Launch of the Summits Virtual Community (SVC): Your Voice, Our Future!

As part of the further development of mechanisms that foster participation by different stakeholders in the Summits of the Americas process, the Organization of American States (OAS), through the Summits of the Americas Secretariat (SAS) is pleased to announce the launch of the new Summits Virtual Community (SVC). The official launch of the SVC was made by the OAS Secretary General, José Miguel Insulza at the Ministerial SIRG on June 8, 2010, in the framework of the Fortieth OAS General Assembly in Lima, Peru.

The Summits Virtual Community (SVC) offers different stakeholders a variety of online tools to support participation, networking and collaboration as means to both follow-up on previous and prepare for future Summits. In this sense, the SVC marks an evolution for the Summits process that was welcomed by OAS Member States, partner organizations and social actors at the launch.

An important highlight of the event was the expressed support for the SVC by the Government of Colombia, as host of the Sixth Summit of the Americas in 2012, which will ensure that the SVC plays an active role in this, the highest level political process in our region. At the event, the Chair of the Ministerial SIRG Meeting, Colombian Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, Clemencia Forero Ucros, noted:

“On this occasion we would also like to emphasize the importance of initiatives like the Summits Virtual Community, which will reinforce the dialogue between Member States and other actors in the Summits process, strengthen the culture of democratic participation in the Americas and the development of an inter-American agenda that responds to the interests of our peoples. This valuable tool will no doubt enable us to follow-up on the Fifth Summit and will foster the necessary participation of social actors in the preparatory activities for the Sixth Summit of the Americas.”

The SVC is now open to interested actors who may join the Community and engage in the Summits of the Americas process. The calendar for upcoming forums will be announced shortly, in the meantime, the Secretariat encourages all of those interested to visit the training material available, become familiar with the different groups and participating organizations, suggest the creation of new ones and browse through all of the resources available via the SVC.

We welcome you to join us in the Summits Virtual Community at http://www.summit-americas.org/svc and begin collaborating through this open space for ongoing dialogue and cooperation.

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