FUNGLODE and GFDD Participate in 39th OAS General Assembly

Yamile Eusebio, Education and Training Programs Coordinator of FUNGLODE, and Asunción Sanz, Projects Coordinator, GFDD, participated in the discussions of the XXXIX OAS General Assembly that took place in the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula.

FUNGLODE and GFDD are active  members of the OAS civil society, a community of non-governmental organizations that support the
organization in realizing its aims by  facilitating participation in  discussions on Summit policy developments and other events in the Inter-American system.
 
The theme of the XXXIX General Assembly was Nonviolence. Issues discussed included: hemispheric reports from the Permanent Councils on the Democratic Inter-American
Chart; the Multilateral Evaluation Mechanisms on Drug Abuse Control,  Hemispheric Free Trade and Investment Commission;   the Hemispheric response and preparation to the AH1N1 type influenza;  Inter-American support for total prohibition of nuclear testing; and the question of the Malvinas Islands.

These important concerns, however, were eclipsed by negotiations leading to a resolution to revoke Resolution VI, adopted in 1962, excluding
Cuba from participation in the Inter-American System.

After long and intense negotiations delegates, several of which were presidents, ministers and ambassadors, showed signs of satisfaction when the agreed upon resolution was made public late the night of June 2nd. The resolution does not grant Cuba automatic entry, but rather ensures for an ongoing review of the island’s democratic standards. The delegations of Mexico and Belize played a critical role
in the negotiations. The open and engaged attitude of the United States was widely praised and acknowledged as the result of the new atmosphere brought in by the Obama administration. This commitment was openly expressed by President Obama at the recent Vth Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain.

GFDD and FUNGLODE endorse and promote the objectives of
the OAS.  Thanks to a long standing partnership with the international regional Organization, GFDD and FUNGLODE have developed joint programs and projects with different OAS departments and secretariats that benefit the Dominican Republic. Such joint initiatives include the Inter-American Commission for the Control of Drug Abuse (CICAD), the Department of Education, the Department of Sustainable Development and the Columbus Library, amongst others.

Related links:

www.oas.org
http://www.oas.org/OASpage/eng/Documents/Democractic_Charter.htm
http://www.oas.org/consejo/GENERAL%20ASSEMBLY/AG39regular.asp#resdec
http://scm.oas.org/doc_public/ENGLISH/HIST_09/AG04636E04.doc