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What's New in the Summits of the Americas
Quote of the Week:
“We recognize
that information and knowledge are fundamental to social
inclusion, employment, and democracy, and that the promotion of
equal access, use and incorporation of new technologies in our
educational systems is essential to prepare students for the
information society.”
Fourth Meeting of Ministers of Education
Scarborough, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago August 10 – 12,
2005
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What's
New in 2005:
As of Friday , September 2,
2005
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 Representatives
of the 34 Member States of the Hemisphere will meet on
September 7-9 in Buenos Aires, Argentina during the XL
Summit Implementation Review Group Meeting (SIRG). The
purpose of this meeting is to continue the negotiations
of the Declaration and Plan of Action that the Heads of
State and Government will sign at the IV Summit of the
Americas that will take place in Mar del Plata,
Argentina on November 4 – 5, 2005. The negotiations will
focus on the policies that the leaders of the region
will adopt regarding job creation to fight poverty and
strengthen democratic governance. The Palacio San Martín
of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade
and Worship of Argentina will be the venue of the XL
SIRG meeting.
For more information, click here
www.summitsoftheamericas.org
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As of Friday , August 26,
2005
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The
2005 Ministerial Meeting on Agriculture and Rural Life
will be held in Guayaquil, Ecuador, from august 30
through September 1. The Ministers of Agriculture of the
34 Member States of the OAS will meet to discuss on the
theme “Working to reduce poverty, create jobs and
promote rural prosperity.”
This meeting is the most important hemispheric forum for
actions aimed at promoting sustainable agricultural
development and improvements on rural life in response
to the mandates emanated from the Summits of the
Americas. This conference will mark a new strategic
milestone since several commitments will be renovated
such as the implementation of AGRO 2015 which
consolidates the Summit mandates on agriculture and
rural life subjects.
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As of Friday , August 19,
2005
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In
the framework of the preparatory activities for the IV
Summit of the Americas that will take place in Mar del
Plata, Argentina on November 4-5, 2005, the Summits of
the Americas Secretariat of the OAS is organizing the
“II Essay Contest – IV Summit of the Americas” for
undergraduate and graduate students of the 34 Member
States of the OAS. This initiative looks forward to
generating concrete proposals on the subjects related to
the theme of the IV Summit: “Creating Jobs to Fight
Poverty and Strengthen Democratic Governance.” The
winners will be invited to participate as observers at
the IV Summit in Argentina. The submission deadline is
September 23.
For more information, visit:
http://www.summit-americas.org/II_concurso/mainpage-eng.htm
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As of Friday , August 12,
2005
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The
IV Meeting of Ministers of Education of the Americas
took place in Scarborough, Tobago on August 10-12, 2005.
The meeting was held within the context of the IV Summit
of the Americas that will be held in Mar del Plata,
Argentina on November 4-5, 2005 with the theme “Creating
Jobs to Fight Poverty and Strengthen Democratic
Governance."
The objectives of the Ministerial meeting were
exchanging ideas on ways to better achieve a higher
quality education, ensuring a more democratic citizenry,
a more inclusive society and a better prepared workforce.
For more infortamation, please click here
http://www.oest.oas.org/ivministerial/ingles/cpo_bienvenida.asp
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As of Friday , August 5, 2005
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The Forum of Young Entrepreneurs of the Americas will be
held in Buenos Aires, Argentina on August 10-12, 2005.
The Forum will provide a multi-dimensional platform to
make the theme of the Fourth Summit of the Americas
"Creating Employment to Fight Poverty and Strengthen
Democratic Governance” relevant to young people and to
provide a framework to examine policies, programs, and
practices affecting the youth and the creation of
employment.
This event is organized by the Young Americas Business
Trust (YABT) and the OAS Office for Trade, Growth, and
Competitiveness with support of the OAS Summits of the
Americas Secretariat.
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As of Friday , July 22, 2005
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More than 40 representatives of civil society
organizations of the Caribbean gathered for The
Caribbean Sub-Regional Civil Society Forum: “Creating
Jobs to Fight Poverty and Strengthen Democratic
Governance” which was held in Bridgetown, Barbados on
July 21-22, 2005.
The purpose of the meeting was the exchange of ideas
among civil society organizations in the
English-speaking Caribbean that monitor the
implementation of OAS initiatives, Summit mandates and
work in the areas of the inter-American agenda. This
meeting provided them an opportunity to formalize and
compile their recommendations and suggestions for the
Dialogue between representatives of civil society and
Heads of Delegation to take place during the Fourth
Summit of the Americas that will be held in Mar del
Plata, Argentina on November 4 and 5, 2005.
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As of Wednesday ,
July 13, 2005
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The Second Preparatory Meeting of the Inter–American
Conference of Ministers of Labor
The Second Preparatory Meeting of the Inter–American
Conference of Ministers of Labor of the OAS took place
in Mexico City, July 13-14, immediately after the
workshop on “Decent Work and Just Globalization”
organized by the ILO. This Preparatory Meeting counted
on the participation of the delegations of the Labor
Ministers of 27 Member States of the OAS and of the
representatives of organizations of employers and
central labor union representatives from diverse sub
regions of the hemisphere. These organizations of
employers and central organizations of labor unions are
grouped under CEATAL and COSATE respectively. The
Preparatory Meeting was centered in the discussion and
analysis of the project of the Declaration of Mexico
that should be signed by the Ministers of Labor in the
XIV CIMT which will take place in Mexico on September
26–27. The delegates of the Ministers of Labor,
reaffirming their compromise with the Summit process,
sent a communication to the Presidency of the SIRG in
which the important contributions of the Ministers of
Labor to the Summit process are emphasized for the
attainment of the objectives and in which they agree to
present their contributions to the SIRG. In finalizing
the Second Preparatory Meeting, the delegations decided
to get together in Washington DC for the Third Meeting,
the 30 and 31st of August to continue negotiating the
Declaration and Plan of Action of Mexico and to define
their contributions to the Summit Process.
http://www.oas.org/udse/english/cpo_trab_14minist_prep.asp
http://www.oas.org/udse/english/cpo_trab_14minist_prep.asp
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As of Monday , July 11, 2005
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The Hemispheric Workshop on Decent Work and Just
Globalization, organized by the International Labor
Organization (ILO), took place on the 11th and 12th of
July in Mexico, with the attendance of 85 participants.
The event represented an opportunity to analyze with
government representatives from OAS member states, trade
union leaders and employer organizations, the issue of
the creation of decent work as principal element of
development policies in countries in the American
hemisphere, in a globalized world. The conclusions
derived from the workshop were presented as inputs into
the creation of a hemispheric work policy Participants
addressed the topics of work and social development,
balancing social and economic goals, technology and
innovation in the workplace, occupational training and
tripartite collaboration, the macroeconomic environment,
policies for competitiveness and generation of quality
employment, social dialogue and democracy. The workshop
was structured to facilitate engagement of government,
worker and business representatives from a broad range
of countries. Speakers came from Antigua and Barbuda,
Argentina, Barbados, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia,
Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica,
Mexico, Peru, St. Lucia, Suriname, United States,
Uruguay, and Venezuela."
Additional information and the results of the workshop
are available on
http://www.oit.org.pe/thtd2005
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As of Friday ,
July 8, 2005
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The Second Preparatory Meeting of the XIV Inter-American
Conference of Ministers of Labor (IACML) will be held in
Mexico City on July 13 and 14, 2005. This meeting is a
preliminary work for the Ministerial Conference that
will also take place in Mexico City on September 26 and
27, 2005. The objectives of the reunion are to discuss
the drafts of the Declaration and Plan of Action that
will be adopted in the XIV IACML, and to analyze the
proposals for the creation of cooperation mechanisms and
the promotion of decent work.
For more information, please click here
http://www.oas.org/udse/english/cpo_trab.asp
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As of Friday ,
July 1, 2005
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Ministers of Health and Environment of the Americas
gathered in Mar del Plata, Argentina on June 16-17, 2005
to discuss how to improve linkages and integrate a joint
agenda in both areas. As a result of this meeting, the
ministers of the Hemisphere will present a document to
the Heads of State and Government at the Fourth Summit
of the Americas that will take place in Mar del Plata,
Argentina on November 4-5, 2005.
The priority issues of the meeting included children’s
environmental health, integrated water resources and
solid waste management, and the sound management of
chemicals. Ministers also discussed the advances and
challenges the countries face in achieving the
Millennium Development Goals related to health and
environment. For more information please click here:
http://www.oas.org/hema/english/index_2.htm
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As of Friday ,
June 24, 2005
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The Eleventh Inter-American Conference of Mayors and
Local Authorities took place in Miami, Florida on June
21-23, 2005. The theme of the conference was "Municipal
Cooperation for Economic, Social and Democratic
Governance." The Conference was organized by Miami-Dade
County and Florida International University. Mayors from
the whole Hemisphere were present. On this occasion, The
Summits of the Americas Secretariat informed on the
preparations of the Fourth Summit of the Americas on
“Local Governance in the International Arena: The Summit
of the Americas Process”.
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As of Friday , June 17, 2005
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In preparation for the Fourth Summit of the Americas,
which will be held in Mar del Plata, Argentina, Florida
International University’s Summit of the Americas Center
(FIU/SOAC) organized a full-day conference on June 4
entitled “Clearing the Path to Hemispheric Growth:
Expanding Credit to Create Jobs and Alleviate Poverty.”
The Conference was co-sponsored by the Organization of
American States Office of Education, Science and
Technology and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Newspapers. The primary aim was to identify
cost-effective “best practices” that governments can
facilitate, and that financial sector actors can employ
to bring the region’s “unbanked” into the formal savings
and credit ambit, thus fostering personal and societal
economic progress.
For more information please click here
www.AmericasNet.net
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As of Friday, May 27, 2005:
As of Friday, May 20, 2005:
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The
Fifth Lecture Series of the Americas was held at the
headquarters of the Organization of American States
(OAS) in Washington, DC on May 17, 2005.
John B. Taylor, former U.S. Undersecretary of the
Treasury for International Affairs, spoke on “Latin
America: From Economic Crisis to Economic Growth.”
According to him, the most significant challenges for
sustained growth for the Western Hemisphere are to
consolidate macroeconomic policies and improving
microeconomic reforms for higher productivity as well as
more productive investment in infrastructure in the
Americas. The conference was immediately followed by a
roundtable discussion on Dr. Taylor’s presentation, with
panelists including
Eduardo Lora, Chief Economist at the Inter-American
Development Bank and
Peter Hakim, President of the Inter-American
Dialogue.
For more information, please click here
http://www.oas.org/main/main.asp?sLang=E&sLink=/lecture/default.asp |
As of Friday, May 13, 2005:
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The
Caribbean Forum for Development was held in Barbados
on May 5-6, 2005. This is a forum which links regional
leaders and the international donor community in a
partnership for dialogue and action on regional
development priorities. Among the participants were the
Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
and senior officials of the international community from
international funding agencies, policy makers from
Caribbean member governments and regional agencies. The
topics discussed were Regional Development & the CARICOM
Single Market and Economy (CSME), Managing Economic
Integration for Balanced Growth, and Caribbean Growth
and Competitiveness.
For more information, please visit
http://www.cardi.org/newsroom/05-05-2005-02.php |
As of Friday, May 6, 2005:
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Forty
representatives of indigenous peoples from the Western
Hemisphere gathered at the headquarters of the
Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington, DC
on May 2-6, 2005 to hold the Indigenous Caucus.
This was a preparatory meeting for the Sixth Negotiation
Session in the Quest for Points of Consensus of the
Working Group to Prepare the Draft American Declaration
on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples which will be held
in Antigua, Guatemala in September 2005. The Indigenous
Caucus Meeting had as a main objective the revision and
discussion of the proposals related with the articles of
the Declaration as well as discussions on negotiation
process with OAS Member States.
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As of Friday, April 29, 2005:
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The
Thirty-Seventh Regular Session of the Inter-American
Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) of the Organization of American States (OAS) took
place in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on April
26-29, 2005. The issues discussed included the
consideration and approval of the country reports of the
third round of the Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism
(MEM); evaluation of CICAD projects; the future
challenges of drug use in the hemisphere; findings of
the national studies on the economic and social cost of
drugs to society; and progress of initiatives in demand
reduction. The Summits of the Americas Secretariat
presented a report on the preparations for the IV Summit
of the Americas. For additional information, please
visit CICAD’s
website.
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As of Friday, April 22, 2005:
As of Friday, April 15, 2005:
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The Civil Society Hemispheric Forum:
"Delivering the Benefits of Democracy" was
held on April 11-12, 2005 at the OAS headquarters in
Washington, DC. The purpose of this meeting was to
encourage increased discussions and the exchange of
ideas among civil society organizations that monitor the
implementation of OAS initiatives, Summit mandates, and
work in the areas of the inter-American agenda. This
forum provided them an opportunity to formalize and
compile their recommendations and suggestions for the
dialogue between representatives of civil society and
Ministers of Foreign Affairs to take place at the XXXV
OAS General Assembly which will be held in Fort
Lauderdale, Florida on June 5-7, 2005.
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As of Friday, April 8, 2005:
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Gender Forum of the Americas
April 7-9, 2005 (Buenos Aires,
Argentina)
With the support of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs of Argentina, civil society
organizations from the Hemisphere specialized in Gender
Equality issues held a Gender Forum in Buenos Aires, on
April 7-9, 2005. This meeting is one of the several
activities in preparation for the Fourth Summit of the
Americas which will be held in Mar del Plata, Argentina
on November 4-5, 2005.
The main objective of this meeting is
to discuss the most important issues of women in the
Hemisphere focusing on three axes -poverty, employment
and democracy-, all of them introduced in the theme of
the Fourth Summit of the Americas "Creating Jobs to
Confront Poverty and Strengthen Democratic Governance,"
and make some proposals about Gender issues to the Heads
of State and Government for their discussion and
addition in the Declaration and Plan of Action of the
Fourth Summit of the Americas.
For more information about the Gender Forum, click
here |
As of Friday, April 1st, 2005:
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Experts on the fight against corruption of the Member
States of the Organization of American States (OAS)
gathered on March 28 - 29, 2005 at the OAS headquarters
in Washington, DC to exchange information,
experiences and to recommend shared concrete policies
about how to deny safe haven to corrupt officials. Also,
on the agenda, there were such key topics as
confiscation of ill-gotten gain and property as well as
cooperation on extradition.
This reunion reiterated the
commitment made by the governments in the Meeting of
States Parties to the Inter-American Convention against
Corruption held in Managua, Nicaragua, on July 8 - 9,
2004 where the paragraph 9 of the Plan of Action of
Managua established to convene this gathering. Also,
this conference was held as a follow-up of the Summits
of the Americas mandates, especially the Declaration of
Nuevo Leon.
For more information please click
here |
As of Friday, March 24, 2005:
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Andean sub- regional seminar in Lima,
Peru on April 14-15, 2005 on the theme ''Democratic
Governance and Employment Issues in the Andean Subregion.''
With the purpose of deepening the discussion on the
employment issue and its relation with the democratic
governance in the Andean Countries, the Summits of the
Americas Secretariat of the OAS and the General
Secretariat of the Andean Community have invited the
International Labor Organization (ILO) and Agora
Democratica to organize an Andean sub- regional seminar
in Lima, Peru on April 14-15, 2005 on the theme ''Democratic
Governance and Employment Issues in the Andean Subregion.''
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As of Friday, March 18, 2005:
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The Inter American Commission of Women (CIM) of the
Organization of American States (OAS), jointly with the
International Organization for Migration (IOM),
organized the Conference: Caribbean Regional Anti-Trafficking
in Persons. This meeting which was held at OAS
headquarters in Washington DC on March 14-16, 2005, had
as its main objective to develop a regional strategic
approach to prevent and combat this problem.
For more information, please click
here.
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As of Friday, March 11, 2005:
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The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Argentina hosted the
XXXVII Summit Implementation Review Group (SIRG) on
March 9-10. This is a preparatory meeting with all the
34 Member States from the Western Hemisphere to
negotiate the Declaration and Plan of Action which will
be signed by the Heads of State and Government at the IV
Summit of the Americas that will be held in Mar del
Plata, Argentina on November 4-5, 2005. In this SIRG
meeting, the theme of the Summit “Creating Employment to
Confront Poverty and Strengthen Democratic Governance”
was discussed.
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Workshop
“Innovation and Decent Work”, March 7th and 8th , 2005
(Buenos Aires, Argentina)
A two-day
seminar in Buenos Aires on “Innovation and Decent Work”
was organized by the OAS Office of Education, Science
and Technology of the Executive Secretariat for Integral
Development, in conjunction with the International Labor
Organization (ILO) and the Summits of the Americas
Secretariat. The purpose of the seminar was to bring
together members of the Trade Union
Technical Advisory Council (COSATE) and the Business
Technical Advisory Committee on Labor Matters (CEATAL)
to draft a common set of recommendations to present
during the civil society dialogue at the Summit
Implementation Review Group (SIRG) meeting to be held
immediately after the seminar. COSATE and CEATAL are
standing advisory committees which work with Ministries
of Labor in a tripartite arrangement. They will be
fully engaged in the preparation of the Inter-American
Conference of Ministers of Labor (IACML) to be held in
Mexico, September 26-27. The
consensus document was produced and presented jointly by
union and business representatives to national summit
coordinators during the civil society dialogue on the
second day of the SIRG. (see
http://www.oest.oas.org for the text of the document
and presentations made at the seminar.)
The seminar included
presentations by the Minister of Labor of Argentina, the
Director of the Office of Education, Science and
Technology, the Deputy Secretary for Technical
Programming and Labor Studies of the Argentine Ministry
of Labor, a professor of the Federal University of Rio
de Janeiro, Brazil, a Regional Director of the ILO, a
Regional Specialist on Female Workers and Gender of the
ILO, a Regional Specialist on Worker Education of the
ILO, the President of CEATAL and the Deputy Secretary
for Human Development of the Labor Ministry of Mexico.
Specific
links:
Spanish:
http://www.oas.org/udse/espanol/cpo_trab_innovacion.asp
English:
http://www.oas.org/udse/english/cpo_trab_innovacion.asp |
As of Friday, March 4, 2005:
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In preparation for the
next Summit of the Americas, which will be held in
Mar del Plata, Argentina, National Summits Coordinators
will meet in Buenos Aires on March 9 and 10, for the
XXXVII Summit Implementation Review Meeting (SIRG). The
agenda includes issues such as follow-up on the
commitments of social development, preparations for the
Fourth Summit of the Americas, and consultations
with civil society about the priorities for this Summit.
Also,
the workshop
“Democracy and the Fourth Summit of the Americas”,
which will analyze the fulfillment of the Summits of the
Americas mandates in the strengthening and defense of
democracy, will take place on March 11 in Buenos Aires.
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As of Monday, February 28, 2005:
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The Summits of the Americas Secretariat would like to
announce that our Institutional Memory has been filed at
the Columbus Memorial Library of the OAS. In those
files, there is information from the beginning of the
Summits until today. For more information on how to get
access to the files, please contact the Columbus
Memorial Library (www.oas.org/columbus)
located in Constitution Avenue and 19th Street in
Washington DC.
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On January 31 and February 1st,
2005 the Planning Meeting for the XIV IACML was held in
Washington D.C, The meeting was organized by the
Office of Education, Science and Technology of the
OAS, as the Technical Secretariat of the Inter American
Conference of Ministers of Labor. Participants included:
Conference’s Working Groups authorities, representatives
from the Trade Union Advisory Counsil (COSATE); from the
Business Technical Advisory Committee on Labor Matters (CEATAL),
and from the international organizations committed to
the process including: the Organization of American
States (OAS), the International Labor Organization (ILO),
and the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO).
The main goal of
the meeting was focused on making a revision of the
activities done in 2004; define the calendar of events
for IACML for the current year and coordinate the
process of the IACML and the Fourth Summit of the
Americas, which will be held in Argentina on November
4-5, 2005.
For more information, please click
here. |
As of Friday, February
18, 2005:
As of Monday, February
14, 2005:
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The V Meeting of
Negotiations in the Quest for Points of Consensus and IV
Special Session of the Working Group to Elaborate the
Draft American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples took place from February 7-11, 2005 at
OAS Headquarters in Washington, D.C. The V Meeting
considered Article XVIII (Right to Environmental
Protection), and Section Five (Social, Economic, and
Property Rights). The IV Special Session reviewed the
status of the process and assessment of the level of
consensus reached on the Draft Declaration, and
discussed the possibility of considering a possible date
for the conclusion of the final phase of negotiations
for adoption of the Draft Declaration, and included a
presentation on the preparations for the Second
Indigenous Peoples Summit of the Americas to be held in
Buenos Aires, Argentina. The presentation was made by
Mr. Darrel Mcleod of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN)
of Canada and Mr. Víctor Capitán of the Organización de
Naciones y Pueblos Indígenas en Argentina (ONPIA).
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