A number of developments have taken place at the OAS in the time since the Committee completed its study in June 2013. Notably, two meetings of the OAS General Assembly were held after the Committee travelled to Washington in April 2013.

The 43^rd Regular Session of the General Assembly took place from 4 to 6 June 2013 in Antigua, Guatemala. As was noted previously in this report, the Session’s theme was “For A Comprehensive Policy to Fight Drugs in the Americas.” It led to the adoption of an outcome document,[2] which will be followed up with further debate at the political level.

Initiatives to strengthen and reform the OAS have also continued in recent months in the context of the General Assembly meetings, and through the work of the OAS Permanent Council. Canada has continued to provide leadership in these areas. In Antigua, member states adopted a resolution on “Progress Towards Accountability, Efficiency and Effectiveness, and Results in the OAS General Secretariat.”[3] The resolution addressed issues related to the prioritization of OAS mandates, the review process for the program budget, human resources policies, the business modernization strategy, and efficiency measures to be adopted by the Secretariat. That resolution had been introduced by Canada, which, as discussed in previous sections of this report, is the Chair of the OAS Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Affairs. In July 2013, Canada’s term as Chair was renewed unanimously by the OAS membership for a further year. Moreover, during the Antigua Assembly, Canada’s candidate for the Board of External Auditors, Martin Rubenstein, was elected to the position.

During the Antigua Assembly, member states also adopted a resolution on the “Financing of the 2014 Program-Budget of the Organization.” It set the overall budget level of the 2014 Regular Fund at US$82,978,200, reflecting zero-nominal growth in the budget. In the same resolution, member states requested that the OAS Secretary-General,

see to it that the proposed program-budget for 2014 reflects a proportional, across-the-board impact among the budgetary chapters and sub-programs of the absorption of the statutory pay increases in and reduction of total income compared to the previous budgetary period.[4]

The program budget and the sources of financing for it were to be determined subsequently by the General Assembly at a Special Session in Washington.

The Special Session was convened on 30 October 2013; member states approved the program budget for 2014 in keeping with the Regular Fund budget of US$82.98 million.[5] The Secretariat also indicated that, based on projections for 2014, special contributions (i.e. voluntary funds) are predicted to amount to an estimated US$78.8 million. Going forward, the Secretariat has also been instructed “to adopt a biennial program-budget system beginning with the year 2015 budgetary cycle”.[6]

Another notable development relevant to the reform and strengthening of the OAS was the decision to establish a Working Group of the Permanent Council on the Strategic Vision of the OAS. It is chaired by the Permanent Representative of Mexico to the OAS. In his remarks to the Group at its first meeting on 4 October 2013, he stated:

Again and again we have stressed that a strategic vision comes first, before the budget, not as a result of the budget and adjustments to it. It should not be a question of money or resources shaping politics, but the other way round. Nor can we turn a balanced budget into the main or only objective of the strategic vision, because that would mean failing to see the wood for the trees, failing to grasp the wider and more complex context…[7]

The Group’s work will proceed in three stages based on various reviews and consultations with member states.[8] It is intended to result in an “OAS Vision Statement; strategic guidelines–by pillar and sub-pillar–to link them to the program-budget of the Organization; and preparation of a draft resolution for consideration by the General Assembly at its forty-fourth regular session, to be held in Paraguay from June 3 to 5, 2014.”[9]

With respect to the human rights architecture in the Americas, Venezuela’s denunciation of the American Convention on Human Rights entered into force on 10 September 2013. Consequently, any human rights violations that take place after that date may not be considered by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights indicates that it continues to have jurisdiction in Venezuela.[10]

Regarding key OAS programs, Canada’s support has continued in recent months, particularly through the framework of its $20 million Cooperation Plan (2012-2015) with the OAS. In addition to the initiatives outlined in the body of this report, Canada added to its practice of contributing to OAS electoral observation missions in the region by announcing that it would support an OAS mission in Honduras in November 2013.[11] November 2013 also saw Canada build on its previous contributions to the OAS Mission to Monitor the Peace Process in Colombia by announcing a further $1 million contribution.[12] Support was also provided to the Third Inter-American Dialogue of High Authorities of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in November 2013, and the annual meeting of the Inter-American Competitiveness Network and the VII Americas Competitiveness Forum in October 2013. Finally, Canada’s Minister of Labour, the Honourable Kellie Leitch, participated in the XVIII Inter-American Conference of Ministers of Labor in Colombia in November 2013.