WUNRN
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GENDER EQUALITY, GENDER INTEGRATION?
GENDER RIGHTS?
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Dear Civil Society Representative,
Greetings from the Summits of the Americas Secretariat of the Organization of
American States (OAS).
This Secretariat would like to inform you that the Joint Working Group of the
OAS Permanent Council and the Permanent Executive Committee of the
Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CEPCIDI) on the Draft Social
Charter of the Americas will meet between 2:30pm and 5:30pm on October 4, 2007
at OAS Headquarters (Simon Bolivar Room, 17th and Constitution Ave.,
Washington, DC).
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JOINT WORKING GROUP OF THE
PERMANENT COUNCIL AND CEPCIDI ON THE
DRAFT SOCIAL CHARTER OF THE AMERICAS 31August 2007
Original-Spanish
PRELIMINARY
DRAFT
Plan OF ACTION
OF THE Social CHARTER OF THE AMERICAS
(Presented by the General
Secretariat)
PRELIMINARY
DRAFT
Plan OF
ACTION OF THE Social CHARTER OF THE AMERICAS
Introduction
The Executive Secretariat for Integral
Development received a mandate from the Joint Working Group of the Permanent
Council and the Permanent Executive Committee of the Inter-American Council for
Integral Development (CEPCIDI) to prepare a draft plan of action corresponding
to each of the chapters of the draft Social Charter of the Americas as they
were completed. The mandate
was renewed through resolution AG/RES. 2278
(XXXVII-O/07).
As it approaches conclusion of the
first chapter of the Draft Social Charter and begins to deal with the second,
the Drafting Group of the Joint Working Group believes it advisable to set out
the measures of the first elements of the Social Charter that should be
reflected in actions in the Draft Plan of Action.
Chapter I, on “Social Justice,
Development with Equity, and Democracy,” deals with matters of a general
nature. To
some extent, it serves as a framework for the rest of the Charter and as a
bridge between the preambular and operative sections.
The broad subjects addressed in
Chapter I are difficult to translate into concrete actions for the
corresponding chapter of the Plan of Action.
Nonetheless, there is a leitmotif in
this chapter, having to do with the responsibilities and commitments of the
state. That
being so, the Plan of Action in respect of this Chapter should be directed
primarily toward strengthening the state and, especially, its capacity to
promote social justice, development with equity, and democracy. Actions proposed should be geared to ensuring that
governments have better tools for improving their performance.
PRELIMINARY
DRAFT
Plan OF
ACTION OF THE Social CHARTER OF THE AMERICAS
CHAPTER I
Social
Justice, Development with Equity, and Democracy
1. Design
and implement programs to foster good governance, particularly through actions
to strengthen and modernize the state and develop modern approaches to public
administration, so as to achieve social justice, development with equity, and
democracy. Such programs should focus on
strengthening human and institutional capabilities and on designing and
implementing effective government policies.
2. Strengthen
inter-American dialogue on social development, particularly in the context of
the Meetings of Ministers and High Authorities of Social Development and the
meetings of the Inter-American Committee on Sustainable Development, so that,
in addition to dialogue, there is an effective forum for sharing successful
experiences in fighting poverty, inequity, and social exclusion, in promoting
social justice and development with equity, and in pursuing the Millennium
Goals.
In this context, the Social Network
of Latin America and the Caribbean will be strengthened and expanded as a means
of sharing relevant experience. Its activities
will be geared toward developing human and institutional capabilities by
transferring knowledge and experience in effective government policy
formulation and implementation.
Intersectoral coordination is vitally
important to advancing social development; therefore, especially in the context
of ministerial meetings of the Inter-American Council for Integral Development
(CIDI), encouragement will be given to increased information-sharing and to
joint endeavors by sectors that deal with equitable development and fighting poverty.
3. Develop or improve, as the case may be, public
oversight systems to achieve greater efficiency, effectiveness, participation,
transparency, and responsibility in public administration and in the government
policy-making process.
In this connection, successful
government policies to achieve social justice and development with equity that
have been designed and implemented in a participatory, transparent manner will
be identified. Special attention will be paid to policies that enlist local governments,
civil society, and the private sector.
The countries of the region will be
encouraged to discuss their experience, so that the policies and their design
and implementation process may be replicated.
4. Design and set in motion an Inter-American Program for
a Universal Civil Registry, so as to correct the situation of persons without
identification, which hinders access to social services and voter registration,
so that all persons may benefit from development and exercise their duties and
rights as citizens.
5. Implement measures to promote the observance of
economic, social, and cultural rights and to progressively bring about their
full exercise, in accordance with the domestic law of each country and the
international undertakings it has assumed in this area.
In this connection, measures will be
taken to strengthen the states’ capacity to develop government policies, and
the programs they consider most effective, to promote and achieve the
observance and full exercise of economic, social, and cultural rights and
principles, in accordance with the domestic law of each country and the
international undertakings it has assumed in this area.
The Secretariat will establish a mechanism to support member states, at their request, in implementing the recommendations of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the decisions of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the area of economic, social, and cultural rights.
6. Strengthen the Inter-American Program on Education for
Democratic Values and Practices to make it an effective means of disseminating
the concepts embodied in the Inter-American Democratic Charter and the Social
Charter of the Americas, by incorporating an emphasis on the interdependent and
mutually reinforcing nature of economic and social development and
democracy.
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