GFDD-FUNGLODE participate in the Informal Consultations Between he OAS Secretary General and Representatives of Civil Society Organizations

June 4, 2011

A broad spectrum of civil society of the Americas, including FUNGLODE and GFDD, gathered in San Salvador two days prior to the celebration of the XVI Regular Session of the General Assembly of the Organization of the American States. 

A growing group of NGOs (41 new organizations have joined the Civil Society of the OAS in the past year) from across the Americas came together to
present their “objectives”, and participate in discussions resulting in resolutions and agreements affecting both governments and NGOs alike.

The issues raised at the meeting covered a wide range of topics including; freedom of expression and association, better security, human rights protection, recognition of and inclusion of minorities, eradication of all manner of discrimination against handicapped, Afro-descendant and indigenous populations,
women’s reproductive rights, anti-Semitism and Islamaphobia, union rights, the overarching stigma of violence and the threat of organized crime affecting the region.  A key topic of discussion involved the OAS’s role in identifying, regulating & resolving the major social problems affecting the Hemisphere using both existing, as well as, new & creative mechanisms designed to overcome the inequalities in the region.

The
discussions brought to the forefront the significant challenges, weaknesses and responsibilities that the Region faces as well as the related problem in which these shortcomings give rise to a culture of organized crime by well-financed groups that takes advantage of a young  population with little or no expectations of a better life.

GFDD and FUNGLODE are active members of the OAS’s Civil Society, a community of NGOs that supports the organization in
realizing its aims. GFDD and FUNGLODE endorse and promote the objectives of the OAS.

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