General assembly

SUPPORT FOR THE MANDATES OF THE SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS ON
STRENGTHENING MUNICIPAL AND REGIONAL ADMINISTRATIONS
AND ON CIVIL SOCIETY

(Resolution adopted at the fourth plenary session,

held on June 6, 2000)

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

1. 
   To instruct the Permanent Council to prepare and initiate the necessary studies for holding a meeting of ministers or authorities at the highest level responsible for policies on decentralization, local government, and citizen participation in municipal government in the Hemisphere, to facilitate the exchange of experiences and the development of a common frame of reference on public policy for strengthening the process of decentralization and consolidation of local governance and citizen participation at the municipal and community levels.
   

2. 
   To request the Permanent Council to carry out the preparations for this meeting on the basis of the above-mentioned studies, with the technical support of the General Secretariat and, in particular, the Unit for the Promotion of Democracy.
   

3. 
   To entrust the Permanent Council with taking the final decision on convening and determining the date and place for the meeting, in accordance with the resources allocated in the program-budget and other resources.
   

4. 
   To request the Permanent Council to report to the General Assembly at its thirty-first regular session on the implementation of this resolution.
   

AG/RES. 1761 (XXX-O/00)

held on June 6, 2000)

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

3. To encourage member states to make voluntary contributions to the MOAS Inter-American Studies Foundation to assist in financing the infrastructure and logistical support needed to host regular sessions of the MOAS General Assembly for universities.

AG/RES. 1762 (XXX-O/00)

INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS IN THE AMERICAS

held on June 6, 2000)

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

CONSIDERING:

That, in support of the worldwide campaign of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to promote accessions to the 1951 Geneva Convention on the Status of Refugees, which will mark its 50th anniversary next year, the 1967 Protocol on the Status of Refugees, the 1954 Convention on the Status of Stateless Persons, and the 1961 Convention on Reduction of Statelessness, the General Assembly adopted resolution AG/RES. 1693 (XXIX-O/99), urging those member states that have not yet done so to ratify these international instruments and to adopt national law to give them effect; and that, in addition, it requested the Secretary General to report to the General Assembly at its next regular session on progress in following up on that resolution; and

That in his report the Secretary General provides detailed information on the number of member states that have not yet acceded to those international instruments and points as well as to significant gaps in national law,

1. 
   To reiterate its appeal to member states so that, as soon as possible, all American states will have acceded to either or both of the international instruments on refugees and adopted the necessary national law on the matter and that the number of countries that are parties to the conventions on statelessness will be increased.
   

2. 
   To request member states to keep the Secretary General informed of progress in implementing this resolution, enabling him to present a supplementary report on the matter to the General Assembly at its thirty-first regular session.
   

held on June 6, 2000)

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

1. 
   To instruct the Permanent Council to continue the work of the Special Group to Implement the Recommendations of the Meetings of Ministers of Justice or of Ministers or Attorneys General of the Americas in order to facilitate the implementation of the conclusions and recommendations adopted during the Third Meeting of Ministers of Justice or of Ministers or Attorneys General of the Americas.
   

2. 
   To instruct the Permanent Council to carry out the activities mentioned in this resolution within the resources allocated in the program-budget and other resources and to request it to report to the General Assembly at its thirty-first regular session on the implementation of this resolution.
   

AG/RES. 1764 (XXX-O/00)

held on June 6, 2000)

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

1. 
   To place on record its deep appreciation of Ambassador Christopher R. Thomas for the commendable and important services which he rendered with distinction and integrity to the inter-American system during his term in office as Assistant Secretary General of the Organization of American States.
   

2. 
   To recognize Ambassador Thomas’ very significant contribution to fostering better relations between the peoples of the Hemisphere, his faith in and commitment to the purposes and objectives of the inter-American system, and his respect for the Charter of the Organization; and to commend his efforts to promote human rights in the member states.
   

3. 
   To wish our good friend and distinguished colleague continued success in his future endeavors.
   

The essential purposes of the OAS are: to strengthen peace and security in the Hemisphere; to promote and consolidate representative democracy, with due respect for the principle of non-intervention; to prevent possible causes of difficulties and to ensure peaceful settlement of disputes that may arise among the member states; to provide for common action on the part of those states in the event of aggression; to seek the solution of political, juridical, and economic problems that may arise among them; to promote, by cooperative action, their economic, social, and cultural development; and to achieve an effective limitation of conventional weapons that will make it possible to devote the largest amount of resources to the economic and social development of the member states.

The Organization of American States accomplishes its purposes by means of: the General Assembly; the Meeting of Consultation of Ministers of Foreign Affairs; the Councils (the Permanent Council and the Inter-American Council for Integral Development); the Inter-American Juridical Committee; the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights; the General Secretariat; the specialized conferences; the specialized organizations and other entities established by the General Assembly.

The General Assembly holds regular sessions once a year. Under special circumstances it meets in special session. The Meeting of Consultation is convened to consider urgent matters of common interest and to serve as Organ of Consultation under the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (Rio Treaty), the main instrument for joint action in the event of aggression. The Permanent Council takes cognizance of such matters as are entrusted by the General Assembly or the Meeting of Consultation and implements the decisions of both organs when their implementation has not been assigned to any other body, it monitors the maintenance of friendly relations among the member states and the observance of the standards governing General Secretariat operations and also acts provisionally as Organ of Consultation under the Rio Treaty. The General Secretariat is the central and permanent organ of the OAS. The headquarters of both the Permanent Council and the General Secretariat is in Washington, D.C.