Proposed Procedure for Drafting the Social Charter of the Americas

1
Proposed Procedure for Drafting the Social
Charter of the Americas

• Ambassador Abigail Castro de Pérez
• Chair of the CP-CEPCIDI Working Group on the
  Social Charter of the Americas

2
Background

• Resolutions adopted by the General Assembly in
  Quito and Fort Lauderdale
• Resolutions AG/RES. 2056 (XXXIV-O/04) and
  AG/RES. 2139 (XXXV-O/05) instruct the CP and
  CEPCIDI to jointly prepare a Draft Social Charter
  of the Americas and a Plan of Action.
• Summit of the Americas, Mar del Plata, 2005
• The Heads of State and Government offered their
  encouragement to the OAS in drafting the Social
  Charter of the Americas and its Plan of Action.
• General Assembly resolution, Santo Domingo
• The Working Group is instructed to develop a
  methodology enabling it to expedite its
  consideration of the Draft Social Charter of the
  Americas and its Plan of Action so as to
  conclude the negotiation of those documents.
  The Assembly also expresses the sincere
  political will of all of our countries to
  conclude and adopt the Social Charter of the
  Americas and its Plan of Action before the end of
  2007.

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Status of Negotiations to Date

• Reference and negotiation documents prepared by
  the Secretariat at the Groups request
• Background and Proposals for Drafting the Social
  Charter of the Americas - GTC/CASA/doc.9/05
• Working Document for Discussions of the Working
  Group (GTC/CASA/doc.20/05 corer. 1) which
  groups together proposals presented by
• Venezuela, co-sponsored by Argentina, Brazil,
  Uruguay, and Ecuador document GTC/CASA/doc.3/05
  rev. 2
• Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala,
  Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama, document
  GTC/CASA/doc.4/05 rev. 1
• United States, document GTC/CASA/doc.10/05
• Canada, document GTC/CASA/doc.11/05
• Chile, document GTC/CASA/doc.12/05
• Bolivia, document GTC/CASA/doc.14/05
• Peru, document GTC/CASA/doc.15/05
• CARICOM, document GTC/CASA/doc.17/05
• Draft Preamble, document GTC/CASA/doc.23/06
• Proposed Outlines for the Operative Section of
  the Social Charter of the Americas, documents
  GTC/CASA/doc.26/06 and GTC/CASA/doc.27/06
• Status of Negotiation of the Preambular
  Paragraphs of the Social Charter of the Americas,
  GTC/CASA/doc.34/06 corer. 1
• Other relevant materials for this Group
• Legal Aspects of the Interdependence between
  Democracy and Economic and Social Development
  CJI/RES.106 (LXVIII-O/06)

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Status of Negotiations to Date

• Draft Preamble
• 16 meetings of deliberations and negotiations
• A total of 26 paragraphs
• 6 paragraphs have been given preliminary approval
• Initial reading concluded in April 2006
• Paragraphs with observations, pending

Argentina paragraphs 13 and 22 Brazil
paragraphs 11, 20, and 21 Barbados paragraph
5 Canada paragraph 6 Chile paragraph 6 Costa
Rica paragraphs 6 and 29 Dominican Republic
paragraphs 7, 21, and 26 El Salvador paragraph
14 Ecuador paragraphs 11 and 21 Guatemala
paragraphs 11, 19, and 21
Guyana paragraph 21 Honduras paragraph
6 Mexico paragraphs 5 and 10 Panama paragraphs
7 and 21 Peru paragraph 21 Saint Kitts and
Nevis paragraph 11 Trinidad and Tobago
paragraphs 5 and 6 United States paragraphs 4,
6, 7, 8, 9, 13, 16, 17, and 22 Uruguay
paragraphs 9, 10, and 13 Venezuela paragraphs 2,
13, and 24
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Proposed Work Plan

• Set negotiation of the preamble aside for the
  moment
• The preamble to this Charter should be reexamined
  once the content of the operative section has
  been determined.
• In response to the General Assembly resolution
  adopted in Santo Domingo, it is necessary to
  proceed with discussion of the operative section.
• In any case, texts by delegations that agreed to
  draft alternative proposals for inclusion in the
  draft preamble will be accepted.
• 2. Begin negotiation of the operative section
• Jointly determine the working procedure to be
  used, taking as a basis the Working Document for
  Discussions of the Working Group
  (GTC/CASA/doc.20/05 corer. 1)

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Proposed Work Plan

• Define the type of Social Charter we want
• Before starting negotiations on the text, we
  should take some time to define what type of
  Social Charter we want.
• This dialogue will cast light on the way we will
  be able to approach the operative section of the
  Charter.
• Hold meetings with experts and organizations
• Resume work with presentations by experts on
  their perspectives and their views on past
  experiences, to help us visualize the type of
  Charter we want.
• Invite international organizations to briefing
  sessions where they will contribute to the
  content of the operative section, once the
  general direction of the Charter has been
  determined.

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Proposed Work Plan

• 5. Establish mechanisms for fulfillment of the
  Social Charter
• Hold meetings to discuss Charter follow-up
  mechanisms and the role to be assigned, inter
  alia, to the OAS.
• Define the role of the OAS
• The OAS has been mandated to play an active part
  in drafting this Charter.
• Therefore, the part it will play in the Charters
  implementation and follow-up needs to be
  discussed.
• Define the Plan of Action
• - Concurrently, we need to start envisioning the
  type of Plan of Action that will accompany the
  Charter.

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Secretariat support required

• To start work and ensure effective compliance
  with this procedure, the Secretariat is asked to
• Place the present situation in context, on the
  basis of document GTC/CASA/doc.34/06 corer. 1
• Redistribute the document Background and
  Proposals for Drafting the Social Charter of the
  Americas
• Research follow-up mechanisms for this type of
  instrument
• Assess the real possibility of drafting a
  proposed operative section with which to launch
  negotiations
• Identify specialized organizations that could
  serve as technical reference points for specific
  areas or topics
• To this end, the Secretariat must be provided
  with the necessary resources to continue
  providing effective services to this Working
  Group.

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Tentative Work Calendar
TENTATIVE DATE TYPE OF MEETING ACTIVITY
September 22 Plenary meeting of the Working Group Presentation of the proposed procedure for resuming work on the Social Charter Ambassador Abigail Castro de Pérez, Chair of the Joint CP-CEPCIDI Working Group Other business
September 25 to October 6 Plenary meeting of the Working Group (date to be determined) Informal meetings of country groups / Outcomes sent in writing to the Chair and the Secretariat Presentation by experts of examples in the inter-American system, the international system, and other regions that are relevant for drafting the Social Charter of the Americas Briefing session, tentatively scheduled for September 28 Proposed speakers - Victor Ambramovich, member of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights - Juan Chozas, Counselor on Labor and Social Affairs at the Embassy of Spain Presentation of proposed texts, for inclusion in the draft preamble that were entrusted by the outgoing Chair of the Working Group to countries or groups of countries
Week of October 9 Plenary meeting of the Working Group Presentation of the draft preamble incorporating the new texts submitted by the missions. Discussion of the type of Social Charter envisaged
Week of October 16 Plenary meeting of the Working Group Continued deliberation on the type of Social Charter envisaged Request to the Secretariat to present a draft operative section
Week of October 23 Plenary meeting of the Working Group Discussion of monitoring and follow-up mechanisms for the Social Charter
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Tentative Work Calendar
TENTATIVE DATE TYPE OF MEETING ACTIVITY
Week of October 30 Plenary meeting of the Working Group Presentation by experts on topics of relevance to the drafting of the Social Charter of the Americas Briefing session Proposed speakers Jean-Paul Hubert, member of the Inter-American Juridical Committee Carlos Jarque, Secretary of the Inter-American Development Bank
Week of November 6 Plenary meeting of the Working Group Discussion of the Organizations role in the fulfillment of the Social Charter
Week of November 13 Meeting of chairs and vice chairs of the Working Group Evaluation and discussion of the status of deliberations Other business
Week of November 27 Plenary meeting of the Working Group Secretariat presentation on the operative section Presentations by appropriate bodies of the inter-American system and international bodies on topics covered in the operative section of the Draft Social Charter Briefing session
Week of December 11 Plenary meeting of the Working Group Meeting of chairs and vice chairs of the Working Group Beginning of negotiation of the operative section Evaluation and discussion of the status of deliberations Other business
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Tentative Work Calendar
TENTATIVE DATE TYPE OF MEETING ACTIVITY
Week of January 15, 2007 Plenary meeting of the Working Group Resumption of the Groups work Progress report on the drafting of the Social Charter Continued negotiation of the operative section
Week of January 29 Plenary meeting of the Working Group Continuation of the negotiations on the operative section
Week of February 12 Plenary meeting of the Working Group Continued negotiation of the operative section
Week of February 19 Meeting of Chair and Vice Chairs of the Working Group Evaluation and discussion of the status of deliberations Other business
Week of February 26 Plenary meeting of the Working Group Progress report on the drafting of the Social Charter of the Americas Conclusion of the work of the Chair pro tempore Election of new officers of the Working Group Other business