretary General, and the Assistant Secretary General with heads of delegation of permanent observers

For more information visit here.

Reference: S-004/23