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

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, 2005The 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 DomingoThe 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.”

Status of Negotiations to DateReference and negotiation documents prepared by the Secretariat at the Group’s 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)]

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 22Brazil: paragraphs 11, 20, and 21Barbados: paragraph 5Canada: paragraph 6Chile: paragraph 6Costa Rica: paragraphs 6 and 29Dominican Republic: paragraphs 7,

21, and 26 El Salvador: paragraph 14Ecuador: paragraphs 11 and 21Guatemala: paragraphs 11, 19, and

21

Guyana: paragraph 21Honduras: paragraph 6Mexico: paragraphs 5 and 10Panama: paragraphs 7 and 21Peru: paragraph 21Saint Kitts and Nevis: paragraph 11Trinidad and Tobago: paragraphs 5

and 6United States: paragraphs 4, 6, 7, 8,

9, 13, 16, 17, and 22Uruguay: paragraphs 9, 10, and 13Venezuela: paragraphs 2, 13, and 24

Proposed Work Plan1. 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)

Proposed Work Plan

3. 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.

4. 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.

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.

6. 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 Charter’s implementation

and follow-up needs to be discussed.

7. Define the Plan of Action- Concurrently, we need to start envisioning the type of Plan of

Action that will accompany the Charter.

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.

Tentative Work CalendarTENTATIVE

DATETYPE OF MEETING ACTIVITY

September 22 Plenary meeting of the Working Group

Presentation of the proposed procedure for resuming work on the Social CharterAmbassador Abigail Castro de Pérez, Chair of the Joint CP-CEPCIDI Working GroupOther 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 SpainPresentation 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 envisagedRequest 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

Tentative Work CalendarTENTATIVE

DATETYPE 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 AmericasBriefing sessionProposed 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 Organization’s 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 deliberationsOther business

Week of November 27

Plenary meeting of the Working Group

Secretariat presentation on the operative sectionPresentations by appropriate bodies of the inter-American system and international bodies on topics covered in the operative section of the Draft Social CharterBriefing 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 deliberationsOther business

Tentative Work Calendar

TENTATIVE DATE

TYPE OF MEETING ACTIVITY

Week of January 15, 2007

Plenary meeting of the Working Group

Resumption of the Group’s workProgress report on the drafting of the Social CharterContinued 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 deliberationsOther business

Week of February 26

Plenary meeting of the Working Group

Progress report on the drafting of the Social Charter of the AmericasConclusion of the work of the Chair pro temporeElection of new officers of the Working GroupOther business