Strategic Vision of the OAS

1. Strategic Vision of the OAS

2. INTRODUCTION Like any regional organization linked to the United Nations, the OAS plays a crucial part on the inter-American and international stage in contributing to global peace and stability. There are many differences between today's world and that of 1948, and neither the Americas nor the OAS could be immune to that reality. However, the purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter of Bogotá remain valid and the member states are as steadfast as ever in their commitment to the values of democracy, human rights, peace and security, and integral development. Currently, the main challenge comes from the impact of the technological revolution and globalization, which increase interdependence, integration, and a more-active involvement by other social actors, with new forms of communication, information, and linkage, that demand the definition of new horizons and headings to enable the OAS to fulfill its mission. Now more than ever, multilateralism--and the dialogue and cooperation that are an inseparable part thereof--requires an Organization that is more sensitive and closer to individuals, in which dialogue, cooperation, and the solutions developed through them help to harmonize national agendas with the greater global agenda, without blurring the separate interests of each state in the process or detaching it from the international context. The challenge is to modernize the Organization so that it can better confront the hurdles and risks of a 21st-century world, joining efforts with other national and international players. Committed to a shared inter-American present and future, the member states have decided to endow the Organization with a strategic vision and guidelines that will inspire its array of organs, helping to mobilize and marshal all available resources, so that it can carry out its mission transparently, efficiently, and responsibly in order to obtain tangible results. The Strategic Vision does not seek at this stage to envisage all the measures and actions to be undertaken in a program or a specific time frame. Rather, it must establish a single frame of reference that will allow the OAS member states collectively to pave the way toward a solution for those areas where change or adjustment is needed. At this stage, we offer a Vision Statement and, by way of appendixes to outline the Vision’s scope, Strategic Guidelines—both general and specific to each pillar—designed to facilitate decision-making on the activities that make the Organization indispensable by giving it an added value that sets it apart from other international actors, as well as on those for which partners with greater capacities must be sought in order to deliver the awaited results.

3. STRATEGIC VISION STATEMENT OF THE OAS As an international political body of a regional nature open to the participation of all the countries of the Americas, the Organization of American States must be the main policy dialogue forum of the Americas in the new multilateral landscape of the 21st century, so that it can promote and protect human rights, strengthen democracy, foster multidimensional security strategies, and advance policies to boost national capacities and international cooperation for integral development in the interests of the well-being and development of all the peoples of the Americas.

4. - APPENDIXES -Strategic Guidelines a) General

5. General Strategic Guidelines • The OAS is singularly well-placed to promote and facilitate political dialogue and should focus its unique drawing power on building strengths and consensus. • On that basis, the OAS should bolster its political role in the Hemisphere by integrating the Summits process with the inter-American system's strategic programming process, revitalizing the role of the General Assembly as the supreme organ, and empowering the Permanent Council to plan and assess the Organization's activities. • As part of a growing network of global, regional, and subregional actors, the OAS should strive with those actors for practical and effective communication and partnership to achieve common objectives, so that the scale of its operational participation is fit for purpose. • It should develop program-management and monitoring mechanisms that rely on tools to ensure that resources are allocated with priorities, tied to organizational strategic plans, and subject to regular reporting and evaluation, in order to ensure that they are satisfactorily completed on time. • The Vision has as crosscutting themes substantive gender equality, international cooperation, dialogue with civil society, regional integration, and social inclusion. • Given that they are multilateral in nature, OAS activities should involve more than one member state, and should be distinct from other multilateral processes being undertaken, in order to avoid duplication with other specialized institutions and to give value added to the Organization’s activities. • The OAS should strive for harmonious interdependence among its pillars: democracy, human rights, multidimensional security, and integraldevelopment.

6. Strategic Guidelines b) Specific to Each Pillar

7. Democracy The Democracy pillar promotes effective practice of democracy and respect for the rule of law, with transparent institutions that encourage free, active, and responsible citizen participation in a transparent, law-abiding framework. This leads to: • Consolidation of democratic processes and modernization of electoral institutions in the Hemisphere, under the principle of non-intervention and consistent with the Inter-American Democratic Charter. • Improvements in governance, increased transparency, and combating corruption, through the promotion of best practices, exchange of experience, and horizontal cooperation among member states. • Consolidation of a democratic culture and respect for the rule of law. • Equal and universal participation by both sexes in democratic governance.

8. Human rights The Human Rights pillar aims to ensure the conditions for the full exercise of human through: • Consolidation of an independent and financially stable inter-American human rights system, with promotion and protection of human rights as its fundamental premise. • Development and updating of international norms and standards on protection of human rights. • Promotion and consolidation of a culture of respect for those rights by governments and societies. • Strengthening national capacities by improving the regulatory and institutional frameworks so as to have in place specific mechanisms to ensure state protection for human rights and comprehensive reparation for their violation. • Greater cooperation among states through adoption of mechanisms for mutual assistance and exchange of experiences and best practices, in order to create a universal system for applying and complying with international human rights agreements and standards.

9. Multidimensional Security The strategic guidelines of the security pillar are drawn from the Declaration on Security in the Americas (DSA) which strengthens and builds on the traditional view of security issues within the OAS, based on a holistic perspective of peace and regional stability. In that context the Organization directs its efforts towards: • Restructuring the multidimensional security area of the OAS and prioritizing the security agenda to bring them in line with the multidimensional outlook of the DSA. • Strengthening regional security strategies;and the institutional capacities of countries, including training human resources, through cooperation among member states, in order to respond more effectively to the challenges posed by the new threats described in the DSA. • Fomenting a culture of awareness, so that institution-building incorporates multidimensional security as a policy indicator in all spheres of government activity and relevant OAS programs. • Strengthening approaches that center on the human person, planning, and preventive action, giving emphasis to the link between security and social development.

10. Integral Development The strategic aim of this pillar is to help member states meet their goals for inclusive and sustainable economic, social, and integral development through measures designed to: • Extensive training of human resources and national capacity-building. • Strengthening the inter-American system, including the tripartite mechanism (OAS/IDB/ECLAC), with a view to promoting strategic partnerships that identify synergies and avoid duplication, as well as resource mobilization and effective partnerships to develop their various modalities (South-South, North-South, Horizontal, and Triangular cooperation). • Support national efforts and high-level intersectoral dialogue and exchange of best practices aimed at developing effective strategies and public policies.