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Contact:
Chris Satney
Wednesday, September 21, 2005 - The Summit of the Americas’ Secretariat,
on Wednesday engaged Saint Lucian government departments in discussions on the
challenges of its Fourth Summit to be held in November this year. Scheduled for
Mar del Plata, Argentina, the Summit will seek to find solutions for
unemployment, poverty and weaknesses of democratic governance within the
Americas.
Wednesday’s exercise facilitated discussion on the finalization of the
declaration of the 2005 Summit of the Americas and negotiations on a plan of
action. The key issues surrounding the declaration are embedded in the 2005
theme “Creating Jobs to Fight Poverty and Strengthen Democratic Governance.”
Director of the Summit of the Americas Secretariat Luis Rodriguez says some of
the challenges facing the summit include, among other things, achieving the
goals set forth by the Summit Implementation Review Group (SIRG) and continuing
to Support Member States in the monitoring and implementation of summit
mandates.
“What the countries of this hemisphere have to concern themselves with are the
social and economic issues. We have poverty today in our region—we have issues
on unemployment and we have to look for ways to strengthen our democratic
institutions. These are the issues and the heads of government and the host
country, Argentina, has put forward as the theme of the summit,” Rodriguez said.
Mr. Rodriguez says to confront the growing challenges in this hemisphere, it was
critical that all sections of government make their input in the negotiating
process.
“We also believe that civil society has a very clear and defined role in this
process. We believe that every single institution and agency will help build
into this process and make it a stronger process so that we will have a clear
plan of action that will guide our leaders into decisions, tasks and goals in
the coming years,” said Rodriguez.
The Summit of the Americas is supported by the Organization of American States
(OAS), and brings together the Heads of State and Government of the Western
Hemisphere to discuss common concerns, seek solutions and develop a shared
vision for their future development of the region, be it economic, social or
political in nature.
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