Jan-Dec 2008 - Organization of American States

2.2 OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY GENERAL
In accordance with Article 115 of the OAS Charter and in keeping with measures and
policy decided by the General Assembly and the pertinent resolutions of the Councils,
the Office of the Assistant Secretary General serves as Secretary of the Permanent
Council, provides advisory services to the Secretary General, and is responsible for all
activities the latter may entrust to him.
Office of the Assistant Secretary General
In 2008, the Office of the Assistant Secretary General provided advisory services to the Secretary
General, supported the activities of various offices of the General Secretariat, and endeavored to
assist the member states in their search for solutions to issues of critical importance to them.
When Executive Order 08-01 took effect in 2008, the following offices came under the authority of
the Office of the Assistant Secretary General: the Office of the Secretariat of the General Assembly,
the Meeting of Consultation, the Permanent Council, and Subsidiary Organs (SGAPC); the
Department of Conferences and Meetings; the Coordinating Office for the Offices and Units of the
General Secretariat in the Member States; the Columbus Memorial Library; the Permanent
Secretariat of the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM), and the Secretariat of the Inter-
American Committee on Ports.
In the course of the year, the Assistant Secretary General has placed particular emphasis on efforts to
enhance the effectiveness and efficacy of the services that assist the member states in their
deliberations and to make better use of the technological innovations in audiovisual media. He has
also approved a series of measures to lower the costs associated with holding meetings, particularly
to reduce the costs of reproducing documents.
The SGAPC worked with the permanent representatives of the member states and permanent
observers to prepare and hold regular and special meetings of the Permanent Council and the
protocolary meetings the Council held to welcome Heads of State and of Government. It also
provided support to the joint meetings of the Permanent Council and the Permanent Executive
Committee of the Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CEPCIDI) and the meetings of
the Joint Working Group of the Permanent Council and CEPCIDI on the Draft Social Charter of the
Americas, and the Joint Working Group of the Permanent Council and CEPCIDI to Negotiate the
Draft Declaration of Medellín “Youth and Democratic Values.”
The Office also provided its support and coordination services to other bodies, such as the Inter-
American Commission of Women, the Inter-American Committee against Terrorism (CICTE), the
Conference of the States Party to the Inter-American Convention Against the Illicit Manufacturing of
and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials (CIFTA) and the
meetings of the CIFTA Consultative Committee, the Working Group to prepare the Draft American
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Working Group to prepare a Draft Inter-
American Convention against Racism and all Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance, the Special
Committee on Migration Issues, and the Joint Consultative Body of the Committee on Hemispheric
Security and the Permanent Executive Committee of the Inter-American Council for Integral
Development on Natural Disaster Reduction and Risk Management.
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