OEA/Ser.T/VII
GETC/FORMOEA-17/98
4 September 1998
Original: Spanish

SUMMARY OF THE PROPOSALS REGARDING THE ORGANIZATION AND WORKING METHODS OF THE PERMANENT COUNCIL AND ITS SUBSIDIARY ORGANS A SUGGESTION AS TO A WORKING METHODOLOGY FOR EXHAUSTING THIS TOPIC

(Document prepared by the Chair of GETC/FORMOEA)

I. BACKGROUND

With this document the Chair of the Special Joint Working Group (GETC) of the Permanent Council and CIDI replies to the request for a summary of the proposals put forward by the delegations regarding the organization and working methods of the Permanent Council and its subsidiary organs along with a proposed working methodology for exhausting this topic.

II. WORKING METHODOLOGY SUGGESTED BY THE CHAIR

The Chair proposes that in its plenary session on Wednesday, September 16, 1998, the Group should review the suggestions put forward by the delegations and mentioned in this document, even though some of them have already been analyzed in some depth, in order for a decision to be taken at that meeting on whether to adopt them or to opt for a more extensive study of them after the next special session of the General Assembly. These proposals should be included in the report that this Group has to present to the councils before that special session of the General Assembly is held.

The Chair suggests that the Group make these decisions obviating, wherever possible, a review and detailed discussion of items related to statutes and regulations. In that regard, the Group should ask the General Secretariat’s legal department to provide a draft version of the rules that might have to be amended to reflect the group’s decisions.

With regard to the item concerning a study of the Organization and of the working methods of the Permanent Council and its subsidiary organs, as well as proposals regarding rationalization of its work, we have gathered the following suggestions:

Meetings. Schedule

1. That the weekly schedule of meetings be included in the OAS home page on the internet.

2. That the weekly schedule of meetings be at the disposal of delegations on the Wednesday prior to the week in question (adopted by the Permanent Council at its meeting on Wednesday, September 2, 1998).

Meetings. Agenda

3. That regular meetings of the Permanent Council be held to deal with an item on the inter-American agenda (adopted by the Permanent Council at its meeting on Wednesday, September 2, 1998).

4. That an annotated agenda be prepared, especially when there are items referring to a draft resolution.

5. That the agenda for each meeting be distributed to all the missions at least one week ahead of the meeting.

6. That more use be made of e-mail for sending the agenda and the corresponding information.

7. That guests and guest speakers be invited to take part in the Council.

Meetings. Quorum

8. That the quorum required for the Permanent Council to meet be reduced to one third of the member states (adopted by the Permanent Council at its meeting on Wednesday, September 2, 1998).

Meetings. Punctuality

Meetings. Availability of rooms and interpreters

10. That state-of-the-art technology be used for communications.

Meetings. Working languages

11. That for formal meetings interpretation services be available in all four official languages of the OAS. Informal meetings should eschew interpreters, whenever possible. When they are needed, English and Spanish should be used.

Simplification and coordination of work with the General Secretariat

13. That periodic meetings take place between the Council and its Committees and the General Secretariat staff, in order to analyze how work is progressing, improve services, and avoid duplication of effort.

Programming meetings at and outside headquarters

14. That under normal circumstances meetings be planned at least 7 to 10 days in advance.

15. That the Permanent Council’s activities be spread out evenly throughout the year so as to avoid peaks.

16. That a schedule of meetings at and outside Headquarters be drawn up immediately after the General Assembly.

Documents

18. That the minutes of the meetings be distributed promptly (adopted by the Permanent Council at its meeting on Wednesday, September 2, 1998 )

19. That background documents be distributed to all the missions at least a week prior to the date of the meeting.

20. That the working documents be available in the room at the start of the meeting.

Translations

21. That the drafts emerging from informal meetings and working groups be written in English and Spanish, and translated into the four languages when they are ready to be presented for formal consideration.

22. That at meetings in which documents are drafted there should be two secretaries present (Spanish/English) in order to prepare equally valid texts.

Use of rooms

23. That at meetings in which a text is drafted two screens be used so that the Spanish and English drafts can be reviewed simultaneously.

Committees and working groups. Installation

24. That the creation of subcommittees and working groups by the committees be subject to prior approval by the Permanent Council.

25. That the procedures for transmitting mandates to committees be simplified.

Committees and working groups. Election of officers and mandates

27. That the procedures for electing officers be less cumbersome when a consensus exists among member states in respect of their appointment.

Committees and working groups. Duration

Committees and working groups. Integration

Protocol

28. That collective greeting and farewell addresses be restricted, delegating that function to the Chair of the Permanent Council as envisaged in the Rules of Procedure.

29. That meetings and ceremonies required by protocol be restricted to visits by heads of state or heads of government, or ministers. (Eliminates farewell ceremonies for alternate representatives).

Other proposals (not considered in the agenda adopted by the GETC)

30. That there be strict compliance with the budgetary limitations established for meetings both at and outside Headquarters, as indicated in CAAP resolutions.

31. That a specialized private enterprise be hired to carry out an integral study of OAS working procedures and to submit recommendations. The study should respect parameters set for it by the GETC. Its purpose would be to analyze explicitly administrative and organizational issues.

32. That the Style Committee–which takes over three months to do its job and is extremely costly, especially in terms of human resources–be eliminated. In order to avoid having to rewrite resolutions, both the delegations and the Secretariat should take care to ensure high quality drafting, editing, and translation into the official languages, from the moment drafts are presented to the respective Committees.