A New Organization for a New Century

Abstract

Fifty years after its establishment, the Organization of American States enters a new century and a new millennium. The challenges facing the global community and, indeed, the Hemisphere are imposing and multidimensional. There are also poignant indicators that these trends will increase and intensify. The prospects of these realities must induce the Organization to undertake an exercise of reflection and soul searching. This exercise must inevitably lead to a re-visitation and redefinition of its role in supporting member states in fulfilling their aspirations and objectives, confront the existing and impending challenges and redress the effects of past policies, which might not have been totally productive. To this end, the Organization has outlined its vision for enhancing the effectiveness and relevance of its contribution in a number of areas. As mentioned in Chapter 9, these areas include democracy, human rights, institutional strengthening and revalorization, economic integration, social development, the environment and sustainable development, promotion of cultural values, technical cooperation, the gender question, the welfare and protection of children, social ills which undermine the fabric of society, the associated legal questions pertinent to those issues, and a number of administrative matters.