The Second Meeting of Ministers and High Level Authorities Responsible for Policies on Decentralization, Local Government and Citizen Participation was held in Mexico City on September 24 to 26, 2003, complying with commitments made at the Summit of the Americas and resolutions of the General Assembly of the OAS.  Delegations from 23 Member States of the OAS (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, San Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, the United States, Uruguay, Venezuela) participated in the meeting along with the permanent observers of the OAS and numerous regional organizations and agencies, including local government associations and civil society groups.

The meeting resulted in the adoption of the "Action Plan of Mexico City on Decentralization and Strengthening of Regional and Municipal Administrations and Citizen Participation," through which the highest authorities on this issue will approve strategic guidelines and priority areas of action.  Moreover, those present approved the formation of a multi-representative technical advisory Group for international cooperation. 

Mexico and Brazil assumed Chair and Vice-Chair, respectively, of the High Level Inter-American Network on Decentralization (RIAD), and appointed the following sub-regional Vice Chairs: Jamaica for CARICOM; Guatemala for Central America, Mexico for the North American region and Peru for South America.  The Chair and Vice Chair of the RIAD will be in charge of the follow-up and completion of activities set out by this Plan of Action and will provide periodic progress reports as well as reports on the implementation of the Summit of the Americas mandates. These will be presented at the Special Summit of the Americas in Mexico in January 2004 and at the IV Summit of the Americas in Argentina in 2005.

The OAS Unit for the Promotion of Democracy, as Technical Secretariat of RIAD, has been providing technical support to the process.

The working group for the High-Level Inter-American Network on Decentralization, Local Government, and Citizen Participation (RIAD) met in Cancun on September 10- 11, 2002.  

The purpose of this meeting was to analyze the current decentralization process and present strategy and common methodology proposals to produce further progress in the hemisphere through the support mechanisms. The meeting also served as an opportunity to consult with member countries of the Inter-American Network on Decentralization, Local Government, and Citizen Participation (RIAD) on basic aspects of the next ministerial meeting scheduled foe 2003.  The RIAD was established in the first meeting of ministers and high authorities responsible for decentralization, which took place in La Paz, Bolivia in July, 2001 in fulfillment of the Quebec Summit mandates and OAS General Assembly mandates.

The meeting was sponsored by the Mexican Government through the National Institute for Federalism and Municipal Development, an institution that currently acts as RIAD's vice-president. It also had the support from the Unit for the Promotion of Democracy of the OAS.

For more information on this event and other Ministerial Meetings, please click here (Spanish only)

On August 28-30, 2002 the international seminar "The Institutionalization of the Political Parties: Best Practices in America" took place in Guatemala City, Guatemala. This seminar is part of the UPD's Democratic Values and Political Management program in Guatemala, which has been developing a new strategic focus. This meeting of political leaders representing the differing viewpoints of the hemisphere is intended to share experiences and identify "best practices" for party institutionalization. It focused on the need for institutionalizing political parties, political organizations and party systems as a whole.

The VIII Inter American Conference of Mayors and Authorities took place on June 11-13, 2002 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Miami, Florida. This conference was organized by the Florida International University and sponsored by the government of Miami-Dade County. The theme of the Conference was: "Creating a Secure, Prosper, and Democratic Hemisphere: The Role of the Local Governments". The conference included subjects such as the role of local governments in the creation of a prosperous hemisphere, education and training for the strengthening of the local governments and the protection of the security of the community, among others. The conference constitutes a forum for the representatives of local, regional, and national governments, NGO's, institutions and international cooperation agencies and all those interested in the strengthening of local governments in order to share experiences, information, and practices, as well as for discussing common objectives in the promotion of local democratic governments.  

During this Conference, the Executive Secretary of the Secretariat for the Summit Process of the OAS, Mr. Jaime Aparicio, made a presentation on this subject.

At the Third Summit of the Americas, governments agreed to support "convening a meeting in Bolivia of ministers or authorities at the highest level responsible for policies on decentralization, local government and citizen participation in municipal government." In fulfillment of this mandate, ministers and high-level authorities in this area met in La Paz, Bolivia, from July 29-31, 2001. The meeting was held in Bolivia, because significant progress has been made there to enhance power at the level of its 314 local municipalities.

At the meeting, countries drafted and signed a Declaration of La Paz, in which the governments committed themselves to strengthening regional and municipal administrations and increasing civil society participation in matters of public policy. Through this Resolution, countries agreed to the creation of a High-Level Inter-American Network on Decentralization, Local Government and Citizen Participation (RIAD). RIAD establishes a common frame of reference through which the countries of the Hemisphere can work in cooperation with each other on decentralization and citizen participation.

This Network will contain information on this and future Inter-American meetings, as well as implementation activities and actions of high government officials and experts towards strengthening local and regional governments. RIAD will also serve as a point of connection between high officials and governmental experts responsible for these issues, along with citizen participation and civil society. Moreover, it will promote other virtual networks to increase the dissemination of material in the area of decentralization and will establish ties with other academic, local governmental or cooperation agencies' networks.

Countries also agreed that the Technical Secretariat for this process, the OAS Unit for the Promotion of Democracy (UPD), will have a Web site through which relevant information on decentralization activities and instruments will be made available. Finally, it was decided that the Network would have Inter-American meetings at the highest level to address decentralization policies, along with progress made and challenges encountered in this area, at least every two years.

Delegates from twenty OAS Member States, along with members of the UPD, the Office of Summit Follow-Up and other international and academic institutions, participated in this important event. For more information on this meeting, please see the Program Agenda, a speech given at the event and the Declaration, which was signed at its conclusion.  The Chair Summary is also available, but only in Spanish.

On July 16, 2001, a forum entitled, "Building Democracy from the Grassroots," took place at OAS headquarters in Washington, DC, with the support of the OAS Unit for the Promotion of Democracy (UPD) and the Inter-American Foundation (IAF). The meeting included the participation of the Bolivian Minister of Sustainable Development and other important experts, such as Professor Lester M. Salamon, from the Center for Civil Society Studies at Johns Hopkins University, and Professor Neville C. Duncan, from the University of the West Indies in Jamaica. Participants also included experts in the area of public policy design and representatives from Civil Society, academia and international agencies, as well as other actors that promote development in the region.

The group analyzed the issue of local governance and its importance as a promoter of development and in the consolidation of democracy. At the same time, participants discussed the impact of decentralization policies in the development of an appropriate mechanism to facilitate and promote this process. Mr. René Canjura, mayor of Nejapa, El Salvador, gave a discourse on the achievements and lessons learned from his experiences in building democracy from the grassroots in his region. He emphasized the importance of joint work between local and central governments, Civil Society, local foundations and the private sector, saying that it was an indispensable tool in the development of a successful program.

More information on this Conference can be found by clicking here. 

The Seventh Inter-American Conference of Mayors and Local Authorities: "Local Governance in the Americas: Political, Financial and Organizational Challenges" took place in Miami, Florida, from June 26-28, 2001. Around 510 local officials participated in this conference, among them the mayors of Monterrey, Mexico; Quito, Ecuador; Monrovia, CA; Ithaca, NY; Baruta/Caracas, Venezuela; San Pedro Sula, Honduras; and San Guillermo, Argentina. Representatives of international organizations, academic institutions and civil society organizations also participated in the Conference.

The following issues were discussed during this important meeting:

• governance in the Americas, democratic and effective local governments including an analysis of the political, administrative and financial challenges;

• the relationship between local governments, civil society and the private sector;

• the significance of the Summit of the Americas 2001 for Local Governments;

• the international community and the building of local governments in Latin America;

• financing a municipal investment plan;

• decentralization, regionalization and citizen participation;

• the emerging role of local governments insuring public safety;

• effective budgeting and financial management;

• new technologies for local governments; and

• the role of local governments in economic development and poverty reduction.

Finally, in the closing session, strategies for making the Summit Plan of Action a reality were analyzed.  For a more specific view of the issues addressed, please see the agenda from the meeting.

The local officials who participated in the Conference issued a Declaration supporting the Ministerial meeting on this issue, to be held in Bolivia at the end of July, and urging the participants for that meeting to consider the recommendations of this Conference. Also, they proposed to create a network of local governments to follow-up the decisions taken at the Inter-American Conferences of Mayors and Local Authorities as well as the mandates of the Summit of the Americas regarding this issue. In this Declaration, they exhort the Heads of State and Government of the Americas to strengthen and consolidate the processes of decentralization in their countries. Finally, this Declaration calls upon the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the World Bank and other entities for international cooperation to work directly with municipal governments.