Embassy of the United States

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Amb. Michael King (Barbados), Chair of the Permanent Council, and Amb. Abigail Castro de Perez (El Salvador), Chair of the Permanent Executive Committee (CEPCIDI), conferring with Executive Secretary Alfonso Quinonez and Chief of Staff Sherry Tross.

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Amb. Michael King (Barbados), Chair of the Permanent Council, and Amb. Abigail Castro de Perez (El Salvador), Chair of the Permanent Executive Committee (CEPCIDI), conferring with Executive Secretary Alfonso Quinonez and Chief of Staff Sherry Tross.

Promoting Sustainable Development, The Environment and Free Trade

The Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CIDI) was created in 1996 when the Protocol of Managua charter amendments entered into force. CIDI replaced the Inter-American Economic and Social Council (CIES) and the Inter-American Council for Education, Science, and Culture (CIECC).

CIDI meets annually at the ministerial level; its subsidiary entities meet more frequently. CIDI also convokes ministerial-level sectoral meetings in areas such as labor, education, social development, sustainable development and culture to consider specialized issues in the priority areas of the Strategic Plan.

CIDI is responsible for coordinating OAS development and technical cooperation activities in a partnership intended to attract financial support from donor countries, international development institutions, and other sources. CIDI's Permanent Executive Committee (CEPCIDI), the Inter-American Committee on Education, the Inter-American Committee on Culture, the Inter-American Committee on Sustainable Development (CIDS), the Inter-American Committee on Science and Technology (COMCYT), the Inter-American Committee on Ports (CIP), and other committees and ministerial-level meetings and their subgroups provide guidance and evaluation to the OAS secretariat on relevant policies, projects, and other activities. They also bring together technical and policymaking officials from the hemisphere to agree on joint priorities and initiatives. CIDI ministerials have been tasked by the Summit of the Americas with follow-up the implementation of initiatives in their specific fields.

On November 15, 1999, a Special General Assembly adopted the Statute of the Inter-American Agency for Cooperation and Development (IACD). Created as the result of a U.S. initiative, the IACD maximizes use of existing resources, improve the management and delivery of technical cooperation, and better position the OAS to attract additional external resources to finance technical cooperation. The IACD's management board, composed of nine elected member states, provides operational guidance, while policy guidance comes from CIDI in both its annual and sectoral ministerial level meetings, from CIDI's executive committee and subsidiary bodies. IACD's statutes entered into force on January 1, 2000.

CIDI's Special Multilateral Fund, known by its Spanish acronym FEMCIDI, is composed of the voluntary contributions of the member states. While a member state is free to decide the level of its commitment, once a pledge is made to this fund, the country is legally obligated to pay the amount pledged, and a country is not allowed to request projects unless it has pledged by the deadline established.

The projects presented must receive a favorable evaluation (conducted by outside experts) in order to be considered for funding. Projects chosen to be funded are those that receive the highest evaluation scores within their individual sectoral accounts. Horizontal cooperation funds provide further assistance to lesser developed and smaller economies.

Strengthening the Inter-American Council for Integral Development

On October 16-17, 2008 in Cancun, Mexico, the Organization of American States (OAS) held a meeting for national authorities and experts in international cooperation for development of the OAS member states, entitled: “Special Technical Meeting of National Cooperation Authorities and Experts: Strengthening the Inter-American Council for Integral Development.”  The principal objective of this conference was to strengthen cooperation in order to facilitate integral development and to explore new avenues for collaboration between the countries of the hemisphere. 

During the conference, participants shared experiences that have successfully promoted the strengthening of developmental mechanisms and the improvement of methods of cooperation. Participants also addressed the value added by OAS participation in collaborative processes and the particular advantages that the organization brings through its capacity to foster political dialogue as well as high levels of technical cooperation. Furthermore, the priorities, necessities, challenges and opportunities faced by the OAS member states were assessed and analyzed.

The OAS Scholarships and Training Program awards an average of 360 graduate fellowships each year. There also is a small undergraduate scholarship program, available only to students from Caribbean and Central American nations. A third program finances travel to training courses offered by member states. Although these scholarships have to date been financed by the OAS Regular Fund (assessed quota payments by member states), a Capital Fund for Scholarships and Training has been established to attract outside funding.

For 25 years, the OAS has helped member states incorporate environmental considerations into development projects. International development institutions have recognized the organization's in-house expertise and leadership role, and a number of these institutions have undertaken cooperative initiatives with the OAS or contracted the organization to serve as an executing agency for their environmental projects.

The biggest boost for the OAS' environmental efforts came at the 1996 Summit of the Americas on Sustainable Development, held in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. The Santa Cruz Declaration and Plan of Action gave the OAS a strong mandate to coordinate follow-up to those decisions. At the policy level, this takes place through the Inter-American Committee on Sustainable Development (CIDS), a meeting of government officials within the framework of CIDI. At the technical level, this occurs in the Inter-Agency Task Force, a group of representatives of technical cooperation agencies such as the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, UN programs, and U.S. and Canadian aid and environmental agencies. The OAS Secretariat's Unit for Sustainable Development and the Environment has a website at http://www.oas.org/usde; the Unit for Science and Technology has one at http://www.redhucyt.oas.org/ocyt.

The OAS trade unit, in cooperation with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), provides technical support to the negotiating groups created by the Miami Summit process to deal with issues involved in the creation of a Free Trade Area in the Americas (FTAA).  The trade unit also has sponsored training courses on trade issues for officials from Latin American and Caribbean countries, held at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. The OAS' highly regarded trade information service, known as SICE, provides trade data and information on trade agreements, investment treaties and national regulations, as well as business directories and other sources of contacts, in a data bank at   http://www.sice.oas.org. SICE also manages the FTAA website at http://www.ftaa-alca.org, in addition to the FTAA's Secure Document Distribution Service.

The Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL), which has active private sector participation, provides an impartial forum for resolving issues of keen commercial interest, such as coordination of standards and radio frequency spectrum use. In response to a Santiago Summit mandate, CITEL is developing best practices guidelines for universal service and interconnection and working to reduce standards-based trade barriers. One particularly important CITEL accomplishment was the endorsement in October 1999 of the Inter-American Mutual Recognition Agreement for the Assessment of Conformity of Telecommunications Equipment, also a Santiago Summit initiative. CITEL is a semiautonomous entity that reports to the OAS General Assembly through the Permanent Council.

Specialized Organizations and Other Entities

Much important inter-American business is conducted by separate entities, some of which are independent, some fully or partially funded by the OAS, and others consisting simply of periodic hemispheric meetings which receive support from the OAS Secretariat. Subjects covered include agriculture, labor, copyrights, private international law, highways, ports and harbors, railways, telecommunications, health and sanitation, statistics, travel, child welfare, women's issues, Indian affairs, and tourism. The conferences are attended by high-level officials and technical experts to further inter-American cooperation in these fields.

The Inter-American Children's Institute (IIN), founded in 1927 and headquartered in Montevideo, Uruguay, is concerned with the problems of minors and families, including trafficking, child labor, commercial sexual exploitation, international abduction of minors by one of their parents, and war-affected children. It serves as a center for social action and programs in the fields of health, education, social legislation, legislation on adoptions, social service, and statistics. IIN has contributed extensively to international jurisprudence in the field of family law; the most recent example of this work is model legislation on international adoption. IIN's website is.

The Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM), established in 1928, was the first international organization focusing on women's issues. It works to extend the civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights of women in the hemisphere. Now concerned with women's integration into development and decision-making processes, domestic violence, trafficking in persons, and women's human rights, CIM research and seminars have focused on women and politics, women and employment, violence against women and most recently HIV/AIDS. The Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women (Convention of Belem do Para) was drafted under the auspices of the CIM. It was opened for signature at the OAS General Assembly in 1994 and has been signed by 32 OAS members. In April 2000, the CIM ministerial approved the Inter-American Program on the Promotion of Women's Human Rights and Gender Equity and Equality.

The Inter-American Development Bank, the oldest and largest regional bank in the world, is the main source of multilateral financing for economic, social and institutional development in Latin America and the Caribbean. Its loans and grants help finance development projects and support strategies to reduce poverty, expand growth, increase trade and investment, promote regional integration, and foster private sector development and modernization of the State. The IDB Group is composed of the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC) and the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF).  The IIC focuses on support for small and medium-sized businesses, while the MIF promotes private sector growth through grants and investments.

The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture (IICA), founded in 1942 and headquartered in San Jose, Costa Rica, assists member states in promoting agricultural health and food safety, strengthening national agricultural institutional systems, and building trade capacity in agricultural commodities.

IICA supports efforts to increase agricultural productivity, employment opportunities in rural sectors, and rural participation in development activities. IICA also has an excellent record in preventing the spread of threatening animal and plant diseases and in helping members develop sustainable methods of food production. Policy direction comes from ministers of agriculture in each member country, who form the Inter-American Board of Agriculture (IABA).

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), created in 1902, has served as the Western Hemisphere arm of the UN World Health Organization (WHO) since 1948. It coordinates hemispheric efforts to combat disease and promote physical and mental health. It has contributed significantly to eradicating communicable diseases and promoting improved sanitation and health conditions.

The Pan American Institute of Geography and History (PAIGH), headquartered in Mexico City, was formed in 1928 and has served since 1949 as a specialized organization of the OAS.  PAIGH promotes geographical, geophysical, cartographic, and historical studies of the Americas with emphasis on sharing social and physical science research.  PAIGH encourages geopgraphers, cartographers, historians, and geophysicists to share information and human resources for regional environmental research, and promotes advanced data collection and analysis.  PAIGH also assists member countries in identifying risks posed by natural disasters and has provided technical expertise to assist in mapping disputed borders between member countries.

PAIGH preserves and documents historical data through research and publications.  It also facilitates cooperative relationships between U.S. agencies and other countries in such vital areas as aviation safety and natural disaster mitigation. 

Created in 1962 through a unique agreement between the Organization of American States (OAS) and the private sector, the Pan American Development Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization 501(c)(3) that creates public-private partnerships to assist the least advantaged people in Latin America and the Caribbean. Having worked in every country in the region, PADF engages community-based groups, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), national, state, and municipal governments, and the private sector in the process of implementing appropriate solutions for sustainable development. Through these partnerships, we seek to achieve excellent and lasting programmatic impacts in creating economic opportunities, promoting social investments, strengthening communities and civil society, and preparing for and responding to natural disasters. PADF's website is.