Organization of American States

Background

In the 1948 charter, the OAS listed the following as its "essential purposes":²

1. To strengthen the peace and security of the continent.
2. To promote and consolidate representative democracy, with due respect for the principle of nonintervention.
3. To prevent possible causes of difficulties and to ensure the pacific settlement of disputes that may arise among the Member States.
4. To provide for common action on the part of those States in the event of aggression.
5. To seek the solution of political, juridical, and economic problems that may arise among them.
6. To promote, by cooperative action, their economic, social, and cultural development.
7. To eradicate extreme poverty, which constitutes an obstacle to the full democratic development of the peoples of the hemisphere.
8. To achieve an effective limitation of conventional weapons that will make it possible to devote the largest amount of resources to the economic and social development of the Member States.

The four main pillars of the OAS are democracy, human rights, security, and development. The organization states their approach as one of political dialogue, inclusiveness, cooperation, legal and follow up instruments.³

The main decision-making body of the OAS is the General Assembly. Each member country has the right to one vote. The General Assembly meets for a regular session once a year to deliberate and vote.  Meeting take place in a different country each year, and have taken place in June since 1993. The General Assembly also meets occasionally for special sessions to deal with an urgent matter. The most recent of these occurred between June 30 - July 4, 2009, when the OAS voted to suspend Honduras' membership due to the country's political situation surrounding the coup against President Rosales.⁴

Climate change activities

Climate change will have dramatic impacts on many, if not all, members of the OAS.  Because the OAS includes all independent Caribbean Island nations, the OAS contains many small island developing states (SIDS).  SIDS are particularly vulnerable to climate change due to heavy reliance on coastal ecosystems and an overall lack of resources.

ReefFix is an Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) Coral Reef and Mangrove Restoration and Watershed Management Demonstration program.  The project is co-run between OAS and the Inter-American Biodiversity Information Network (IABIN). The goal of the project is to work with SIDS to restore and effectively manage coastal resources. ReefFix recently began as a set of five case studies in Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, the Bahamas, Haiti, and Grenada.⁵

OAS was one of several organizations that co-founded the Global Sustainable Energy Islands Initiative (GSEII) in 2000.  Even though SIDS emit very few greenhouse gases, costs are very high to import fossil fuels. The GSEII works to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy projects on small islands.  In the Caribbean, efforts are concentrated in Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, and St. Kitts and Nevis.⁶

Footnotes

1. OAS Official Page. Who We Are. Retrieved on: 19 August 2009.

2. OAS Official Page. Charter of the Organization of American States.  1997 Version. Retrieved on: 19 August 2009.

3. OAS Official Page. What We Do. Retrieved on: 19 August 2009.

4. OAS Official Page. General Assembly. Retrieved on: 19 August 2009.

5. OAS Dept. of Sustainable Development. ReefFix. 11 May 2009. Retrieved on 19 August 2009.

6. OAS Official Page. Global Sustainable Energy Islands Initiative (GSEII). Updated 8 Jan 2008. Retrieved on: 19 August 2009.