[eng/sidebar.htm]






The Summit of the Americas Information Network and the
Secretariat for the Summit Process

As a result of the follow-up mandate of the Second Summit of the Americas, which assigns the OAS with the role of “institutional memory of the process” and to “provide technical support to the SIRG”, the OAS Secretary General created, in July 1998, the Office of Summit Follow Up (OSFU) through Executive Order No. 98-3. The Office acts as the institutional memory and secretariat to the Summit of the Americas process, coordinates the support of the OAS to in the implementation of Summit mandates, supports the Chair of the Summit process as well as the SIRG, its Executive Council and Steering Committee and Chairs the Joint Summit Working Group, comprised of the OAS, IICA, IDB, ECLAC, the World Bank, CAF and CABEI. The Office also manages the Summits of the Americas Information Network web site, which includes a secure site for government officials and negotiators.

Secretariat for the Summit Process

At the Quebec City Summit of the Americas, the Heads of State and Government recognized the central role that the OAS performs in support of the Summits of the Americas process, commending the Organization for its work as the technical secretariat and the institutional memory of the process.  To formalize this role, the OAS Secretary General signed Executive Order No. 02-03 on May 31, 2002, which strengthens the responsibilities of the Office of Summit Follow Up and renames it the Secretariat for the Summit Process.  Under this new title, the Secretariat will continue to coordinate the implementation of Summit mandates in the OAS and provide support to: ministerial and sectoral meetings; the SIRG and CEGCI; and in the preparations for the next Summit of the Americas.  At the same time, it will continue to coordinate the participation of civil society in the Summit process and in the OAS.

Questions on the Secretariat or its work may be addressed to: Secretariat for the Summit Process, Organization of American States, 1889 F Street, NW, Washington DC, 20006, or by sending an e-mail to [email protected]

  [eng/tracker.htm]