SPECIAL JOINT WORKING GROUP OF THE PERMANENT COUNCIL AND THE INTER-AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR INTEGRAL DEVELOPMENT ON THE STRENGTHENING AND MODERNIZATION OF THE OAS

OEA/Ser.T/VII
GETC/FORMOEA-111/99 rev. 1
25 May 1999
Original: Spanish

DRAFT REPORT OF THE PERMANENT COUNCIL ON THE ACTIVITIES
CONDUCTED BY THE SPECIAL JOINT WORKING GROUP (GETC) IN FULFILLMENT OF RESOLUTION AG/RES. 1603 (XXVIII-O/98)

(Document prepared by the Chair of the GETC)

1. Introduction

1.a. Scope of this report

At its twenty-eighth regular session, the General Assembly adopted resolution AG/RES. 1603 (XXVIII-O/98), through which it decided "to establish a Special Joint Working Group of the Permanent Council and the Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CIDI), the chair of which will be determined by the Permanent Council, for the purpose of identifying the aspects with regard to which it is necessary to foster and intensify the process of strengthening and modernizing the OAS by defining strategies, procedures, and concrete actions with a view to promoting a comprehensive renewal of the inter-American system, on the basis of the dialogue of foreign ministers and heads of delegation of the General Assembly" (operative paragraph 1 of the aforementioned resolution).

In fulfillment of this mandate, the Permanent Council established the Joint Group and selected Ambassador Antonio Mercader, Permanent Representative of Uruguay to the Organization of American States, to serve as its Chair. Ambassador Alfonso Quiñones, Permanent Representative of Guatemala to the Organization of American States, was elected Vice Chair, and the "Group of Friends of the Chair" was established to provide guidance. That group is composed of the Permanent Representatives of Barbados, Canada, and the United States.

Operative paragraph 6 of resolution AG/RES. 1603 (XXVIII-O/98) instructs the Permanent Council to report on the implementation of this resolution to the General Assembly at its twenty-ninth regular session. The presentation of this document fulfills that mandate.

This report summarizes the work undertaken by the Group and indicates the agreements reached that are being translated into concrete proposals in draft resolutions for consideration by the General Assembly. In some cases, these proposals have already begun to be implemented, as authorized by the General Assembly in operative paragraph 4 of AG/RES. 1603 (XXVIII-O/98).

This document supplements the report that the Group presented to the Councils before the twenty-fifth special session of the General Assembly (that report was classified and duly distributed as GETC/FORMOEA-53/98 rev. 2, corr. 1). It includes all the work conducted by the Joint Group and the working subgroups it established as of May 26, 1999.

1.b. Structure of the report

This report is divided into seven sections that deal with the following topics:

i. Future prospects of the Organization, including a summary of the discussion on identification of the central ideas that should guide our work;

ii. Presentations by guests at the Group's meetings;

iii. The work methodology of the Permanent Council. This section addresses the changes aimed at increasing the efficiency of the Council's work;

iv. Reforms in the area of cooperation, which involve true structural change in the administration of resources and the project evaluation and allocation processes;

v. Consideration of the organization and work methods of the General Secretariat, in connection with which the Group studied reforms that the Secretariat might adopt to participate in this process of change;

vi. Consideration of other topics, including the participation of the permanent observers and civil society in the Organization's activities. These proposals are intended to increase the participation of these agents so they are comfortably incorporated into our activities, on the basis of clearly pre-established guidelines; and

vii. Final reflections.

The Appendix lists the documents recorded during the Group's work. These documents include the countries' suggestions, General Secretariat reports on different topics, the agenda and schedule of meetings agreed upon by the Group, and summaries of the meetings held.

2. Future prospects of the Organization

At the outset of the Group's deliberations, it decided to examine the future prospects of the Organization and the mandates received by the OAS (from the Summit of Heads of State and Government and the General Assembly), in order to establish a conceptual framework on which to base subsequent initiatives. The Group understood that this examination would be present, explicitly or implicitly, throughout all its meetings.

The delegations indicated that the purposes and principles of the Organization and its specific aims have been strengthened through the Summits of the Americas, particularly through the mandates assigned to it by the Second Summit held in Santiago, Chile. The Organization's areas of action were recalled, including the promotion of democracy; the protection of human rights; cooperation; human resources training and the promotion of education, science, and technology; social development and the environment; and the process related to the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas. Once again, the role of the OAS as a political forum in the inter-American system was highlighted, and the Heads of State and Government of the Americas agreed, in the Declaration of Santiago, to strengthen and modernize that role.

It was noted that the process of renewal is a constant and should be carried out within the Organization in response to the new realities in the world. The level of interdependence achieved involves a complex process of activities and actions in which inaction has negative consequences for the OAS. At the same time, it was stressed that this new vision of international relations calls for increased political negotiation, the only ongoing support for which is provided by the Organization.

Consequently, it was maintained that the OAS must strengthen its role as the institution that is the hub for discussion and study of the origins of critical situations in the Hemisphere, possible solutions, and ongoing analysis of global political and economic trends. The agenda of the principal organs of the OAS should reflect the Organization's commitment to discussing topics consistent with the needs of the member states. With regard to these considerations, it was emphasized that the OAS must occupy a place in public opinion that serves to inform society about its potential, activities, and achievements.

3. Presentations by guests

Several delegations proposed inviting various eminent persons who were knowledgeable about subjects close to those being handled by the reform group. On September 30, 1998, the Group received Dr. Louise Frechette, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations; on October 21, 1998, Ambassadors Joao Baena Soares, former Secretary General of the Organization, and Luigi Einaudi, former Permanent Representative of the United States to the OAS; and on December 2, 1998, Ambassador Christopher Thomas, Assistant Secretary General of the Organization.

3.a. Presentation by Ambassador Louise Frechette

Ambassador Frechette focused her presentation on the reform process under way in the United Nations. She indicated that the United Nations Secretary-General had presented reform proposals to the General Assembly and explained that they were in line with the mandates from the member states. Dr. Frechette mentioned issues surrounding the administrative structure, improved management, coordination among the different areas, and staff policy. She further explained the mechanisms established to carry out the reforms and supervise the results and spoke about the role her Office played in supervising the analysis and in management control. She said that a system had been established for ongoing verification of initiatives, which were evaluated through periodic meetings held under the aegis of the directors and heads of units, in which the UN used advanced means of communication.

3.b. Presentations by Ambassadors Joao Clemente Baena Soares and Luigi Einaudi

Ambassador Baena Soares defined the Organization as a political organ essential to the inter-American system. Consequently, he said that any changes in the OAS should be made in keeping with the other components of the system.

He indicated that the central role of the Secretary General was to serve as a political agent, elected by the member states. That role was essential to the initiatives and the resolution of matters handled in the Organization.

With regard to the agenda, he said that the OAS could not play an auxiliary or secondary role in the hemispheric agenda and that efforts must be made to involve the Organization in developing the topics discussed at the hemispheric summits.

As for the work being carried out by the Organization to protect human rights, he distinguished between what he called rhetoric–the support that countries give to this topic–and what he identified as reality–the failure to sign or ratify the conventions and protocols.

He characterized action in the promotion of democracy as positive and said that the Organization must have the means to support all requests for assistance made by the countries in this area.

With regard to the functioning of the Organization, Ambassador Baena Soares said that it was necessary to resolve its financial problems and to protect and promote staff career service, particularly through incentives and job stability.

His immediate conclusions were to reaffirm the commitment to fully comply with the Charter of the Organization and the payment of quotas, in an environment of solidarity and dialogue.

Ambassador Luigi Einaudi, in turn, agreed with Mr. Baena Soares in that the Organization was essentially a political organ.

He praised the performance of the IACHR, the Unit for the Promotion of Democracy, the Trade Unit, CICAD, and other units of the General Secretariat, indicating that they were capable of handling complex matters efficiently.

Regarding the discussion of the hemispheric agenda, he said that the OAS must coordinate the activities of all entities in the inter-American system, including the IDB, and play a central role in reviewing summit implementation.

3.c. Presentation by Ambassador Christopher Thomas

Ambassador Christopher Thomas, Assistant Secretary General of the Organization, made a presentation at the December 2, 1998, meeting of the Group.

He began by referring to the pillars of the Organization, which he identified as the Charter, the Pact of Bogota, and the Rio Treaty. They constituted the underpinnings of the Organization, and the states had identified, to varying degrees, with the precepts they contained. Based on that reality, the Assistant Secretary General formulated a plan of reforms ranging from reviewing those pillars to building operating mechanisms that would enable the Organization to comply with the different mandates that it received, making the best use of resources. The proposed plan focuses on a better division of organizational and administrative functions among the political organs, and at the same time called for proper coordination of their actions.

With regard to the coordination of activities, he stressed that the channels of communication between the Councils should be improved. To that end, Ambassador Thomas said that in order to modernize and strengthen the Organization it has to be acknowledged that there needed to be a link between political discourse, the coordination of these policies, operational programming, and technical cooperation.

Finally, he said that all modern enterprises must have a sufficiently motivated staff to ensure proper administrative functioning and that the Organization should offer professional careers as part of this incentive.

4. Permanent Council

The Group also discussed the handling of matters related to the organization and work methods of the Permanent Council. As a result of those deliberations, the GETC adopted the following decisions: (i) to make the weekly schedule of meetings at headquarters available to the delegations the Wednesday before the week in question; (ii) to hold regular Permanent Council meetings to discuss one topic on the inter-American agenda; (iii) to lower the quorum for starting Permanent Council meetings to one-third of the member states; and (iv) to distribute the draft minutes of Permanent Council meetings at the following meeting of that body.

The Permanent Council also decided to implement the following recommendations made by the Joint Working Group:

1. to include the weekly schedule of meetings on the OAS web page;
2. to prepare an annotated agenda, in particular when the agenda includes items that refer to a draft resolution;
3. to distribute the agenda for each meeting to all the missions at least one week before the meeting;
4. to increase the use of electronic mail for transmitting the agenda and the corresponding information;
5. to have guests and speakers participate in the Council, including the Permanent Observers;
6. to use the latest communications technologies;
7. to have interpretation in the four official languages for official meetings. At unofficial meetings, interpreters should not be used, whenever possible; when interpreters are absolutely necessary for these meetings, only English and Spanish should be used;
8. to have interpretation and translation services in the Organization's four official languages for meetings of the Permanent Council and its permanent committees and to have interpretation and translation services in Spanish and English for meetings of the working groups;^/
9. to hold periodic meetings between the Council and its committees and the services of the General Secretariat to examine the progress of work, improve services, and prevent the duplication of efforts;
10. to schedule meetings at headquarters at least seven days in advance, barring exceptional cases;
11. to schedule Permanent Council activities evenly over the course of the year, to prevent the excessive accumulation of activities;
12. to have the Permanent Council committees and working groups establish, at the beginning of each period, a work schedule that sets dates for the consideration of each topic, in an effort to homogeneously distribute attention to its different mandates throughout the year and, as a result, make it possible to organize draft resolutions for the General Assembly with the time and thoroughness required;
13. to have a schedule of meetings to be held both at and away from headquarters as soon as the General Assembly is concluded; that schedule should be integrated with the schedules of other organizations so the missions' activities do not overlap and should be periodically updated;
14. in due coordination with the services of the General Secretariat, to schedule meetings with a six-hour workday.
15. to cease publication of the summaries of Council meetings, and for the General Secretariat to maintain a record of Permanent Council decisions;
16. to distribute supporting documents to all the missions at least one week before of a meeting;
17. to make the working documents available in the meeting room at the start of the meeting, in at least English and Spanish;
18. to prepare drafts that emanate from informal and working group meetings in English and Spanish only and to translate them into the four languages when they are ready to be presented for formal consideration;^/
19. to use two screen in meetings devoted to drafting a text, in order to review the English and Spanish drafts simultaneously;
20. to have the temporary subcommittees and working groups receive a specific mandate, and to have the committees that establish them inform the Permanent Council thereof;
21. to transmit mandates to the committees in a simple and flexible manner;
22. to continue to elect committee officers in the manner established in the Rules of Procedure. Each committee should have at least one second vice chair to ensure the continuity of its work;
23. to make the procedure for electing officers more flexible when there is already a consensus among the member states on their appointment;
24. to limit the practice of collective greetings and transfer that responsibility to the Chair of the Permanent Council, as provided for in the Rules of Procedure (elimination of farewells to alternate representatives), except for protocolary meetings held by the Council to celebrate or commemorate anniversaries; although the practice of giving diplomas to alternative representatives leaving their posts should be maintained, it this should not be done during Permanent Council meetings;
25. to restrict the number of protocolary meetings and ceremonies, reserving them for visits by heads of state or government and ministers;
26. to strictly adhere to the cost limits set for meetings at or away from headquarters, as indicated in the resolutions of the CAAP; and
27. to eliminate the General Committee and to have the Permanent Council carry out its functions.

5. Inter-American Council for Integral Development

With regard to this topic, the Group has based its discussion on the concept of partnership for development in order to move forward in examining the results already achieved through the new system of cooperation (CIDI); the role of the different organs involved in the cooperation process and their specific tasks; program management; issues related to securing funds; and accounting and administrative procedures for program funds.

In the first stage of the Group's analysis, the delegations identified the following topics that should be included in any future reform process:

1. to study the possibility of creating a special fund to reduce imbalances among the states with regard to their institutional and technical capacity to participate in the cooperation system;
2. to promote the use of horizontal cooperation mechanisms to contribute to the actions mentioned in the foregoing paragraph;
3. to establish concrete mechanisms that make it possible to put into practice the concept of partnership for development set forth in the Strategic Plan of CIDI, allowing resources to be channeled to address urgent needs of the member states, particularly those states with small and lesser developed economies;
4. to allow SEDI to coordinate both projects financed by FEMCIDI and those financed through external sources;
5. to improve the management, execution, and coordination of external financing of technical cooperation programs;
6. to separate technical aspects of the implementation of cooperation from political aspects of cooperation;
7. to consolidate the areas of cooperation;
8. to revise the mechanisms and procedures used in each stage of the current project cycle and to limit the number of projects according to available FEMCIDI funds;
9. to implement an integrated information system on the financial aspects and execution of projects;
10. to establish a coherent, coordinated, and centralized strategy for securing external resources; and
11. to separate the administration and accounting of FEMCIDI funds from the Regular Fund.

As part of this examination process, the delegation of the United States presented four draft resolutions to the Group on strengthening technical cooperation programs. The Group first examined the initiative to create a cooperation agency, requesting that the General Secretariat prepare a report on the legal implications of the proposal. That report was presented to the Group by Dr. Berenson, Director of the Department of Legal Services of the General Secretariat, and distributed to all the delegations (document GETC/FORMOEA-72/99). Once it had studied the report, recognizing that it was not advisable to amend the Organization's basic legal instruments, the Group looked into the establishment of a new entity. At the same time, it examined existing regulations, identifying those provisions that should be amended and proposing alternate texts, so as to ensure regulatory coherence within the Organization (see document GETC/FORMOEA-82/99).

The Group decided to move forward with this process of analysis, proposals, and reform in a gradual manner. CIDI, at its Fourth Regular Meeting held in April 1999, adopted a resolution approving the proposal sent to it by the Group proposing the creation of an OAS development agency, as a subsidiary organ of this Council. That resolution stipulates the goals of the new entity and its basic structure and instructs the Group to prepare the Statutes that will govern the agency. To comply with these instructions, the Group formed a working subgroup chaired by Ambassador Marrero, Permanent Representative of the United States to the Organization. At the time of the preparation of this report, the Group's work had not been completed; the results achieved will therefore be reported on orally to the General Assembly.

6. General Secretariat

The Group also considered the organization and work methods of the General Secretariat. The General Secretariat presented three documents on this subject: Amendments to Staff Policy with Comments from the Staff Association (GETC/FORMOEA-29/98), Budgetary Reform (GETC/FORMOEA-32/98), and The Financial Situation of the Organization (GECT/FORMOEA-39/98).

In the first of the three documents ("Amendments to Staff Policy") the General Secretariat presented a series of suggestions for amending the Organization's hiring mechanisms, including for support staff outside of headquarters; information on the implementation of the performance evaluation system; notes on the study of a new career service; ideas for a permanent early retirement plan, and other initiatives.

In the second document ("Budgetary Reform") the Secretariat supplied the Group with basic information on the budgetary structure of the Organization and the applicable regulations, conducted a critical analysis of the process, and provided a reform proposal.

Through the third document ("The Financial Situation of the Organization") the Administration provided the Group with observations on financial trends in the Organization and its projections, for the purpose of identifying their consequences and examining potential options for dealing with them. The General Secretariat recommended that the budget of the Regular Fund be based solely on quotas; that budget execution be based only on ready cash; that quotas be adjusted annually in keeping with the inflation rate; and that, when the quotas are not adjusted, the Organization's political bodies identify the programming adjustments needed to eliminate the gap between income and expenditures.

It was also suggested that a specialized private company be hired to conduct a comprehensive study on the OAS work systems and to present recommendations. Several delegations agreed that this alternative could be implemented in keeping with the guidelines for action being suggested by this Joint Group.

7. Other matters

7.a. Permanent Observers

The Group recognized the concerns expressed by several delegations, which requested a study on the participation of the permanent observers to the Organization. That work took into account resolutions AG/RES. 1491 (XXVII-O/97) and AG/RES. 1555 (XXVIII-O/98) on the participation of the permanent observers in the cooperation activities and programs of the Organization. As a result of the discussions, a draft resolution was prepared to be presented to the General Assembly, which reiterates the request of the Permanent Council to continue the study of the situation of the permanent observers and their participation in the cooperation activities and programs of the Organization, including the advisability of taking into account the status of permanent observers who show particular interest in the activities of the Organization.

7.b. Civil society

In response to the criteria set forth at the Summits of the Americas and the General Assembly, the Group considered the participation of civil society in OAS activities. To discuss this topic, a working subgroup was established, chaired by Ambassador Peter Boehm, Permanent Representative of Canada to the Organization.

As a result of these efforts, the Group made headway in preparing a draft resolution, which is being presented at the twenty-ninth regular session of the General Assembly. That draft resolution takes note of the Permanent Council report on the progress made in implementing General Assembly resolution AG/RES. 1539 (XXVIII-O/98) and its conclusions and recommendations. It also creates a Permanent Council Committee on the Participation of Civil Society, and instructs that Committee to finalize and submit guidelines for the participation of civil society in OAS activities to the Permanent Council, by December 31, 1999, taking into account Chapters I, II, III, IV, and VI annexed to the Report.

The Group also presented another draft resolution designed to strengthen cooperation mechanisms between governments and civil society organizations, which requests that the Secretary General give assistance to member states that so request for these purposes.

7.c. Interagency Committee

The Group examined the need to establish a mechanism to improve the sharing of information and coordination of the programs and activities carried out by the different entities and organizations in the inter-American system, a topic that was brought up repeatedly at the Fourth Regular Meeting of CIDI. As a result of this study, a draft resolution was prepared stipulating the creation of an Inter-American System Committee on Program Cooperation and Coordination. That committee would be composed of the persons in charge of each of the entities in the system and would operate under the leadership of the Secretary General. Its principal function would be to improve the technical cooperation and development programs carried out by the different entities in the inter-American system.

8. Conclusion

When it decided to establish this Group, the General Assembly created a forum for dialogue that is suited to reflection but capable of execution, inasmuch as it gave the Group the possibility of analysis and decision-making. The Group was established in a special hierarchical setting, made up of the Permanent Council and CIDI. It has broad terms of reference since it was instructed to conduct a global and comprehensive analysis; its work methodology was sufficiently flexible; and the results of its work could be implemented rapidly, since the Councils had the authority to immediately adopt the relevant decisions ad referendum of the General Assembly.

The Group began its work with a discussion aimed at examining the future prospects of the Organization, an issue that remained present, explicitly or implicitly, throughout our work. Upon considering the work methods and methodology of the Permanent Council, the delegations examined aspects of the Council's day-to-day work and proposed simple, concrete actions to improve this activity. The critical analysis of the Inter-American Council for Integral Development occupied most of the Group's agenda during the second part of its activities. This allowed the delegations to make headway in proposing important changes in this area, which are primarily reflected in the resolution adopted by CIDI creating an Inter-American Agency for Cooperation and Development (IACD). The General Secretariat contributed important documents to the Group that enabled it to study current administrative strategies, and that will enable the delegations to have a better understanding of the measures under way. Several delegations proposed the participation of different personalities to share their experience with us and thereby contribute a different perspective from that of the delegations. The Group also considered the participation of the permanent observers in the Organization's activities, as well as the possibility of allowing civil society involvement.

The results of these studies have been collected in this report and are made up of the delegations' statements, both at meetings and in writing, the participation of guests, and the efforts and participation of the General Secretariat. Our decisions have shown us that, in the day-to-day handling of issues, there was no other sphere with the competence and the resolve necessary to take such decisions; that gap has been filled by this Group. The need to make these decisions was evident to all and could not be postponed. Hopefully, they will have the results intended. The Group also discussed complex issues that have not yet been resolved, since the member states have not reached sufficient consensus on them. It will be necessary for the Group to continue with its work and to take up again some issues already discussed. Furthermore, the new format of the General Assembly, which stresses informal dialogue on various central topics, will undoubtedly produce change in the priorities of the hemispheric agenda, a challenge to which the Organization must be in a position to respond appropriately.

Accordingly, the Group forwarded a draft resolution to the General Assembly through which the mandates assigned to the reform group would be renewed, especially with respect to rationalization of the work of the General Secretariat and the dissemination of strategies, procedures, and concrete actions, including the question of resources and of coordination with other inter-American organs, instructing itself to complete the topics already begun.

The Group acknowledges the full support it has received from the Secretary General with regard to its efforts to implement the mandates emanating from resolution AG/RES. 1603 (XXVIII-O/98). The Chair of the Group has requested that this report explicitly express his thanks to Ambassador Alfonso Quiñones, Permanent Representative of Guatemala to the Organization, for his work as Vice Chair; to the "Group of Friends of the Chair," for their staunch support; and to the member states for their participation, contributions, and ongoing support for the Chair.

APPENDIX

(Textual)

LISTA DE DOCUMENTOS REGISTRADOS HASTA EL 21 DE MAYO DE 1999