OAS Permanent Council Approves Participation of 24 Additional NGOs in Dialogue on Strengthening the Inter-American System of Human Rights

The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) today approved the participation of 24 new civil society organizations in the debate on the strengthening of the Inter-American Human Rights System, which will continue with a new meeting of the Council on December 7.

The Council followed the recommendation of its Committee on Inter-American Summits Management and Civil Society Participation in OAS Activities that reviewed on Thursday the requests for participation from 24 non-governmental organizations (NGOs). These entities needed special authorization because they are not formally registered with the OAS, and will join another 26 that had asked to be part of the event and were previously included in to the OAS registry.

The session of December 7 will continue the discussion that the Council has been having on the recommendations of the Report of the Special Working Group to Reflect on the Workings of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights with a View to Strengthening the Inter-American Human Rights System, which represents the continuation of a process begun in 2011.

On Wednesday, November 28, the Permanent Council requested the CISC to review the requests from civil society organizations and users of the Inter-American Human Rights System to participate in the meetings. In presenting the report today, the Permanent Representative of Colombia to the OAS and Chair of the CISC, Andrés González, informed that the Commission decided to “transmit said requests to the Council” and recommend acceptance of the participation of 24 organizations that are not registered with the OAS.

The Chair of the Permanent Council and Permanent Representative of Mexico to the OAS, Ambassador Joel Hernández, confirmed the agreement and reported that the Council will also extend an invitation to participate in the meeting to two users of the Inter-American Human Rights System that had requested to take part. The list of users is available in the report.

The OAS is a pioneer organization in including civil society, with its opinions and ideas, in its functioning. Among the efforts made toward this end are the spaces created to facilitate dialogue and develop mechanisms for the participation of NGOs in the political forums, the projects, development and solidarity cooperation programs, in the exchange of experiences and information that allow for the creation of public policies that respond to the needs and realities of the society of the Americas. Civil society participation in OAS activities is governed by regulations adopted by all Member States. To date, 396 NGOs have registered with the OAS and more than 575 cooperation agreements have been established between them and the organization.