Barbados Assumes Chair of OAS Inter-American Council for Integral Development

John E Beale

The Permanent Representative of Barbados to the Organization of American States (OAS), John E. Beale today assumed the Chair of the Inter- American Council for Integral Development (CIDI), the main body of the hemispheric organization with decision making power in matters of partnership for integral development.

The Chair of the CIDI was received from the Permanent Representative of Antigua and Barbuda, Deborah-Mae Lovell, who held the role for the past six months and who concluded her term highlighting development as a “central” issue in the work of the OAS. “These are interesting times in the chapter of development for the region, and in the last six months we have been working for the Council to address this issue from a broader and invigorated perspective,” said the Caribbean ambassador, who also offered her support to the incoming Chair.

For his part, Ambassador Beale said that “Integral development really says it all about the OAS,” because in his view it is an issue that affects both developing and developed countries. “Development is the way and the engine of economic growth,” he said, recalling that, of all the pillars of the OAS, this is the most important because “this is the one that will help us achieve the other ones.”

During the ceremony, held at OAS headquarters, the new CID Chair announced that he will focus his work on achieving more concrete and achievable objectives with fewer mandates.

The OAS Secretary General, José Miguel Insulza, congratulated the representative of Barbados and shared his vision regarding the importance and impact of development in all areas of the work of the organization. “Democracy and development go hand in hand,” he said, and expressed his support for the prioritization of greater focus, rather than expansion, of CIDI’s work.

“We have to define the areas in which we can make a difference and discuss and negotiate with other organizations of the Inter-American system the possibilities to share what we have been doing and we want to do,” said the leader of the hemispheric organization.

The CIDI reports directly to the General Assembly and is intended to promote cooperation among Member States for the furtherance of their integral development and, in particular, to help eliminate extreme poverty. The Council is composed of all Member States who meet in regular, extraordinary, specialized and/or sectoral meetings.