SISCA: Workshops in Colombia, T&T and El Salvador. Upcoming workshop in Peru.
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After the official launching of the Summits of the Americas Follow-up System (SISCA) in January, 2010, the Summits Secretariat conducted a series of training workshops at the national level in order to provide technical support for the use and implementation of the System. To date, workshops have been held in Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago, and El Salvador, and the Summits of the Americas Secretariat (SAS) expects to continue providing similar training sessions in several countries of the region, including Peru, host country of the 40th General Assembly of the OAS.
The first workshop for the SISCA took place on Monday, February 22, 2010, at the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The event was attended by representatives from 23 government institutions that were identified by the Colombian government as the most suitable candidates to provide an effective follow-up to the mandates from the Summits of the Americas.
The workshop demonstrated how particpants can utilize this tool to identify the strategies that the Colombian government is using to promote compliance with the mandates of the Summits of the Americas. In addition, the meeting facilitated the identification of indicators, which measure the progress of implemented policies, quantify their impact, and show tangible results that are related to the purposes and goals articulated at the Summits. This workshop also provided the opportunity to discuss the creation of a work plan and define timelines for the completion of Summit commitments.
Similarly, the Republic of El Salvador hosted the first SISCA workshop in Central America on April 15-16, 2010. One year after the Fifth Summit of the Americas, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of El Salvador organized the workshop in its facilities where 13 institutions and ministries participated. The workshop promoted active follow-up to the mandates of the Summits of the Americas that were negotiated by the Presidents and Heads of State in Trinidad and Tobago. In his opening speech, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Juan Jose Garcia, stressed the importance, both at the hemispheric and national level, of strengthening the institutional process of the Summits of the Americas. This process is reinforced by the use of the of the Summits of the Americas Follow-Up System as it seeks, in a multidimensional way, to expand the benefits of democracy and governance that contribute to the reduction of poverty and an increase in opportunities in the Americas.
In commemoration of the first anniversary of the Fifth Summit of the Americas, on April 19, 2010, the Office of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Trinidad and Tobago and the OAS Summits of the Americas Secretariat facilitated a workshop on "The Methodology for Use and Application of SISCA". The workshop was hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago for members of the country’s Inter-Ministerial Committee for Implementation and Follow-up of the Declaration of Commitment of Port of Spain. The workshop was chaired by Mr. Gerard Greene, Trinidad and Tobago’s National Summit of the Americas Coordinator and was directed by Riyad Insanally, OAS Representative in Trinidad and Tobago. In addition to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the following Ministries were represented: Agriculture, Land and Marine Resources; Education; Energy and Energy Industries; Health; Labor; Small and Micro-Enterprise Development; Local Government; National Security; Science, Technology and Tertiary Education; as well as the University of Trinidad and Tobago.
In continuing this series of workshops on use and implementation of SISCA, the Government of the Republic of Peru, through its Foreign Ministry, is organizing a workshop to take place on June 10, 2010 in Lima.
In this regard, the Summits of the Americas Secretariat continues its efforts to facilitate follow-up on mandates of the Summits of the Americas by Member States, thus fulfilling its goal to inform and protect the institutional memory the Summit process.
For more information about these Workshops and the Summits of the Americas Follow-up system please visit the following links:
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