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Nearly 200 civil society representatives
from 24 countries of the Western Hemisphere met on June 3, 2007 with the
Heads of Delegations of OAS Member States and the OAS Secretary General
in Panama City to discuss the theme of the XXXVII OAS General Assembly,
“Energy for Sustainable Development”, as well as other topics of the
inter-American agenda. The objective of the Dialogue of the Heads of
Delegations with Civil Society Representatives, which took place in the
framework of the XXXVII OAS General Assembly, held June 3-5, 2007, was
to provide an opportunity for the exchange of points of view among the
Heads of Delegations of the OAS Member States, the OAS Secretary
General, and civil society organizations.
Samuel
Lewis Navarro, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Panama, moderated the
Dialogue, which was also presided over by the OAS Secretary General José
Miguel Insulza. During the Dialogue sixteen civil society
representatives presented recommendations developed at the Roundtable
with Civil Society on the Hemispheric Agenda, held at OAS Headquarters
in Washington, D.C. on May 10 and 11, 2007. Also discussed were other
topics of the inter-American agenda, including encouraging the use of
sustainable energy resources, ensuring freedom of expression, promoting
and protecting human rights, developing and disseminating science and
technology, stimulating youth participation, promoting good governance
and transparency, fighting against corruption, and addressing challenges
to security in the Americas.
Foreign
Ministers and representatives of OAS Member States intervened during the
Dialogue, expressing their full support for the active participation of
civil society as an essential condition for strengthening democracy and
democratic processes in the Hemisphere.
Arnold
Piggott, Foreign Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, noted that “civil
society is increasingly being recognized as an integral pillar on which
our democracies and development processes are built.” He announced his
government’s plans to hold consultations with civil society in
preparation for the Fifth Summit of the Americas to be held in Trinidad
and Tobago in 2009 in order to ensure that civil society, indigenous
peoples, women, and youth, among others, are engaged in the Summits
Process.
Member
States also acknowledged that the rules of procedure that govern the
participation of civil society organizations in OAS activities have been
improved and strengthened in the past years, and that the number of
civil society organizations that comprise the OAS Registry has
increased. In this sense, they also expressed their interest in
deepening and improving the quality of participation of civil society
organizations in OAS activities.
Finally,
OAS Member States emphasized their commitment to maintain a permanent
and constructive dialogue with civil society, as well as to invite CSOs
to contribute to policy-making at the national and international levels,
in order to enforce democratic citizenship as reflected in the
Inter-American Democratic Charter.
The
Dialogue closed with remarks by OAS Secretary General José Miguel
Insulza, who stressed the need for cooperation to construct a broader
dialogue among member states and civil society. Furthermore, he noted
that much work remains to be done in this area and in this regard
announced the creation of a new office within the OAS General
Secretariat dedicated to strengthening issues related to civil society
and building upon recent achievements.
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