Payments in the Americas FEDERAL RESERVE BANK of ATLANTA October 7 8 Atlanta GA

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Payments in the Americas FEDERAL RESERVE BANK of
ATLANTAOctober 7 8 Atlanta GA
The Summit of the Americas Process and
Remittances Organization of American States
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Background
First Summit (Miami, December 1994) Summit on
Sustainable Development (Santa Cruz de la Sierra,
December 1996) Second Summit (Santiago, April
1998) Third Summit (Quebec City, April
2001) Special Summit (Monterrey, January 12-13,
2004)
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Third Summit of the Americas April 20 22,
2001

• Labor
• Growth with Equity
• Education
• Health
• Gender Equality
• Indigenous Peoples
• Cultural Diversity
• Children and Youth
• Summit Follow Up
• Connectivity

• Democracy
• Human Rights
• Justice
• Hemispheric Security
• Trade and Finance
• Infrastructure
• Disaster Management
• Sustainable Development
• Agriculture

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Third Summit Quebec, 2001 Migration -
Remittances
Support initiatives designed to strengthen
linkages among migrant communities abroad and
their places of origin and promote cooperative
mechanisms that simplify and speed up the
transfer of migrant remittances and substantially
reduce the costs of sending them.
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Why a Special Summit?

• Argentina - Nestor Carlos Kirchner (2003)
• Bahamas - Perry Christie (2002)
• Bolivia Carlos Mesa Gisbert (2002)
• Brazil - Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2003)
• Canada Paul Martin (2002)
• Colombia - Álvaro Uribe Vélez (2002)
• Costa Rica - Abel Pacheco de la Espriella (2002)
• Ecuador - Lucio Edwin Gutiérrez Borbua (2003)
• Guatemala Óscar Berger
• Honduras - Ricardo Maduro (2002)
• Jamaica - Percival James Patterson (1992/2002)
• Nicaragua Enrique Bolaños (2002)
• Paraguay - Nicanor Duarte Frutos (2003)
• Trinidad and Tobago - Patrick Manning (PNM) 2003

14 new leaders
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Why a Special Summit?
Source Human Development Report 2004, Cultural
Diversity in today's diverse world. United
Nations Development Programme
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Why a Special Summit?
Source World Development Indicators 2003
Edition. The World Bank
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Special Summit of the Americas Issues

• Economic Growth with Equity to Reduce Poverty
• Social Development
• Democratic Governance

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Social Development

• Empowerment of women
• OAS Mechanisms to combat poverty
• Strengthen the social security systems
• Cultural Diversity, Indigenous People
• Strengthen the social security systems
• Full protection of human rights of all migrants
• Decent work, take measures to fight the worst
  forms of child labor.
• Promote access to quality basic education for all
• Fight against trafficking in persons
• Scientific and technological research and
  development
• Combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic
• Impact of natural Disasters and environmental
  health

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Economic Growth with Equity to Reduce Poverty

• Simplify the procedures and reduce the time and
  cost of establishing businesses
• strengthen property rights
• Develop micro, small and medium enterprises -
  access to credit
• Resolution of financial crises reform the
  international financial architecture reduce the
  burden of debt service, HIPC
• FTAA Calendar
• Remittances reduce the average cost by at
  least half (2008)
• Monterrey consensus

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Declaration of Nuevo León

• Economic Growth with Equity to Reduce Poverty
• We recognize that remittances are an important
  source of capital in many countries of the
  Hemisphere. We commit to take concrete actions to
  promote the establishment, as soon as possible,
  of necessary conditions, in order to achieve the
  goal of reducing by at least half the regional
  average cost of these transfers no later than
  2008.

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"in the case of Honduras, it is worth mentioning
that the principal source of income in Honduras
today is not the big exporting activity, nor the
assembly plant, nor the traditional crops like
coffee and banana, nor is it even tourism. It is
the remittances of poor Hondurans in the United
States, who with exemplary solidarity, give back
to other poor Hondurans, as a very effective
social distribution mechanism". Remarks by the
President of Honduras, Ricardo Maduro, during the
Second Plenary Session of the Special Summit of
the Americas
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Cost to Send 200 form the U.S. to Home Countries
(June 2004)
Source Remittances to Latin America and the
Caribbean Issues and perspectives on
development, Orozco Manuel
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In the OAS Context

• Working Group for the Inter-American Program for
  the Promotion and Protection of the Human Rights
  of Migrants - September 30th and October 1st
  2004,
• - Importance of remittances flows for recipient
  countries.
• Transnational networks to enhance the remittances
  as a tool for development.
• Programs for investment and saving within the
  recipients communities
• - Ways to accomplish the goal of reducing the
  cost of sending remittances.
• Summit Implementation
• - How to effectively measure the costs of
  transfers and show trends in these costs,
• - What the public sector can do to increase the
  development impact of remittance funds

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International Organization for Migration New
Member of the JSGW

• IOM is committed to the principle that humane and
  orderly migration benefits migrants and society.
• Leading international organization for migration,
  IOM acts with its partners in the international
  community to
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• Encourage social and economic development through
  migration
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• Uphold the human dignity and well-being of
  migrants.
• Assist in meeting the growing operational
  challenges of migration management.

Counter-Trafficking Labor Migration
Migration Health Services Assisted Voluntary
Returns Technical Cooperation on Migration
Migration Research Migrant Movement
Processing and Assistance
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Fourth Summit of the Americas Argentina 2005

• First week of November 2005
• Theme Creating Employment to Confront Poverty
  and Strengthen Democratic Governance .
• Progress report on meeting the goal of reducing
  the cost of remittances
• Civil Society Participation Regional Forums -
  Present recommendations to be considered by the
  Officials

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Engaging in the Summit Process

• Dialogue with National Coordinators
• United States of AmericaAmbassador John
  MaistoNational Summit CoordinatorTel (202)
  647-3141Fax [phone]
• Next meeting of the Summit Implementation Review
  Group Oct. 19-20, 2004. Washington D.C.
• Participation in Civil Society and Government
  Preparatory meetings

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Office for the Summit Process www.summitsoftheame
ricas.org Organization of American States
1889 F Street NWWashington, DC 20006
USATel202.458.3127, Fax [phone]summit-inf
o_at_oas.org